Cirrus@Austlit

'Eva Fischer has moved to the top of the world - Cabramurra, the highest town in Australia. Eva feels on top of the world too. Surrounded by people of every nationality, Eva makes new friends and tries foreign food - such as pizza. Eva also learns to ski and ride, and even learns that being half German maybe isn't so bad after all.

'Meanwhile, all around her, momentous things are happening. The Snowy Mountains Scheme is under way, huge dams have been built, tunnels constructed, homes abandoned, people lost . . .

'This is rollicking tale about life amongst post-war migrants working on the scheme, and culminating in a near-disastrous encounter with Prime Minister Menzies.' (Publication summary)

'Jimmy has moved to stay with relatives in central Australia. Outback life in 1927 is tough and communication with anywhere else is nonexistent. But he gradually begins to appreciate the beauty of the outback and the resilient people living there and when disaster strikes he witnesses the importance of the Flying Doctor.' (Publication summary)

'Something is happening. I can hear bullets going off, and people are running down towards the Eureka field...

'In 1854 Rosa Aarons and her family travel from London to the goldfields at Ballarat. She makes new friends, learns to ride a horse and helps her family get by. Soon Rosa becomes caught up in one of the most dramatic events in Australian history: the Eureka Stockade. As the battle between the miners and the soldiers rages around her, Rosa's main concern is the safety of her beloved Papa.' (Publication summary)

'When fourteen-year-old Tom Taylor moves to Darwin with his family, he hardly guesses that tragedy will soon change his life forever. Although Tom helps to dig slit trenches, and though the Japanese edge closer through Malaysia and Singapore, the war seems far away.' (Publication summary)

'Victor McDonald is cricket mad. He plays for his school team and his dream is to meet his cricketing hero, Don Bradman. But Australia is in the grip of the Great Depression. Work isn't easy to come by. Victor's father has lost his job and the family is moving to Sydney. Despite the daily struggle of life in inner Sydney, Victor not only sees Don Bradman in action, he even gets to meet him. With the England cricket team coming to Australia, Victor knows it's going to be a great cricket season. But England has some nasty surprises in store. This will be one cricket season the Australians - and Victor - will never forget.' (Publication summary)

'Archer was magnificent... His mane flew out as a ribbon behind him and his tail streamed like a flag in the wind. There was a fire in him as if he smelt danger on the wind and raced for it.

'When a new horse race called the Melbourne Cup is announced, Robby is sure Archer has what it takes to win—if he can overcome injury.' (Publication summary)

'Victor McDonald is cricket mad. He plays for his school team and his dream is to meet his cricketing hero, Don Bradman. But Australia is in the grip of the Great Depression. Work isn't easy to come by. Victor's father has lost his job and the family is moving to Sydney. Despite the daily struggle of life in inner Sydney, Victor not only sees Don Bradman in action, he even gets to meet him. With the England cricket team coming to Australia, Victor knows it's going to be a great cricket season. But England has some nasty surprises in store. This will be one cricket season the Australians - and Victor - will never forget.' (Publication summary)

'I looked over my shoulder and saw a black stallion heading my way. There was a man riding the stallion and he was familiar somehow. As he got closer I could see a small child on the saddle in front of him...

'When Ben Cross runs away from his brutal uncle, he is looking for adventure. But he finds much more than that when he joins the bushranger Thunderbolt and becomes the cockatoo – or lookout – for the bushranger’s gang.

'In between raiding cattle stations, inns, stores and mail coaches Ben befriends Thunderbolt’s wife Mary Ann, helping in her endless hunt for food and hiding places in the wilderness.

'But at the end of a year of running from the law, of dramatic rescue and desperate shootouts, both Ben and Thunderbolt know they must give up the bushranging life.

'If they can...' (Publieher's blurb)

You’d hardly kno'w our street anymore… it looks like some place in Africa where there’s been fighting, not like Sydney. I know they had to pull down houses that you couldn’t live in no more and they’ll put up new ones instead only they’ll be different so The Rocks’ll really never look the same again, will it?

'The year 1900 was a momentous one for Kitty Barnes. Bubonic plague, the Black Death, was killing large numbers of people; the country was on the verge of becoming a federation; Kitty’s brother was in Africa fighting in the Boer War; and Kitty was finding herself somewhat attracted to Reggie, the boy down the road.' (Publication summary)

'It's 1969 and Davey lives to surf with his older brother Tom and listen to the latest hits. Daveys most cherished goal is to win the inaugural Newcastle Under-14 Surf Championship planned for May 1970 with his best friends Johnno and Pete. But then Tom is drafted into the army and sent to Vietnam and everything changes.' (Publication summary)

'It’s been a disastrous day. The radio news reports that HMAS Canberra has been sunk with the loss of 819 lives and Kokoda has been lost by the Australians. Who knows where Des’s lot are? Somewhere on the mountain track between Kokoda and Port Moresby with the Japs hot on their heels. Harold couldn’t say too much in his latest letter but it sounds like his division is moving to New Guinea too. In his diary, Archie records his own battles at home, against the local bully, Beefy; and how Townsville copes as it becomes a base for the Pacific campaign; and the Australian east coast reels under Japanese bombs. Archie’s two brothers are fighting in the battlefields of World War II. Des has been sent with the militia to fight in the treacherous landscape of the jungles of New Guinea against the Japanese—and his brother Harold is about to join him, after surviving the campaign in the Middle East. There is nothing between Australia and a Japanese invasion except a small band of brave soldiers, fighting rain, mud, malaria and machine guns.' (Publication summary)

'Convicted of theft, Mary Beckith is sentenced to transportation to the colony of New South Wales. Even with a life sentence, Mary is determined to take charge of her own destiny by whatever means she can. However, decisions will be made for her that will alter the course of her life. Mary will encounter two extraordinary explorers–Nicholas Baudin and Matthew Flinders–and their marvellous voyages of discovery.' (Publication summary)

'Nipper only wants to be one thing: a lifesaver. In his world they're larger than life, walking, talking heroes. He's too young, but he starts to train in secret, challenging himself in the Bondi surf. But his secret comes to light one hot Sunday in 1938 - a day that was to become infamous.' (Publication summary)

'Mel Gordon loves running, and watching Seinfeld, but mostly she loves Cathy Freeman. It's 2000 and the Olympics are going to be held in Australia. In a year of surprises, Mel finds out that Cathy Freeman is coming to talk to her school. And her family is heading to Sydney! It becomes an unforgettable journey to Corroboree 2000, bringing together all Australians as they march and sing and celebrate Australia's Indigenous heritage and also acknowledge past wrongs.' (Publication summary)

'The Don is my hero because he is the greatest batsman in the world. Dad says all Australians are proud of The Don, even those who don't normally follow cricket. He says The Don is an inspiration to everyone, because whenever he gets a big score, people smile and forget about their troubles.

'There are lots of troubles that Victor and his family would like to forget. It is the Great Depression, and Victor's dad has lost his job. But despite their struggles, Victor not only gets to see Don Bradman in action, he even meets him!

'With the England cricket team coming to Australia, Victor knows it's going to be a great season. But England has some nasty surprises in store that the Australians-and Victor-will never forget.' (Publication summary)

'It’s been a disastrous day. The radio news reports that HMAS Canberra has been sunk with the loss of 819 lives and Kokoda has been lost by the Australians. Who knows where Des’s lot are? Somewhere on the mountain track between Kokoda and Port Moresby with the Japs hot on their heels. Harold couldn’t say too much in his latest letter but it sounds like his division is moving to New Guinea too. In his diary, Archie records his own battles at home, against the local bully, Beefy; and how Townsville copes as it becomes a base for the Pacific campaign; and the Australian east coast reels under Japanese bombs. Archie’s two brothers are fighting in the battlefields of World War II. Des has been sent with the militia to fight in the treacherous landscape of the jungles of New Guinea against the Japanese—and his brother Harold is about to join him, after surviving the campaign in the Middle East. There is nothing between Australia and a Japanese invasion except a small band of brave soldiers, fighting rain, mud, malaria and machine guns.' (Publication summary)

'When fourteen-year-old Tom Taylor moves to Darwin with his family, he hardly guesses that tragedy will soon change his life forever. Although Tom helps to dig slit trenches, and though the Japanese edge closer through Malaysia and Singapore, the war seems far away.' (Publication summary)

'Do we count you in? When Joe is reluctantly dragged into a deadly plot by rebellious convicts at the Castle Hill prison farm on the outskirts of Sydney Town, he quickly realises it does not pay to be their enemy. He has been quietly working out his sentence as a shepherd boy, in the company of his friends, Pat and Kitt - who has set her eye on Joshua Holt, son of the heroic General of Wicklow. But the croppies are hard, tough patriots of Ireland and desperate to revolt and Joe finds himself amidst a desperate bid for freedom in the first convict uprising against the colony of New South Wales.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Amy is staying in Marysville with her grandmother, and help in the garden and clean out her gutters. It is, after all, bushfire season. As summer arrives, so do the fires, and Dad is busy helping control the flames in bushfires that have started burning in Victoria. But it is early February 2009, and the Black Saturday bushfire is about to encircle Amy and her family, and teach Amy first-hand about tragedy and survival.'  (Synopsis)

'Thomas dreams of escaping his bleak life in a small town and becoming a world-famous journalist. Guided by his adventurous spirit and insatiable curiosity, he smuggles himself aboard an American whaling ship, and finds himself caught up in one of the most daring escape plans in Australian history. ' (Publication summary)

'It is 1940, and 16-year-old Peter Fullerton and his best mate Tony Cantonelli lie about their age to enlist in the army. Tony also lies about his surname—Australia is at war with Italy, and suspicion has been added to the racism he already encounters. Heroes of Tobruk follows these characters from the outbreak of war, through military training to the Siege of Tobruk. Meticulously researched, it combines historical detail and factual information about World War II with a very powerful personal story.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'I could hardly see. There was dust and smoke everywhere. I was falling, sliding down into a gap that had opened up between parts of the collapsed building. It was dark and silent. all I could hear was the sound of my own breathing, and my beating heart thumping in my ears. Then I heard the cry again: the cry for help.

'Growing up by the beach in Newcastle in 1989 means footy, sandcastle competitions and school. Michael’s dad’s a journalist and his small world gets bigger as he starts to pay attention to the news. His interest turns into anxiety and obsession as Michael begins to see the world as a dangerous place that is fast collapsing around him. When the Berlin Wall comes down, most see it as a sign of change and freedom but Michael isn’t convinced. But when an earthquake hits his home town, Michael discovers that the worst that can happen is not always as bad as your fears.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'Victoria Street is a crossroads, like in those old stories of bushrangers and highwaymen. It’s a place where everyone and everything crosses paths ... A street right out of a fairytale, I reckon. It’s 1973, and 11-year-old Billie is living in the best street in the whole world: Victoria Street in Darlinghurst, Sydney. Billie can’t imagine being anywhere else. But things are changing. Billie’s neighbours are being forced out of their homes, and scary people are patrolling the street, trying to get everyone to leave. Without realising it, Billie, her family and her neighbours find themselves caught up in one of the most important public protests in Sydney’s history. The battle for Victoria Street is their fight to save their homes and their way of life from destruction.' (Publication summary)