Cirrus@Austlit

'Every day, we see a problem we would like to fix. A piece of rubbish in a green, grassy park. Plastic water bottles buried in the sand at the beach. A garbage bin overflowing onto the street. A skinny, stray dog. A homeless person on a cold day.

'These problems seem impossible for one person to change. But we can fix them, if we each do our part – one step at a time.

'This practical guide is designed to empower kids to make changes in their lives to help make a difference in the world. Filled with information, ideas and activities, and interspersed with features on amazing children around the world.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'From bestselling Australian author Lynette Noni comes a dark, thrilling YA fantasy perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Sabaa Tahir.

'Here at Zalindov, the only person you can trust is yourself.

'Seventeen-year-old Kiva Meridan has spent the last ten years fighting for survival in the notorious death prison, Zalindov, working as the prison healer.

'When the Rebel Queen is captured, Kiva is charged with keeping the terminally ill woman alive long enough for her to undergo the Trial by Ordeal: a series of elemental challenges against the torments of air, fire, water and earth, assigned to only the most dangerous of criminals.

'Then a coded message from Kiva’s family arrives, containing a single order: Don’t let her die. We are coming. Aware that the Trials will kill the sickly queen, Kiva risks her own life to volunteer in her place. If she succeeds, both she and the queen will be granted their freedom.

'But no one has ever survived.

'With an incurable plague sweeping Zalindov, a mysterious new inmate fighting for Kiva's heart, and a prison rebellion brewing, Kiva can't escape the terrible feeling that her trials have only just begun.' (Publication summary)

'Ever wonder why pigeons always act so weird? It’s because they’re out there chasing the bad guys and saving your butts!

'More pigeons are fighting crime than ever before. But the REAL PIGEONS still have lots of mysteries to untangle!

'Who stole a rare jewel from the world's FURRIEST museum? Will a hungry weasel track down a hidden ENDANGERED BIRD before the REAL PIGEONS can? And how did an ancient tree VANISH overnight?

'No-one can protect a city like Rock, Frillback, Tumbler, Homey and Grandpouter. But it's not easy – especially when they have a traitor in their own nest!' (Publication summary)

'Squidge Dibley and his 6PU classmates at Craglands Primary are facing their biggest, grossest problem EVER.

'When their beloved teacher, Ms Trigley, suffers a bizarre injury while watching a performance at the school talent quest, Squidge's arch-nemesis (former-Vice-Principal-now-Janitor) Hector Hoovesly takes over teaching duties.

'Hoovesly immediately locks Squidge in a padded room, transforms the entire Craglands South Primary teaching staff into phone-addicted zombies and seizes control of the school.

'But Hoovesly's plan for revenge is only just getting started. He won't stop until he has taken control of EVERYTHING.

'Now, the only chance that Squidge, Padman and 6PU have to stop Hoovesly is buried deep under the school in an ancient, hidden bunker.

'Can Squidge and 6PU save Craglands South Primary before their whole world literally collapses above their heads?' (Publication summary)

'Squidge Dibley is the strangest kid at a school full of strange kids, in this hilarious series written and illustrated by Mick Elliott. In this Australian Reading Hour exclusive story, Squidge's latest invention blows a hole in the time-space continuum, creating CHAOS, DANGER and SQUIDGINESS.

'Normal kids build dioramas for History assignments. Squidge Dibley builds a time machine. When class 6PU's pet, Bubble O'Gill, accidentally falls into its wormhole and gets lost in time, it's up to the stretchy, bendy kid with ultrasonic burps to rescue him before he dries out and/or destroys life as we know it. Along the way, Squidge encounters some of the weirdest, wildest people and events from history, and leaves each place he visits just a little bit squidgier.'  (Publication summary)

'Ever wonder why pigeons always act so weird? It’s because they’re out there chasing the bad guys and saving your butts!

'In this hot new series for fans of Bad Guys and Dog Man, the crime-fighting birds known as the REAL PIGEONS have some mega mysteries to solve.

'Why has all the water in the city vanished? Who is the seaside prankster? And can the Real Pigeons save the day … and themselves? No-one can protect a city like Rock, Frillback, Tumbler, Homey and Grandpouter.

'Crime-fighting has never been so COO!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'In this hot new series for fans of Bad Guys and Dog Man, the crime-fighting birds known as the REAL PIGEONS have some mega mysteries to solve. Someone has been stealing from a vulture. A beastly child is lost in the park. And Homey’s long-lost family have been bird-napped!

'But how can you fight crime when you don’t have the perfect nest??'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Strap in. Hold on tight. The second instalment of the award-winning Jane Doe and the Cradle of All Worlds is here!

'Jane Doe is in more danger than ever before. Her father is still imprisoned. The Manor, the hallowed world between worlds, is still dying. The villainous Roth is still searching for the mythical, all-powerful Cradle Sea. Worst of all, Jane has learned that she is the key to stopping him and saving the Otherworlds. But there is a problem, she’s stranded in the dying land of Arakaan, Roth’s home, and its people have some surprising secrets of their own. With a little help from her pyromaniac pal, Violet, and her doubtful ally, Hickory, Jane must find the courage to accept her destiny and face her darkest fears, even if it means losing everything she holds dear.

'From the desolate plains of Arakaan to the shifting halls and devious booby traps of the Manor, Jane’s Cradle quest is about to explode.There are sandstorms. There are scorpions. There are new friends and foes. And every soul in every world hangs in the balance.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Picking up where SQUIDGE DIBLEY DESTROYS THE SCHOOL left off, the most hilarious and weirdest Year 6 class on Earth is about to become the most hilarious, weirdest and coolest class in the galaxy - thanks to the out-of-this-world talents of Squidge Dibley. But be warned: this series is too gross for grown-ups!

'After the disastrous events of SQUIDGE DIBLEY DESTROYS THE SCHOOL, things are finally looking up for class 6PU. All the way up into outer space!

'It all begins with half-a-duck and a very naughty python. Throw in an astronaut, a robot, a school hall full of insane inventions and an excursion to space camp, and you've got one crazy, cosmos-sized problem.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Things are going downhill fast for class 6PU at Craglands South Primary School.

'They've changed teachers more times than most kids change their socks, and their latest one is so strict they aren't even allowed to sneeze. But just when it seems like the school term has been turned into a prison term, a new kid arrives.

'A kid unlike any other kid at Craglands South.

'A kid named Squidge Dibley.

'He's small, quiet and strangely ... squidgy.

'And he's about to change everything.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The REAL PIGEONS aren’t just an awesome squad of crime fighters who protect the city. They’re also REAL FRIENDS. But with a deranged ostrich on the loose, a secret warehouse full of bottled birds and power-hungry ibis to deal with, can their friendship survive?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Ever wonder why pigeons always act so weird? It’s because they’re out there chasing the bad guys and saving your butts!

'Did you know your city is protected by a secret squad of crime-fighting pigeons? It's true! With master of disguise Rock Pigeon, bendy Tumbler, strong Frillback and super-finder Homey, the REAL PIGEONS will solve any mystery and fight any bad guy to keep the city safe!

'In Real Pigeons Fight Crime, Rock and his mystery-solving friends will tackle their first caseload: Why have all the breadcrumbs disappeared? Who on earth is kidnapping bats? And can the pigeons avert a dinner disaster?' (Source: Publisher's blurb)

'Step inside. Don’t look back. Forward is the only way. His Dark Materials meets Mad Max in this unforgettable blockbuster adventure about the world between worlds.

'When a fierce quake strikes the remote island of Bluehaven, and her father disappears, Jane Doe is thrown headfirst into an epic quest to bring him home. 

'But this ain’t no ordinary rescue mission. Her father is lost in a place between worlds; a dangerous labyrinth of shifting rooms, infernal booby traps and secret gateways. And Jane has to find him fast, because someone else is searching for him, too. A man who knows her father’s secrets. A man who has an army. 

'With a pyromaniac named Violet and a trickster named Hickory by her side, Jane is about to discover that this adventure is even bigger on the inside than it looks...'  

Source: Publication summary.

'It's the beginning of the 20th century; the age of scientific progress. But for Venice the future looks bleak. A conference of scientists assembles to address the problems, among whose delegates are the parents of eleven-year-old Teodora. Within days of her arrival, she is subsumed into the secret life of Venice: a world in which salty-tongued mermaids run subversive printing presses, ghosts good and bad patrol the streets and librarians turn fluidly into cats. A battle against forces determined to destroy the city once and for all quickly ensues. Only Teo, the undrowned child who survived a tragic accident as a baby, can go "between-the-linings" to subvert evil and restore order.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Fourteen-year-old Riko manages to get her delicate older sister Sif and herself to their remote Pacific island home, where an American scientist who falls in love with Sif and discovers her connection with an underwater race creates complications in Riko's life.'

Source: Trove.