A RELUCTANT WITCH'S GUIDE TO MAGIC
A wonderful, witchy story by the acclaimed author of The Boy, the Wolf and the Stars.
Willa lives in the Wild, in a city squished between two warring witch covens. The non-magical Wildians spend their days dodging wayward spells—from raining frogs to dancing chickens—all because of the witch war raging around them.
Being stuck in the middle of a magical war means the Wildians hate witches—none more so than Willa, whose parents were turned into clouds by a misplaced curse. Willa spends her days with her army of cats, dreaming of an end to the war and her parents’ return.
So when Willa is accused of being a witch after witnesses catch her accidentally stopping a spell midair, she's certain there's been a mistake. She can't be a witch! Yet Willa is dragged to the palace, where she's given one year to master her volatile magic and choose a coven to join. If she doesn’t, she’ll explode.
But her attempts to control her magic are interrupted when a rogue witch begins nefarious spells against the Ordinary Folk. What does the witch want and what does it have to do with Willa? She must unravel the mystery to save her city, her friends, and herself.
AUSTRALIA
Published: 5 July 2022
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia
Pages: 288
ISBN: 9781761043994
NORTH AMERICA
Published: 19 July 2022
Publisher: Clarion Books/Harper Collins Publishers
Pages: 288
ISBN: 9780358541271
THE BOY, THE WOLF AND THE STARS
Four friends. Three keys. One magical quest.
Some say that long ago in the land of Ulv the sky was filled with Stars. Twelve-year-old Bo knows the stories but, like most, thinks the Stars and the wolf who ate them are just myths, and that no bedtime story can stop the ravenous Shadow Creatures running rampant every night when it turns Dark. Until the day Bo’s guardian, Mads, is attacked by a giant wolf straight from the legends. With his dying breath, Mads tells Bo that a great evil has been awakened, giving the Shadow Creatures unprecedented power, and the only way to stop it from spreading is to return the Stars to the sky.
And so Bo—accompanied by his best friend, a fox called Nix; a girl named Selene with surprising magical abilities; and Tam, a bird-woman who has vowed to protect Bo at all costs—sets off on a quest to find the three magic keys that will release the Stars. But they’re not the only ones after the Stars and the friends soon find themselves fleeing angry villagers, greedy merchants, and a vengeful wolf. And all the while, an evil witch lurks in the shadows.
AUSTRALIA
Published: 20 October 2020
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia
ISBN: 9781760893453
NORTH AMERICA
Published: 17 November 2020
Publisher: HMH Books for Young People
ISBN: 9780358243892
TIN HEART
Would you still be the same person if you had someone else’s heart?
"Marlowe Jensen is proof that a borrowed heart can be a big one, and from cover to cover her story is swoon-worthy, moving, deep, and funny. I loved it."
Jennifer Niven, NY Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places
When Marlowe gets a heart transplant and a second chance at life, all she wants is to thank her donor’s family. Maybe then she can move on. Maybe then she’ll discover who she is if she’s no longer ‘The Dying Girl’.
But with a little brother who dresses like every day is Halloween, a vegan warrior for a mother and an all-out war with the hot butcher’s apprentice next door, Marlowe’s life is already pretty complicated. And her second chance is about to take an unexpected turn…
Funny, romantic and deeply moving by turns – a fitting follow up to the critically acclaimed, award-winning Frankie.
Also available in translation:
AUSTRALIA
Published: March 2018
Publisher: Penguin Random
House Australia
ISBN: 8790143786276
NORTH AMERICA
Published: March 2019
Publisher: Flatiron Books
ISBN: 9781250312761
FRANKIE
Sometimes what you find, isn't what you were looking for.
‘Great dialogue and strongly paced. Frankie’s a gutsy character with a lot of heart.’
Melina Marchetta, Printz Award winner
Frankie Vega is angry. Just ask the guy whose nose she broke. Or the cop investigating the burglary she witnessed, or her cheating ex-boyfriend or her aunt who’s tired of giving second chances…
When a kid shows up claiming to be Frankie’s half brother, it opens the door to a past she doesn’t want to remember. And when that kid goes missing, the only person willing to help is a boy with stupidly blue eyes … and secrets of his own.
Frankie’s search for the truth might change her life, or cost her everything.
Frankie is a gripping, darkly funny novel about searching for the truth, finding yourself and falling in love…
AUSTRALIA
Published: April 2016
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia
ISBN: 9780143573166
NORTH AMERICA
Published: November 2017
Publisher: Flatiron Books
ISBN: 9781250143013
SHORT STORIES
"THE POINT" in WHERE THE SHORELINE USED TO BE
Susannah is the other girl: the sidekick, the friend, the butt of every joke. She’s the girl least likely to succeed, to get the guy, to tell her two-faced best friend to go to hell.
But what happens at The Point one summer night changes her life forever.
A short story about friendship, summer, boys and revenge.
About the anthology…
A diverse collection of poetry, short stories, song lyrics, novel extracts and illustrations from some of the most important creators today.
This anthology for upper high school students follows on from the success of the collection Things a Map Won’t Show You, which was aimed at younger readers. Susan La Marca and Pam Macintyre have gathered an exciting mix of original and pre-published works that cover themes of Indigenous issues, friendship, migrants in Australia, environmental impact, dystopia, sci-fi adventure and death.
The anthology includes original stories from: Davina Bell, Meg Caddy, Shivaun Plozza, Peta Freestone, Scot Gardner, Barry Jonsberg, Meg McKinlay (with illustration by Kyle Hughes-Odgers), Gayle Kennedy, Shaun Tan, Felicity Castagna, Amie Kaufman and Leanne Hall. Other contributors are Margo Lanagan, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Andrea Hirata, Arwa Abousamra, Trudy White, Alice Pung, Tony Birch, Wil Wagner & Lizzie Wagner, Courtney Barnett and Kate Miller-Heidke.
"THE CHALLENGE" in SPECCY-TACULAR: AFL STORIES
Ruby and her friends are tired of the older kids who won’t let any of them play on the school oval. Fed up, Ruby challenges them to a kick off: first to three goals wins exclusive use of the oval for the rest of forever. Can a bunch of plucky Grade Threes beat a team of bigger, stronger, nastier Grade Sixes?
About the anthology…
Lace up your boots, pull on your guernsey and get ready to hit the field running with these Brownlow-worthy AFL short stories!
A collection of AFL-themed short stories written by some of Australia’s sportiest children’s authors, including: Michael Wagner, Tony Wilson, Nicole Hayes, Adrian Beck, Michael Panckridge, Sherryl Clark, Patrick Loughlin, Meredith Costain, Shivaun Plozza, David Lawrence and George Ivanoff.
Published: March 2017
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia
ISBN: 9780143573227
Published: April 2018
Publisher: Puffin (Penguin Random House Australia)
ISBN: 9780143787327