Library Matters

'Safe Haven' by Shankari Chandran

Just arrived ! 

A fascinating new novel to NHS Library

Safe Haven by Shankari Chandran is a novel that centres around Sister Fina, a Carmelite nun. It highlights the dangers of seeking asylum in Australia and the conditions in our detention centres. 

Safe Haven is about displacement and seeking refuge but ultimately is a story about finding home and the lengths you will go to find safety and love.

This is a story with a twist!

I enjoyed reading this book at my local Book Club and am pleased it is now in our school library. 

Highly recommended for Year 10+ 

5 STARS

Mrs Vidler (SAO Library Assistant) 

'Into the Mouth of the Wolf' by Erin Gough

Honour Book  - Older Readers 2025 CBCA Book Week Awards

This novel begins as - well almost ‘just a fun family adventure’ – with mother and daughter. But soon the reader realises that there is something mysterious, with past secrets looming, about Rohan and Iris’s Road Trip. They are being followed, chased, targeted - and the adventure becomes a nightmare! 

Beginning as what I thought was ‘reality fiction’ this mystery soon becomes a dystopian, science fiction, environmental disaster, ‘bad guys’ tale. I really enjoyed the way “Into the Mouth of the Wolf” twisted and turned, between TWO worlds, and the thrill of the chase, as the characters followed the clues to what was an exciting detective investigation into missing people, organised crime and tragic deaths, all set in futuristic surroundings. The language and sheer pace of the novel kept me engaged, even though I am not a complete fan of science fiction.

 I really liked the characters as they processed the drama unravelling before them, found deep friendships and even love! Iris and Lena, in the end, had to enter ‘into the mouth of the wolf’ to survive. 

A triumph! Well worth CBCA Book Week Shortlist….in fact I believe this Young Adult novel by Australian author, Erin Gough, should have won this year’s Book Week Awards!

Highly recommended for Year 9+ 

5 STARS

Mrs Gilmour (Teacher Librarian) 

Mrs Lynne Gilmour 

School Librarian