Cirrus@Austlit

'The second exciting book about Millie and her superpower of making everyday objects into something beautiful and useful.

'Millie Mak is now ten, and often feels shy and awkward. But by using her special gift to make handy and beautiful things, Millie befriends residents at the aged care home where her mum works. When the whole school becomes involved in making hats for the residents, a tricky situation arises between Millie's friends. Millie is a maker - but can she also mend friendships?

'Millie also discovers her sewing superpower can attract the attention of important adults. And when she and her friends are invited to be on TV - on Young Hero Hour! - they must work out how to stay true to themselves.

'From the creators of Millie Mak the Maker comes further exciting adventures, plus detailed but easy-to-follow instructions to make the beautiful things that feature in the book.'  (Publication summary)

'In this episode, a conversation with Ouyang Yu, author, translator, academic, and renowned poet.

'Ouyang Yu’s first collection of stories in English, The White Cockatoo Flowers, is both assured and tender and at times surprisingly funny. It includes stories set in China and Australia that revel in the truth and candour of lived experience and the joys and constraints of language. In this book Ouyang Yu deftly peels back the layers on what it means to move from one culture to another, and what it means to be a writer, a husband, a parent and a stranger on foreign and familiar ground.' (Introduction)

'An inspiring series for young and old makers by the award-winning author-illustrator team Alice Pung and Sher Rill Ng.

'Nine-year-old Millie Mak has discovered she has a superpower!

'Using everyday objects, Millie turns them into something new, beautiful and useful. Who would ever think that a sunhat could be made from an old bedsheet, a skirt from a tea-towel, or some hair scrunchies from a scarf?

'Through her creativity and clever thinking, Millie also deals with different friendships, tricky family challenges, and contributes to the school fete.

'You can make the special objects Millie creates from the detailed and yet easy-to-follow instructions included in the book. And best of all, nothing needs to be bought!

'From award-winning author-illustrator team, Alice Pung and Sher Rill Ng, comes the first book in an inspiring new series for young and old makers.' (Publication summary)

'Emergence brings us thirty of the best short stories chosen from the thousands of entries in the SBS Emerging Writers’ Competition.

'Now in its third year, the anthology features stories by thirty emerging writers, each speaking to the theme of ‘Emergence’ and each offering a unique snapshot of contemporary Australia. Judged by Alice Pung and Christos Tsiolkas, the stories explore themes such as sense of place, family, loss, culture, sexual awakening and the abiding connections to people and place that make us who we are. Told with utterly fresh perspectives and a rich vein of literary talent, these stories are an invitation into the unique worlds of everyday Australians.

'Hardie Grant and SBS champion the voices of a diverse Australia, and support the discovery and development of emerging talent to contribute to Australian storytelling.' (Publication summary)

'Xiao Xin believes he is a red fire warrior but his family are always telling him to be careful. They believe the world is a dangerous place. Too dangerous for a little boy on his own.

'They don't understand what I can do!

'They don't understand what I can be!

'Renowned storytellers Alice Pung and Sher Rill Ng bring to life a beautiful and tender story about learning to conquer your own fears - as a child, and as an adult.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Epigraph: I want to write with ‘true emotion’, not just technically well. I want to write from the heart. I want to make people feel something.

—Shu-Ling Chua

'OUR STORIES is a funny, relatable and engaging new early-chapter book series that celebrates Australia's multicultural society with authors and illustrators from a diverse range of backgrounds. Everything changes when Granny comes to stay. She doesn't drive, she cooks strange foods, and she thinks Destroyer Discs are just toys! But when Granny finally leaves, will things go back to the way they were?' (Publication summary)

'One hundred days. It’s no time at all, she tells me. But she’s not the one waiting.

'In a heady whirlwind of independence, lust and defiance, sixteen-year-old Karuna falls pregnant. Not on purpose, but not entirely by accident, either. Incensed, Karuna’s mother, already over-protective, confines her to their fourteenth-storey housing-commission flat, to keep her safe from the outside world – and make sure she can’t get into any more trouble.

'Stuck inside for endless hours, Karuna battles her mother and herself for a sense of power in her own life, as a new life forms and grows within her. As the due date draws ever closer, the question of who will get to raise the baby – who it will call Mum – festers between them.

'One Hundred Days is a fractured fairytale exploring the fault lines between love and control. At times tense and claustrophobic, it is nevertheless brimming with humour, warmth and character. It is a magnificent new work from one of Australia’s most celebrated writers.' (Publication summary)

'A rare and powerful voice of a woman who has been poor and rich, with a lived understanding of the fickleness of each.'

'This delightful collection brings together Alice Pung’s most loved writing, on migration, family, identity, art and more. Warm, funny, moving and unfailingly honest, this is Alice Pung at her best – an irresistible delight for fans and new readers alike.

'In 2006, Alice Pung published Unpolished Gem, her award-winning memoir of growing up Chinese-Australian in working-class Footscray. Since then, she has written on everything from the role of grandparents to the corrosive effects of racism; from the importance of literature to the legacy of her parents’ migration from Cambodia as asylum seekers. In all of this, a central thread is the idea of home: how the places we live and the connections we form shape who we become, and what homecoming can mean to those who build their lives in Australia.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'When Alice Pung first read John Marsden, she recognised the painful, violent world he portrayed. But not all teachers were comfortable with it.'