by Cath Crowley
The Messenger, by the highly acclaimed author Markus Zusak, is a cryptic journey filled with laughter, fists and love.
‘The Messenger is comedic, romantic, thrilling, confronting, playful, deceptive . . . While it shares qualities with Nick Hornby’s How To Be Good and Iain Softley’s film K-Pax, it is cleverer, subtler and more profound than either and, as a bonus, determinedly Australian’
AUSTRALIAN BOOK REVIEW
‘Zusak’s honesty, openness and humour infuse this intriguingly structured novel . . . The originality of the story, its powerful themes and the questions it poses make The Messenger a meaningful reading experience. Highly recommended’
MAGPIES
‘strong, punchy and well drafted . . . an exhilarating and intriguing read’
READING TIME
‘affirmative, poignant and carefully considered . . . a remarkable tale of friendship and human connection and an absorbing and inspiring read’
GOOD READING
Markus Zusak
When Dogs Cry
‘You’re a bit of a lonely bastard, aren’t you?’ said Rube. ‘Yeah,’ I answered. ‘I guess I am.’
But Cameron Wolfe is hungry. He’s sick of being the filthy, torn, half-smiling, half-scowling underdog. He’s finally met a girl. He’s got words in his spirit. And now he’s out to prove that there’s nothing more beautiful than an underdog who’s willing to stand up.
A tough but poetic street story by the acclaimed author of Fighting Ruben Wolfe.
‘a surprisingly stylish package . . . convincing in its handling of teenage anxiety and ambition’
SUNDAY AGE
‘Markus Zusak . . . shows that the future is in most competent hands’
GOLD COAST BULLETIN
‘stands alone as an absorbing, deeply satisfying coming of age novel’
MAGPIES
‘this is one to make you laugh, cry and believe’
SPECIALIST CHILDREN’S BOOKSELLERS CATALOGUE
Susanna van Essen
The Tiger Project
Bella woke with a strangled feeling of panic. She had been trapped in the glass specimen jar again. She fumbled for the switch on her reading light and told her racing heart to slow down. It was only a stupid dream. Bella breathed deeply and tried to relax her frowning face muscles and tense shoulders. That thylacine pup seemed to be haunting her.
What begins with a visit to an exhibition on Australia’s most famous extinct animals turns into something much more personal for Bella Brown – a search for identity.
Does Bella’s absent biological father have more influence on her life than her very present stepfather? Why would her best friend have a crush on one identical twin and not the other? And is there a right time to die? Who would have guessed a baby thylacine in a preserving jar could prompt so many big questions . . .
The tiger project could end up giving Bella a whole new perspective on love, genes and mad dogs with rabies.
‘Highly recommended’
EDUCARE NEWS
‘Impressive’
THE SUNDAY TASMANIAN
Scot Gardner
The Other Madonna
Madonna O’Dwyer is not the mother of the Messiah and she’s not a sex-powered pop diva. She’s a hardworking girl with a drama queen for a sister and a dad who sounds Irish when he’s drunk.
The mother who blessed (or cursed) her with her name died when she was young, leaving a hole in Madonna that, at seventeen, has become as raw as a decayed tooth.
Madonna’s friends think she can heal with her hands, but Madonna has her doubts. Her hands make pizzas and wash dishes. Her hands caress the boy and smash down the door. Her hands strangle demons from her past and pray for a spirited future.
The hands of Madonna.
The other Madonna.
A humorous novel about piercing, pizzas and the healing power of love from the highly acclaimed author of One Dead Seagull, White Ute Dreaming and Burning Eddy.
‘Scot Gardner has done such a convincing job . . . Madonna O’Dwyer is unique, enormously likeable and believable. In Gardner’s hands, her story is involving, moving, funny and immensely enjoyable. Highly recommended’
GOOD READING
‘Madonna is drawn with great compassion and sympathy’
THE AGE
Scot Gardner
Burning Eddy
‘Get a life, Fairy.’
In the country, where his fifteenth summer has burned the life from the grass, Daniel Fairbrother is searching. Looking for something that will make tomorrow seem worth the effort. Something that will fix the rot in his family tree. Stop it from falling apart under the weight of a thousand secrets.
Dan’s clues come from the animals. And the Dutch woman.
He works in her garden. Eddy’s eighty-six. She has a tattoo, a history, and can make music with her farts. She pays in cash and can read Dan’s mind.
In a shady corner of Eddy’s garden, Dan finds something growing . . .
Hope.
But something is burning.
‘I feel I could walk right on out the door and encounter Dan, Eddy or Wayne, the hero of Gardner’s first two novels, so fresh and seemingly complete is their creation’
AUSTRALIAN BOOKSELLER & PUBLISHER
‘Exquisite . . . an honest and perceptive account of growing up’
MAGPIES
Scot Gardner
White Ute Dreaming
Ernie has a good life. Never has to go to school. Never falls out of love. Never knows what it’s like to have his world turned upside down. Ernie’s a dog. Unlike Wayne. Wayne is sixteen. Trapped.
With a bite as bad as her bark, his mum could be mistaken for a drill sergeant. With a bottle in a brown paper bag, his dad could be mistaken for a lost cause. But Wayne has found his dream . . . a white ute, Kez, the swag and his yellow dog. To go bush. Live it.
Wayne’s best mates move. His favourite uncle dies. His dream takes a hammering. But at the bottom, if you’re going to survive, you’ve got to look up.
From the author of One Dead Seagull comes a tragicomedy about life, death and a mad-arsed dog.
‘reassuring and real’
VIEWPOINT
‘an absorbing, honest and thoughtful novel’
AUSTRALIAN BOOKSELLER & PUBLISHER
Scot Gardner
One Dead Seagull
I got a flash of Dad running at me screaming. The brick grabbed and dragged me into the blade. My head smacked into the cover. My arm got stuck at the back of the blade and I could feel it cutting me. Rasping the bone. Red dust. Red blood. Black.
At times life seems brutal to Wayne. His mum and dad have been best enemies since they broke up, he thinks he loves Mandy but she loves Phillip, and his best mate Den is a serious health hazard. Even if Wayne survives the booby-traps and accidents that face him, Den could still get them both killed!
But no matter what the odds, Wayne has a lot of living to do. He’s determined not to rot in the hot sand like a lone dead seagull.
From a fresh new voice comes a serious comedy about what happens when you make a truck-load of mistakes and a handful of gutsy decisions.
‘Entertaining and heartfelt . . . Scot Gardner presents pictures of youth with a compassion that endures’
VIEWPOINT
‘An often hilarious glimpse into a fifteen-year-old boy’s life . . . Gardner has the ability to describe very funny events’
MAGPIES
Charlotte Calder
Cupid Painted Blind
If people have been stuffing up love since Shakespeare’s time, what hope does Seph – or sefi_15 when she’s online – have with Tom? Look at her parents: they barely speak to each other since Nick moved out, and could her mum really have a ‘thing’ for their balding (not to mention married) neighbour? Even Seph’s best friend Pia – boy magnet – is having problems. The forces of love, like the unbearably hot summer, seem to be beyond anyone’s control.
And now a mysterio
us gremlin has invaded Seph’s chat room and is about to make her life a whole lot more difficult . . .
A tale of midsummer madness and first love from the highly acclaimed author of Settling Storms.
Praise for Settling Storms
‘A beautifully assured, engaging first novel – delightful and absorbing’
AGNES NIEUWENHUIZEN