Australia

Materials from Australia

A Straight Line To My Heart

School is out forever, and Tiff is hoping her job at the local paper will lead to something more… But ‘The Shark’ soon puts her straight on what it takes to become a hard-nosed reporter like him. At home, Reggie – the only grandad she’s ever known – has quit the smokes and diagnosed himself as cactus. Then her best friend, Kayla, hits her with some big news. And into all this stumbles Davey, the first boy who really wants to know her. Tiff is smart with words and rarely does tears, but in one short week she discovers that words don’t always get you there and don’t let you say all the stuff from deep in your heart. A funny, poignant, heartwarming story of first love, first job, friends, family and the inevitability of change in the first summer out of school.

Featured in Volume VI, Issue 2 of WOW Review.

Jellicoe Road

“What do you want from me?” he asks. What I want from every person in my life, I want to tell him. More. Abandoned by her mother on Jellicoe Road when she was eleven, Taylor Markham, now seventeen, is finally being confronted with her past. But as the reluctant leader of her boarding school dorm, there isn’t a lot of time for introspection. And while Hannah, the closest adult Taylor has to family, has disappeared, Jonah Griggs is back in town, moody stares and all. In this absorbing story by Melina Marchetta, nothing is as it seems and every clue leads to more questions as Taylor tries to work out the connection between her mother dumping her, Hannah finding her then and her sudden departure now, a mysterious stranger who once whispered something in her ear, a boy in her dreams, five kids who lived on Jellicoe Road eighteen years ago, and the maddening and magnetic Jonah Griggs, who knows her better than she thinks he does. If Taylor can put together the pieces of her past, she might just be able to change her future.

Only Ever Always

The notes of an old music box connects two girls from very different worlds–Clara, who struggles to survive poverty and violence in a troubled city, and Claire, whose ordinary life is beset by grief–in a place where neither can be sure what is real.

Kangaroo

It is important for children to understand the cycle of life, while learning that with such understanding comes responsibility. A responsibility to the environment.The “Picture Roo Book Series” does just that. In each title, Pauline Reilly, aided by the illustrations of Will Rolland, explains the life cycle of an animal native to the Australian region. Written in a style simple enough for younger children, but containing a wealth of facts, these books will aid in shaping a positive view of wildlife and the world.For children who wish to learn about exotic animals, and who want to gain a better understanding of the natural world they live in, the “Picture Roo Book Series” will open doors to understanding.

Penguin Island

This book tells the story of Little Penguin, a fairy penguin who lives in Port Phillip Bay, and what happened when oil was spilt into the Bay. Fortunately for Little Penguin, there are people who gather the dying birds, clean away the oil pollution, and care for them until they are able to be returned to their island home.