Two sixteen-year-old girls in Australia come together at an outdoor semester of school, before university--one thinking about boys and growing up, the other about death and grief, but somehow they must help each other to find themselves.
For Van Uoc Phan, fantasies fell into two categories: nourishing, or pointless. Daydreaming about Billy Gardiner, for example? Pointless. It always left her feeling sick, as though she'd eaten too much sugar. Van Uoc doesn't believe in fairies, zombies, vampires, Father Christmas - or magic wishes. She believes in keeping a low profile: real life will start when school finishes. But when she attracts the attention of Billy Gardiner, she finds herself in an unwelcome spotlight. Not even Jane Eyre...
Orphaned at four years old, Australian sixteen-year-old Winter de Salis returns to her childhood home in an attempt to find out about her dead parents and her own past.
'A gripping, human story set against the backdrop of a chillingly plausible future here.' - Sean Williams'A stirring and century-spanning adventure story that vividly shows how the future is created by our mistakes, our triumphs, and our love.' - Scott WesterfeldSixteen-year-old Tegan is just like every other girl living in 2027 - she's happiest when playing the guitar, she's falling in love for the first time, and she's joining her friends to protest the wrongs of the world: environmental colla...
This is an intriguing YA urban fantasy in the tradition of Holly Black and Wicked Lovely. Set in New Zealand, Ellie's main concerns at her boarding school are hanging out with her best friend Kevin, her crush on the mysterious Mark, and her paper deadline. That is, until a mysterious older woman seems to set her sights on Kevin, who is Maori, and has more than just romantic plans for him. In an effort to save him, Ellie is thrown into the world of Maori lore, and eventually finds herself in an a...
Winner of the Margaret Mahy Award "Some rivers should not be swum in. Some rivers hold secrets that can never be told." Te Arepa is an adventurous Maori boy, bound to the history, customs and rituals of his people. Yet when he comes upon a giant eel while fishing, he is convinced the creature is a taniwha, or water demon, and follows it. Yet what Te Arepa finds in the river is far different, far more sinister. And it will change his life forever. Te Arepa has always been curious about experienci...
School is tough enough without throwing a hijab into the mix... Amal is a 16-year-old Melbourne teen with all the usual obsessions about boys, exams, chocolate and magazines. She's also a Muslim, struggling to honour the Islamic faith in a society that doesn't understand it. The story of her decision to "shawl up" and its attendant anxieties (like how much eyeliner to wear) is funny, surprising and touching by turns. Explorin...
From the award-winning author of Nona & Me comes a stunning new novel about two teenagers separated by cultural differences, their parents' expectations and twenty kilometres of barbed-wire fence. Is it possible for two very different teenagers to fall in love despite high barbed-wire fences and a political wilderness between them? Anahita is passionate, curious and determined. She is also an Iranian asylum seeker who is only allowed out of detention to attend school. On weekdays, during schoo...
The Price of Pandemonium (Black Skies, #2)
by Sasha A Linderson
From acclaimed author Makiia Lucier, a dazzling, romantic fantasy inspired by Pacific Island mythology. In the old tales, it is written that the egg of a seadragon, dragonfruit, holds within it the power to undo a person’s greatest sorrow. But as with all things that offer hope when hope had gone, the tale came with a warning. Every wish demands a price. Hanalei of Tamarind is the cherished daughter of an old island family. But when her father steals a seadragon egg meant for an ailing princ...
A lone band of survivors fight back against a brutal army of invaders who have destroyed their country, murdering their family and friends. It's time for revenge, but they must face up to the reality that if they attack when the opportunity arises, the chances of survival are not high.