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Back to School – or not, as the case may be…
So I’ve had these ones for a while but thought they would be more usefully timed for the start of the school year so was going to post them next week as Queensland schools were due to resume on 24th January. That was the case right up to a few hours ago when the growing…
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No Hearts of Gold – Jackie French
Harper Collins December 2021 ISBN: 9781460757925 ISBN 10: 1460757920 Imprint: HarperCollins AU List Price: 29.99 AUD If you’ve read this blog before no doubt, you have noticed my immense admiration for the talent of Jackie French and, in particular, her outstanding historical fiction. Her seemingly effortless recreation of the past always has the power to transport the reader into…
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The Magical Bookshop – Katja Frixe. Illustrated by Florentine Prechtel. Translated by Ruth Ahmedzal Kemp.
Bloomsbury September 2021 Imprint: OneWorld ISBN: 9781786075666 RRP: $14.99 Such a sweet and happy book this is! Translated from the German with great dexterity while retaining just the right amount of that quirkiness of expression that European children’s books often have, this is just a delight from start to finish. Mrs Owl’s bookshop is full…
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Cato’s Can Can – Juliet Sampson & Katrina Fisher
Ford St Publishing August 2021 ISBN: 9781025804751 RRP: $24.95 Cato finds plenty of dancers from the local dance school but just as he seems to get close they all disappear. Finally, he is brave enough to go right inside the building and there they all are – the ballet dancers who leap, the rappers who…
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We Were Wolves – Jason Cockcroft
Walker Books Australia June 2021 ISBN: 9781839130571Imprint: Andersen PressAustralian RRP: $26.99New Zealand RRP: $28.99 There are some seriously fabulous YA books coming out of the UK recently – and I’m not trying to take anything away from our local authors at all – it’s just that every single UK title I’ve read, probably in the…
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The Tea Ladies of St Jude’s Hospital – Joanna Nell
Hachette September 2021 ISBN: 9780733642906 RRP: $32.99 Hilary, Joy and Chloe could not, on first impressions, be any more different to each other and yet, as their friendship develops, they discover that each is trying desperately to hide a secret from the wider world. Hilary has been the manager of St Jude’s cafeteria for years.…
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Worst. Holiday. Ever. – Charlie Higson
Penguin AustraliaISBN: 9780241414781 May 2021 ISBN: 9780241414781 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $14.99 See, I associate Charlie Higson’s name with Young Bond, thrilling spy adventures, evil villains – you know the sort of thing so this absolutely hilarious book took me completely by surprise. Stan is the only child of pretty ordinary parents and lives in a pretty ordinary suburban house…
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Pax, Journey Home – Sara Pennypacker
Harper Collins September 2021 ISBN: 9780008470289 ISBN 10: 0008470286 Imprint: HarperCollins GB List Price: 19.99 AUD When Peter joins the Water Warriors, a group determined to repair the ravages of the war, his primary intention it to work his way back to his old home, although he knows there is nothing left for him there. He desperately tries to…
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What Zola Did on Sunday – Melina Marchetta
Penguin September 2021 ISBN: 9781760895228 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $12.99 This series has just been pure joy from the very first word with each new story building on the warmth, friendship and community of Zola’s neighbourhood. Now that we have finished the entire week with Zola I feel quite sad but I’m hopeful that Melina might take Zola and…
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