Audrey of the Outback series
Plays
Novels for 7 - 10 year olds
Historical Fiction
Horror Novels for 8 - 12 year olds
Novels for 9- 12 year olds
Jokes and Cartoon Books
Picture Books
Short Stories
Speculative Fiction
Spy Girl / Undercover Girl Series
Vibes Series
Audrey of the Outback series
Audrey of the Outback
The Australian outback of 1930 is Audrey's backyard.
Audrey is a girl with a lot on her mind. Her dad has gone away to work, her brother Price thinks he's too old for games, and little Dougie likes pretending to be a bird. So together with her best friend Stumpy, Audrey ponders some of life's big questions - like whether being a swaggie is lonelier than being a girl, and whether it's better to be a sheep or a cow.
ISBN 978-1921272189, Little Hare Books 2008
Illustrated by Ann James
Plays
Break a Leg
These six short plays for middle school students are based on previously published short stories by Christine Harris. They have strange, funny and thought-provoking plot twists, and can be used for in-class drama workshops, or performed as radio, TV or live stage productions.
ISBN: 1 875659 17 X, Australian Association for the Teaching of English 2001.
AATE Bookshop
Novels for 7 -10 year olds
Cool Bananas
'Claudia visits her grandpa for the first time, expecting an old man with a walking cane who smells like cabbage. But Grandpa is an embarrassing surprise! How will she survive the holiday? And will Grandpa discover her secret?'
ISBN: 9 780733 321108, ABC Books 2007
Illustrated by Bettina Guthridge
Teacher Notes
Reviews
Hot Shots series
Brain Drain #1
Lucy's brother, Hamish is acting terribly strange. Lucy's parents say he's just growing up, but Lucy is certain a computer has swapped brains with her brother. How can she get the old Hamish back again?
ISBN 0 7336 1276 8
Reviews
Windbag #2
Zeb has a terrible problem. He can't stop hiccupping. His friends offer weird cures, but nothing seems to work. The worst thing is, his hiccups are filling him up with air and he's turning into a human windbag. How can Zeb cure his hiccups?
ISBN 0 7336 1274 1
Psycho Gran #3
Hodder Headline Hotshots #3, junior novel, (humour 2001)
Holly thinks she's alone, but when the floorboards start creaking she discovers a strange elderly lady in her house. The old lady doesn't know her name or where she lives, and she loves telling riddles. Will Holly's family turn up to rescue her in time? And will she discover the true identity of the mysterious woman?
ISBN 0 7336 1275 X Hodder Headline
Awards: WAYRBA, short-listed Brain Drain
Reviews
Hairy Legs
He's hairy, wears boots, football shorts and a T-shirt. His nickname is Hairy Legs. He has a secret. Fairies aren't always girls. "I'm sick of everyone expecting us to wear fluffy dresses and prance around mushrooms." He also has a problem. "I have to do three good deeds before the next full moon. If I don't, I get the punishment."
ISBN: 009 184072 4, Random House Australia 2001
Published in Italy by Salani
Awards: Aurealis Awards for Speculative Fiction, short-listed
Reviews
Jamil's Shadow
Since losing his parents, Jamil has kept himself apart from the rest of his village. He makes a living by looking after his herd of cattle, which he takes up the grassy slopes of the mountains. But when a stray dog follows him home one day, he finds he can't get rid of it. Can Jamil risk letting anything get close to him again?
ISBN: 0 14 131210 6, Penguin, novel 2001
Awards: Children's Book Council of Australia
Short-listed for 'Book of the Year - Younger Readers'
SA Kanga Awards 2003, Focus Book
Reviews
Teacher notes
Historical Fiction
Foreign Devil
Long fingers from the past reach out to Tyler Norton, crossing boundaries of logic and time. In China, he finds reality and illusion are difficult to separate. Abduction by pirates, a desperate bid for freedom, and an irresistible obsession: "He wouldn't like to bet on their chances of getting out of this alive"
ISBN: 0091838992, Random House 1999
Awards: Aurealis Awards for Speculative Fiction, Winner Best Horror Novel
Teacher notes
Australian Online Bookshop
Baptism of Fire
Hannah Stanton has no family now, except for these strangers who live among cannibals. Her first impression of the island is of white sand and waving palms. But the jungle hides deception and death.
ISBN: 0091831741, Random House 1996, Readers 10+
Awards: CBC Notable Book, Christian Schools Award 1998, nominated
Reviews
Teacher notes
Outback: The Diary of Jimmy Porter 1927-1928
Jimmy Porter has moved to the middle of nowhere. His uncle's family live in a wattle-and-daub hut, a days' walk away from even the nearest neighbour. Life in 1927 in the outback is tough - but the people who live there can cope with just about anything. But when disaster strikes, how can they get help?
ISBN: 1 86504 850 X, Scholastic, My Story series 2005
Teacher notes
Australian Online Bookshop
Strike!
It's 1928 and the Australian waterfront has come to a standstill. There's a strike! And George Dobson knows that when his father is arrested, the whole family will end up paying... What happens when, suddenly on a matter of principle, your enemy turns out to be someone you've been calling a friend?
ISBN: 0091829178, Random House 1994
Awards: Children's Book Council of Australia, Notable Book
Halfway Round The World
Matthew Francis has made a promise and he intends to keep it. He has promised his dying father that he will still sail to a new life in Australia. But Matthew is more scared than he has ever been in his life. What will be find halfway round the world?
ISBN: 0 7312 3246 1, Rigby, novel 2001.
Teacher notes
Harcourt Education Online Bookshop
Horror Novels for 8-12 year olds
Torture Chamber
Ms Dwale licked her lips. 'Anything can happen. It's much better to stay in your room when it's dark.' She stood between me and freedom, her eyes like muddy pools. 'Welcome to The Torture Chamber!'
ISBN: 009183306X, Random House 1997
This book is also available as part of the omnibus Freaks
Slime Time
There was a flash of movement as a large lump of something cold and sticky plopped onto my right shoulder. Terror gripped me as I tried to shake it loose...
ISBN 0733604870, Hodder Headline 1997, French Publisher, Hachette Jeunesse
Slime Time is currently out of print, but this book is part of the omnibus Freaks.
A Real Corpse
Minding elderly people can be time-consuming. More so than Derfla can possibly imagine when she begins to work for Miss Brennan. No amount of money is enough for what this old woman wants.
ISBN 0207191433, HarperCollins 1997, Shivers Series #3
Teacher notes on horror genre (pdf)
Shivers is currently out of print but can be borrowed from libraries
(Three novels, Torture Chamber, Wally the Undead and Slime Time in one big volume.)
They're all around us. Some freaks peel off their skin, keep cats that gouge human faces, tell tales that no-one believes, or hope their sister's pet bat won't give away the family secret...
ISBN 978-0-646-47881-4, Launch Press 2007
Teacher notes on horror genre (pdf)
Read an excerpt
Reviews
Novels for 9 - 12 year olds
Mask of the Jackal
Morgan Steele is fascinated by Ancient Egypt and mummies. Until he is alone in a museum basement and strange things begin to happen.
'There are three mummified bodies down here. I know they're thousands of years old and can't hurt me. Yet pictures flash into my mind of skin torn from faces, of gaping holes where mouths should be. I begin to sweat.'
What starts as a school assignment ends with Morgan involved in the disappearance of a mummy, kidnapping, madness, a terrifying attempt to escape danger and a search for immortality.
ISBN 978-0-646-48531-7
Click here to read an excerpt
15% Discount off RRP
Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature
Blog interview and review by Sharon Pajka-West
Teacher Notes for Mask of the Jackal
Jamil's Shadow
Since losing his parents, Jamil has kept himself apart from the rest of his village. He makes a living by looking after his herd of cattle, which he takes up the grassy slopes of the mountains. But when a stray dog follows him home one day, he finds he can't get rid of it. Can Jamil risk letting anything get close to him again?
ISBN: 0 14 131210 6, Penguin, novel 2001
Awards: Children's Book Council of Australia
Short-listed for 'Book of the Year - Younger Readers'
SA Kanga Awards 2003, Focus Book
Reviews
Teacher notes
Jokes and Cartoon books
The Little Book Of Elephants
From fascinating facts to sensational stories, jesting jokes and wondrous websites, here is everything you've ever wanted to know about the largest member of the animal kingdom. You'll be laughing till you can fit an elephant in your fridge.
ISBN: 073 3611729, Hodder Headline, illustrations by Terry Denton
Oddballs
Discover how to: avoid washing your hands; discover what Vegemite has to do with the birth of a baby; get away with picking your nose; tell the difference between Mums and Dads; learn why it pays to be kind to snails selling encyclopedias; go "ha, ha, thump" (laugh your head off).
ISBN: 0091837553, Random House 1998, jokes and funny stories
Illustrated by David Macintosh
Oddballs is currently out of print, but can be borrowed from libraries.
Trees in my Ears
"My mum knows someone who had twins and they were both as big as flour bags. I heard her tell the Avon lady."Mary, 10, Australia.
ISBN: 186254283X, Wakefield Press 1992
A
collection of children's thoughts from around the world.
Awards: Australian Book Publishers' Association, best designed paperback 1992
Trees in my Ears is currently out of print but can be borrowed from libraries
Picture Books
Snowy's Rescue
Friends come in all shapes and sizes. They look and sound different. But there is something they have in common, as Finn, Snowy and their neighbours find out.
A warm story about friendship and co-operation.
ISBN 978-0-646-48079-4, Launch Press, 2007
Sleeping In
Sam was tired. He wanted to sleep in. But when you live in a small house with a noisy family, sleeping in can be a problem!
ISBN: 0091832896, Random House 1997
Illustrated by Craig Smith.
Awards: Children's Book Council of Australia, Notable Book.
I Don't Want To Go To School
Kate is scared to go to school. So is Li. Then Kate has an idea!
ISBN: 009 1838800, Random House
I
illustrated by Craig Smith.
Awards: Psychologists for World Peace Literature Awards, recommended
Simultaneous Storytime book 2003, CBC
Notable Book.
These two books are currently out of print but can be borrowed from libraries.
Short Stories
Fortune Cookies
Sarah has nightmares. Huong is threatened. Miki longs to follow her dreams, but she might destroy the dreams of those close to her... Halil's father disappears... the daughter of Ta-wha risks darkness and wild animals for a taste of freedom.
ISBN: 0091834872, Random House 1998, short stories for readers 10+
Awards: WAYBRA, Older Readers' Section, short-listed
Reviews
Teacher notes
Australian Online Bookshop
Outer Face
Close encounters with people speaking in code, walking through mirrors, dropping in from outer space, coming back from the dead, turning into animals.
ISBN: 0091826578, Random House 1992.
Awards: Crow , short-listed (Children Rate Outstanding Writers, SA)
CBC Notable Book
Random House Australia's biggest selling fiction title 1993
Reviews
Teacher notes
Buried Secrets
It's okay to look at a girl's bra, but you never talk about it... Jeremy reckoned Rod's socks caused the hole in the ozone layer... they had to call a teacher to cut away the carpet so Trudy could get up off the floor.
ISBN: 0091827485, Random House 1993
Awards: Kroc, NT, shortlisted, Crow Awards, short-listed, WAYRBA, short-listed.
Australian Online Bookshop
Party Animals
Seen anyone who looks like this... 'Hairy-faced, pointy teeth, may be into dog biscuits... pale skin, dark eyes, transparent body... eats raw yak steaks, attacks nostrils with tent pegs.'
ISBN: 0091834643, Random House 1995.
First published as Widdershins
Awards: Children's Book Council of Australia, Notable Book, WAYRBA, short-listed
Reviews
Warped
These characters have a few problems... Jan: Think about me, left here like a freak; a thing on show in a museum. Aaron: You've turned yourself into a corpse and me into a murderer. Jon: Do your legs hurt from running through my dreams? Holly: Last year Jodie Willis dropped the pillow she'd stashed over her stomach. Looked like she'd given birth to a bag of fluff.
ISBN: 009 1840732, Random House
Reviews
Speculative Fiction
Omega
'They put us to sleep when they launched us into the darkness of space and time. Painless? I suppose it was. Until the Etlak brought us back to consciousness and I realised that I didn't know where my home was, how far away, or in which direction.
Except for Delphinium, I've left behind everyone I care about. They're dead. All of them. I can never go home. Oh, but I want to. So much.
While my body was in stasis, my life took a quantum leap and I don't know what will happen to those of us who have survived. Maybe I've gone from one death to another... '
ISBN: 0 09 183970 X, Random House 2000
readers 12+
Awards: Children's Peace Literature Award, short-listed
Aurealis Awards for SF, YA division, short-listed
Teacher notes
Head Space
'There it is again. That voice. What is it, who is it? It seemed to come from inside my own head.'
Tenille has a close encounter with a strange being called Zem. Closer than she could ever imagine. Sinister scientists are hunting her. She needs to outrun them. Outwit them. 'My head spins as I imagine bulky men in black smashing down the front door. Have they discovered my secret?'
ISBN: 0 14 330067 9, Penguin Books, novel, 2004
readers 10+
Teacher notes
Countdown
What do you do when you've just found out that there is an asteroid hurtling towards Earth and you have only forty-eight hours left to live?
ISBN: 1862912696, Omnibus Books 1995
readers 12+
French publisher, Hachette Jeunesse, retitled Fin Du Monde
Deadly Friends
Cloning, brain transplants, mind reading, and a perfectly ordered world sometimes comically out of control.
ISBN: 0091834864, Random House 1997
With Claire Carmichael and Margaret Clark
readers 10+
Deadly Friends is currently out of print but can be borrowed from libraries
Pitt Man
An alien who looks like Brad Pitt... and Justine starts acting as if she's just been transported to another world.
ISBN 009183287X, Random House 1996
readers 10+
Pitt Man is currently out of print but can be borrowed from libraries
Spy Girl / Undercover Girl Series
Secrets #1 ISBN: 1 86291 560 1
Fugitive #2 ISBN 1 86291 572 5
Nightmare #3 ISBN 1 86291 573 3
Danger #4 ISBN 1 86291 574 1
Twisted #5 ISBN 9780646473925
Jesse Sharpe lives in a world of secrets. As a child prodigy and undercover agent, part of the top secret Operation I.Q., she is sent out on dangerous assignments.
Thrillers for readers 9+
Books 1-4 published by Omnibus Books, Scholastic Australia.
Number 5, Twisted, is self-published, printed by Griffin Press.
Published in USA, Canada as Undercover Girl, Scholastic US UK, Girl Undercover, Scholastic UK Brazil, Spy, Editoria Fundamento Japan, Iwasaki Shoten Publishing
Awards: YALSA, American Library Association, Quick Picks for Young Adult Readers'.
The first three books in the US edition Undercover Girl, short-listed.
Click here to to see the Spy/Undercover Girl page with quizzes, crossword, spy codes to break, read an excerpt from Spy Girl #5: Twisted , plus cool spy and science weblinks.
Vibes Series
Jigsaw #1 ISBN 0733608841
Shadows #2 ISBN 0-7336-0885-X
Masks #3 ISBN 0-7336-0886-8
Suspiscion #4 ISBN 0-7336-0887-6
Brittany Cook wakes up in a hospital room, suffering from amnesia, Brittany Cooke begins to experience weird vibes. Flashes of events, feelings of people she has never met, things she just couldn't possibly know... why can't she remember anything about her former life? Why are her parents so reluctant to let her out of the house?
Hodder Headline, thriller for readers 9+
Awards: WAYRBA (Western Australian Young Readers' Award), Jigsaw and Shadows short-listed
