Just as authors create books, books create authors — and these essays by thirty-one writers for young people offer a fascinating glimpse at the books that inspired them the most.What if you could look inside your favorite authors’ heads and see the book that led them to become who they are today? What was the book that made them fall in love, or made them understand something for the first time? What was the book that made them feel challenged in ways they never kn...

Adventure, danger and mystery from the award-winning Ted Dawe. ‘The year mum died and Dad went mad I was packed off to a farm for a while.’ The first sentence sets the scene for this tender and dramatic story. But this is no ordinary farm: our narrator’s Aunt Lorna, Uncle Frank and five cousins belong to the Jerusalem League, a William Blake cult. Their house is unusual, in that the rooms are hexagons – six-sided – as are the doors and windows, the dinner table and plates....

Meet Jazz and Roxy and their mates, kids living on the edge, in a gritty YA novel by the author of the New Zealand Post Award-winning Thunder Road. In K Road we’re introduced to a scattering of marginalised, demi-underworld characters whose lives connect and collide in a gripping narrative. K Road is peopled by transients, surfies, gang members, street kids, P-heads, kids on the run: an ever-expanding,jostling urban tribe. Dawe’s...

A collection of 32 personal stories.The Book That Made Me is a celebration of the books that influenced some of the most acclaimed authors from Australia and the world. Edited by Judith Ridge, it features non-fiction stories from 32 inspiring and award-winning authors including Markus Zusak, Jaclyn Moriarty, Shaun Tan, Mal Peet, Ambelin Kwaymullina, Simon French, Alison Croggon, Fiona Wood, Bernard Beckett, Ursula Dubosarsky, Rachael Craw, Sue Lawson, Benj...

This new edition of the bestselling guide contains a supplementary chapter, plus fully updated booklists.'No matter where they go, children lost in books will always find their way home.'Your child deserves the best reading teacher in the world. And the one person who will read more than anyone else to help your child learn to read... is you.In this clear and humour-filled guide, Paul Jennings cuts through the jargon and the controversies to show every parent ...

**ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S 100 BEST YA BOOKS OF ALL TIME • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A PARADE BEST KIDS BOOK OF ALL TIMEA modern-day classic from Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli, this beloved celebration of individuality is now an original movie on Disney+!**Stargirl. From the day she arrives at quiet Mica High in a burst of color and sound, the hallways hum with the murmur of “Stargirl, Stargirl.” She captures Leo Borlock’ s heart with just one s...

The Carnegie Medal and Guardian Fiction Prize-winning classic YA novel reissued for a new generation. With an introduction by Malorie Blackman and all-new material exploring the book's controversial history.It was a love story. Me, Gemma and junk. I thought it was going to last forever.Tar loves Gemma, but Gemma doesn't want to be tied down. She wants to fly. But no one can fly forever. One day, finally, you have to come down. Melvin Burgess’ most ...

As a young man from a loving, middle class family living in a small English village, Ben Rogers appeared to have it all….but then he found drugs. As his life descended into chaos and despair, Ben began to chronicle his daily struggles with the aid of a video camera. He was hopeful that one day his experiences could be used to educate others. Ben lost his battle against addiction and died when he was 34 as a result of medical withdrawal. His family decided to release the tapes in the hope t...

"Australia's king of young adult fiction" The AustralianDreamed about you again. Like I do most nights.Tony writes letters. To Miffy.And breaks your heart.Your life's a solo run, and even the crowd that's cheering you want you to fall over. They love when you win, but they love it even better when you lose.Telling powerful stories has become the hallmark of John Marsden's writing. But even John Marsden has ...

Ben is staying with Grandad. Grandad may be a senior citizen and drive everywhere very, very slowly, but that doesn't mean he's dull. Far from it! There's great excitement when he has a go on on Ben's scooter before he finds out where the brake is, with dramatic results. He takes Ben to the seaside where they get soaking wet and nearly get into trouble at the amusement arcade. But Grandad comes to the rescue of the Firework Night party for the Cub Scouts and Brownies after vandals seem to ...

Self-assured, assertive kids are not only less likely to be picked on by their peers, they're also less likely to bully others. But it's not always easy for children to find a healthy middle ground between passivity and aggression. If your child is a frequent target for bullies, or has begun to tease and take advantage of other kids, the easy and effective activities in Cool, Calm, and Confident can help. These simple exercises help children stand up for themselves without...

Fantasy has been an important and much-loved part of children's literature for hundreds of years, yet relatively little has been written about it. Children's Fantasy Literature traces the development of the tradition of the children's fantastic - fictions specifically written for children and fictions appropriated by them - from the sixteenth to the twenty-first century, examining the work of Lewis Carroll, L. Frank Baum, C. S. Lewis, Roald Dahl, J. K. Rowling and others from across the En...