Cirrus@Austlit

'Between Chinatown and the glittering lights of the harbour, prowl demons and witches - hiding in plain sight, wielding powers beyond imagining.

'Moving and funny by turns, this is a story about what it take to make peace with your demons - literal or otherwise. An urban fantasy take on growing up feeling pressure to make others proud, even if means betraying your true self, feeling like your authentic self is trapped inside your body, and being a second-generation immigrant, struggling to find a sense of belonging.

'After waiting tables at the dumpling shop and dealing with her aunt's big expectations, Zhi just wants to find time for her friends, get through high school . . . and make sure no one finds out she's half spider demon. But then she accidentally kills and eats a man in front of Dior Panne-Nix, the most popular girl in school . . .

'And she's about to find out she's not the scariest thing hiding in the shadows.' (Publication summary)

'Love has rules. So does grief. And Stella Wilde’s about to break them all.

'Stella Wilde is secretly in love with the hottest guy in school, Isaac Calder. He seems to love her back, but there’s a problem – he already has a girlfriend, the gorgeous Grace Reyes. 

When Isaac is killed in a car accident, the entire school is turned upside down with grief. And while Grace can mourn publicly, Stella has to hide her feelings to stop people from finding out about her and Isaac being more than friends.  

'But how long can Stella keep lying – to herself and everyone else? And when the truth finally comes out, how will it affect her newfound friendship with Grace?'  (Publication summary)

'Rosa was never really trying to kill anyone, no matter what they said in court.

'But she's ended up in juvenile jail anyway, living her life through books and wondering why her best mate Asheeka disappeared.

'A page-turning novel about a complicated friendship; a road trip through NSW in a stolen car; the stories that define us; and two funny, sharp, adventurous young women who refuse to be held back any longer. (Publication summary)

'Dylan and her adored French mother dream of one day sailing across the ocean to France. Paris, Dylan imagines, is a place where her black skin won’t make her stand out, a place where she might feel she belongs.

'But when she loses her mother in a freak accident, Dylan finds herself on a very different journey: a road trip across outback Australia in the care of her mother’s grieving boyfriend, Pat. As they travel through remote towns further and further from the water that Dylan longs for, she and Pat form an unlikely bond. One that will be broken when he leaves her with the family she has never known.

'Metal Fish, Falling Snow is a warm, funny and highly original portrait of a young girl’s search for identity and her struggle to deal with grief. Through families lost and found, this own-voices story celebrates the resilience of the human heart and our need to know who we truly are.' (Publication summary)

'Remember daughter, the world is a lot bigger than anyone knows. There are things that science may never explain. Maybe some things that shouldn’t be explained.

'Stacey and Laney are twins – mirror images of each other – and yet they’re as different as the sun and the moon. Stacey works hard at school, determined to get out of their small town. Laney skips school and sneaks out of the house to meet her boyfriend. But when Laney disappears one night, Stacey can’t believe she’s just run off without telling her.

'As the days pass and Laney doesn’t return, Stacey starts dreaming of her twin. The dreams are dark and terrifying, difficult to understand and hard to shake, but at least they tell Stacey one key thing – Laney is alive. It’s hard for Stacey to know what’s real and what’s imagined and even harder to know who to trust. All she knows for sure is that Laney needs her help.

'Stacey is the only one who can find her sister. Will she find her in time?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.