Cirrus@Austlit

'Buttons three, attend to me!

'Take me where I want to be!

'No one saw Eliza Vanda arrive in Tidgy Bay that rainy winter afternoon. The sign advertising 'Cabins for Rent' was almost hidden by a pile of builder's rubble, but Eliza Vanda didn't seem at all put out by the mess.

''This is a nice little pocket,' she said. 'It should suit us very well.'

'Life hasn't been much fun for Milly Dynes lately. There seem to be problems everywhere she looks. She's always loved her home in Tidgy Bay, but at the moment she wishes she was somewhere -anywhere - else.

'Then Eliza Vanda turns up—and magic comes with her ...

'A sparkling new fantasy adventure from multi-award-winning author Emily Rodda.' (Publication summary)

'Lone Annie sees dragons in your future. She sees giants. She sees fire and water. She sees death. Finn's life in the village of Wichant is hard. Only his drawings of the wild coastline, with its dragon-shaped clouds and headlands that look like giants, make him happy. Then the strange housekeeper from a mysterious clifftop mansion sees his talent and buys him for a handful of gold and then reveals to him seven extraordinary paintings. Finn thinks the paintings must be pure fantasy — such amazing scenes and creatures can't be real! He's wrong. Soon he is going to slip through the veil between worlds and plunge into the wonders and perils of The Glimme.' (Publication summary)

'While on a history excursion, an ill-assorted group of four kids and their teacher are left on a country road when their minibus breaks down. At the suggestion of a friendly tow-truck driver, the five take shelter in a nearby old, deserted mansion. There they find a little old desk with a secret drawer. Inside the drawer is a book containing a handwritten story and a series of vivid, strangely lifelike paintings. The book is called His Name Was Walter.

'The story begins: 'Once upon a time, in a dark city far away, there lived a boy called Walter, who had nothing but his name to call his own.' And so begins the tale of Walter - his lonely childhood, his flight from the haunted streets of the city, his discovery of Magda the witch, his quest to find Magda's lost daughter, and his meeting with the love of his life, the mysterious, tragic girl he calls Sparrow.

'As the night closes in around them and the story of Walter and Sparrow unfolds, the kids read it avidly.. Slowly the outer and inner stories begin to mesh. Slowly the story of Walter draws the five members of the group together. And in the end every one of the five plays a vital role in the uncovering of the truth.'

Source: Publilsher's blurb.