Children's Books for Older Readers
A Pocketful of Eyes
Lili Wilkinson (author)
Allen&Unwin, Australia: May 2011; 311pp
ISBN: 9781742376196
Genres: adventure, crime, mystery, realistic fiction
Issues: friendship, identity
When Bee lands a job in the taxidermy department at the Museum of Natural History she is delighted. Her quiet, scientific job seems a different world to her mother's obsession with fantasy and role-playing games. But a dead man in the Red Rotunda, an unpleasant conservator, a mysterious recluse and the museum being short of funding set of Bee's internal alarm.
Pig Boy
J. C. Burke (author)
Woolshed Press, Australia: May 2011; 322pp
ISBN: 9781741663129
Genres: realistic fiction, young adult
Issues: bullying, crime, community, family, identity, justice
When Damon Styles is expelled from school on his 18th birthday, six weeks before his HSC exams, he realises that he really cannot trust anybody. A lock on his wardrobe, renewing his firearms licence, a job with the Pigman. These are all part of Damon's plans for survival.
The Scorpio Races
Maggie Stiefvater (author)
Scholastic Press, USA: Australian release November 2011
ISBN: 9780545224901
Genres: adventure, fantasy
Issues: family, friendship, identity, love
It is the time of the Scorpio Races, where riders battle wills with the unpredictable water horses, the mythical carnivorous horses that live in the sea. Some riders live; some die; only one can win.
Forever
Maggie Stiefvater (author)
Scholastic Press, USA: Australian release August 2011; 386pp
ISBN: 9780545259088
Genres: adventure, fantasy, romance
Issues: environment, friendship, family, identity
Sam spends his days waiting for summer and the heat that will bring Grace back to him. When she sheds her lupine form Grace finds that life has become even more complicated.
Linger
Maggie Stiefvater (author)
Scholastic Press, USA: Australian release November 2010; 360pp
ISBN: 9780545123280
Genres: adventure, fantasy, romance
Issues: friendship, family, identity
Sam isn't quite used to being fully human yet, still expecting every chilly day to trigger his change into a wolf and tear him away from his beloved Grace.
Shiver
Maggie Stiefvater (author)
Scholastic Press, USA: Australian release November 2009; 392pp
ISBN: 9780545123266
Genres: adventure, fantasy, romance
Issues: friendship, family, identity
Grace has always been fascinated by the wolves that haunt the woods near her home. Even after she was mauled by the pack as a child she's felt a special connection to them; especially to the wolf with the bright golden eyes.
Shadows on the Moon
Zoe Marriott (author)
Walker Books, UK: Australian release October 2011; 454pp
ISBN: 9781406318159
Genres: adventure, historical fiction, romance
Issues: family, friendship, identity, loyalty
Suzume's life falls apart when her father is charged with treason and brutally executed in front of her, her cousin shot down beside her as they flee; she miraculously escapes, they do not. She and her mother only survive due to the protection of a powerful Japanese Lord.
Saving Private Sarbi
Sandra Lee (author)
Allen&Unwin, Australia: 2011
ISBN: 9781742375571 13+
Genres: animals, biography, factual text, military, non-fiction
Issues: animal welfare, war
The Explosives Detection Dogs (EDDs) of the Australian Army are highly respected, much loved members of military bases to which they're assigned. The work done by an EDD and its handler saves lives. So when Sarbi, a Newfoundland-Labrador cross, goes missing in action in Afghanistan it is not only her handler who is devastated.
Cooking The Books
Kerry Greenwood (author)
Allen & Unwin, Australia: October 2011; 312pp
ISBN: 9781742370217
Genre: crime
Issues: ethics, trust
Corinna Chapman, baker and reluctant investigator, is supposed to be taking a holiday. Her apprentice Jason, he of the superlative muffins, is absent with leave, learning how to surf. Her bakery is closed.
Mammon
J.B. Thomas (author)
Random House, Australia: September 2011; 376pp
ISBN: 9781742750743
Genres: adventure, paranormal fiction
Issues: family, identity, teamwork
Just as they are beginning to discover that they have extraordinary abilities, Grace and Joe Callahan have to endure the death of their parents who died trying to protect them. It seems their parents, too, had unusual gifts and a previous life that their children knew nothing about: they fought demons.
More Articles...
Page 1 of 17
«StartPrev12345678910NextEnd»Just in...
Did you know?
Nothing contributes so much to tranquilizing the mind as a steady purpose - a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. |
