Victor's Challenge
Author: Pamela Freeman 

Aurealis Awards 2009 - Winner Best Children's Picture Book

Prince Victor and Valerian want to get married. But Victor, in his own unusual way, must pass three seemingly impossible tests of bravery, endurance and cleverness. He must go back into the Dark Forest of Nevermore to battle a fiery man-eating dragon...

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A Ghost in My Suitcase
Author: Gabrielle Wang

Aurealis Awards 2009 - Winner Best Children's Novel

13-year-old Isabelle has travelled alone to China to visit Por Por her grandmother, and to release her mother's ashes. Here she meets Ting Ting, an orphan who has been taken in by Por Por, and learns that her grandmother is a ghost-catcher - a gift that she too has inherited...  ...read more »

Specky Magee and the Spirit of the Game 
Authors: Felice Arena and Garry Lyon 

YABBA Fiction for Older Readers Award Winner 2009

The sixth book of the bestselling Specky Magee series has all the excitement you'd expect, and this time Specky gets to experience grass roots footy at its best. Ages 8+...

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Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool 
Author: Odo Hirsch 

Queensland Premier's Literary Award 2009 - Children's Shortlisted Book

The Bell family is in danger of losing their honourable name. Can Darius step up to the challenge and uphold it? A warm, wise story from one of Australia's master storytellers, about a boy, his friends, his family...  ...read more »

The Camel Who Crossed Australia 
Author: Jackie French 

Queensland Premier's Literary Award 2009 - Children's Shortleisted Book

The story of the famous Burke and Wills expedition...as it has never been told before. The humans called him Bell Sing, but to the other camels he is known as 'He Who Spits Further Than the Wind'...  ...read more »

The Barbarian Librarian
Author: Philip Lemon 

Recommended new release

Petra doesn't know how she'll survive the year.  The school bullies are out to get her, she's having visions of monsters that seem all too real, her craft projects keep trying to kill her, and her favourite teacher has been replaced by a sword-wielding lunatic who dresses as a barbarian.  Petra's life is spiralling out of control and it seems only the crazy barbarian can save her...  ...read more »

A Kids Guide to Giving
Author: Freddi Zeiler

Help your kids to get involved and make a difference! 

After deciding to donate the money from her piggy bank to a worthy cause, 14-year-old Freddi Zeiler researched over 100 charitable organizations until she found the ones that meant the most to her.  ...read more »

The Word Spy
Author: Ursula Dubosarsky

CBCA Eve Pownall Award for Information Books 2009 - Honour

Discover the meaning of acronyms, cliches and spoonerisms. Find out the history of the alphabet, punctuation, pen names and plurals. Learn how to trick your friends by speaking in Pig Latin or rhyming slang...

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Alive in the Death Zone
Author: Lincoln Hall

CBCA  Eve Pownall Award for Information Books 2009 - Winner

Lincoln Hall's story of climbing the world's highest mountain, being left for dead near the summit and his subsequent return to life and safety, is an incredible and exciting adventure that will inspire anyone who reads it...

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True Green Kids: 100 Things You Can Do To Help Fix the Planet
Authors: Kim McKay & Jenny Bonnin

Wilderness Society Environment Award for Children's Literature 2009

Whether it's in the house, in the classroom, or on holidays, there are lots of simple things you can do that will help our planet -- and they're fun too! (SA: Year 6 - Year 9).

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