From the Library

Each month Maidi purchases new books for the library. Here's more information about three new books available for borrowing.

I don't tell Mum and Sam anything about my weekends with Dad. It would be giving them tickets into that world. The world Dad and I have created. And I don't want to do that. It's ours. It's all we have. It's all we've been allowed since my parents got divorced.

Cate gets to spend every second weekend with her dad, and each time something special and surprising happens. Something that fires the creative spark that Cate channels into her writing.

And everything is fine until Cate's stepdad, Sam, gets offered his dream job in London and her mum decides they are going to move to England with him?...

Cate must decide what she wants for herself. She loves both her parents - but she must choose between them.

A warm and funny novel full of unexpected twists and turns, joy and heartbreak.

Review

Cate’s Mum and Dad are divorced but they are on good terms, and Cate spends every second weekend with her Dad. They always do something special or surprising on the weekends, and Cate loves it.

Cate’s Mum has a new partner, Sam, and when Sam gets offered a great new job in London, her Mum decides they are going with him. But what about her Dad, and her best friend Elise? And what does Cate really want for herself?

This is a beautifully written story that I read in one go, as I couldn't put it down.

Barry Jonsberg writes stories with heart, that are warm, funny and so easy to read. This is a story of family, friends, life, and all the unexpected ups and downs, and you will fall in love with Cate and her family and friends.

This story is a reminder to us all to enjoy every minute and never be too busy to see the fun in life, wherever it appears.

A great read for all those in Year 7 and up.

Description

Up close, the heritage listed house is nothing but a beautiful disaster, but while there are acres of orange trees to lose herself amongst, Isabella realises there’s no escaping the new school. But when intolerance towards Damaska and her family—whom Isabella’s family has hired to help—opens the homestead gates, the threat to both families becomes real.

Four lives in Australia become intertwined by one orchard, as they all try to find a place they call home.

Review

Set in country NSW and told through the different perspectives of the characters in the story, whose lives all start to intertwine, this is ultimately a story of forgiveness, but also of intolerance and racism.

Abel is a young soldier in the Australian Army and is navigating the new life that he is making for himself. His family, including his teenage sister Isabella, have embarked on a new adventure, buying a run down house on a rural property closer to the barracks. Isabella doesn't find things easy at her new school. She is tormented by the school bully, Kai, but little does she know how much worse things will get when Abel and Kai’s troublesome older brother Brayden cross paths.

Damaska and her family have moved to Australia for a fresh start, far away from the trouble of Baghdad. But being Muslim in a small country town is not easy, and Damaska’s Jida is certainly not going to let go of her traditions, which makes fitting in almost impossible. When their paths cross, Abel is immediately drawn to Damaska. But trouble lies ahead...

Without giving away the story, this book has some wonderful characters, and some very unpleasant ones too. It does feature some violent scenes, including family violence, but it is ultimately a story of love, forgiveness and finding your home, wherever that may be. There is a wide cast of characters and my favourite was the old lady, Megan, who brings perspective and a sense of reality and community to everyone she engages with. A great story that is best suited to readers 15 years and older.

Description

Loner Theo Sumner is a 14-year-old living in the isolated Queensland mining town of Scorpion Falls. Following the arrival of an unsettling guest at the Iguana Motel, teenagers start disappearing in mysterious circumstances. As Theo looks for answers, he is drawn deeper into the murky underbelly of his hometown and a shocking nightmare encounter with the truth. In this atmospheric chiller, teenager Theo Sumner finds himself drawn into the increasingly strange events taking place in and under his hometown of Scorpion Falls, an eerie mining town in Central Queensland.

Review

Theo is a 14-year-old living in Scorpion Falls - an isolated, sleepy mining town in outback Queensland.

When supernatural things start happening in Scorpion Falls and teenagers begin to go missing, Theo is convinced that it has something to do with the mysterious Cunningham Industries Research Institute.

But why will no adults believe him? Is Theo losing his mind? Can he still trust what he sees?

As Theo searches for answers, he is drawn further into the spooky and claustrophobic underbelly of Scorpion Falls.

This is a fast-paced, quasi-supernatural thriller with themes of alienation, racism, identity and mortality. It ends every single chapter with a cliff hanger, leaving you craving more information and answers about what is really happening in Scorpion Falls which makes this book very hard to put down!

It is at times darkly comedic and supernatural, and is suitable for readers aged 13 and up.