Told in a moving letter to her captor, sixteen-year-old Gemma relives her kidnapping from Bangkok airport while on holiday. Taken by Ty, her troubled young stalker, to the wild and desolate Australian outback she reflects on a landscape from which there is no escape. A story of survival, passion and darkness, Gemma reveals how she had to deal with the nightmare, or die trying to fight it. Sensitive, powerful and beautifully written.
The Winds of Heaven by Judith Clarke (Allen and Unwin)
When Fan was little she dreamed of magical countries in the far away blue hills. As she grew up she dreamed of love, and the boys came after her one by one by one. Clementine thought her cousin Fan's house in the country had a special smell: of sun and dust and kerosene and the wild honey they ate for breakfast on their toast. But then there were the feelings: the anger that smelled like iron and the disappointment that smelled like mud. Fan was strong and beautiful and Clementine thought she'd always be like that. But Fan was seeking something, and neither she nor Clementine knew exactly what.
I have this annoying problem that gives me a lot of trouble: a conscience. Neil Bridges attends a Catholic boys’ school in which teachers rule with iron fists and thick leather straps. Some crumble under the pressure but Neil toughs it out, just as his Vietnam-bound older brother has done before him. He has to be a man, after all. But at sixteen, how can he be sure of himself when he’s not sure of anything else? He loses a friend and finds another, falls in love and unwittingly treads a path that leads to revenge and possibly murder.
Heloise lives with her godmother in an isolated cottage. Next door is a sinister museum dedicated to the memory of Mary Child. Visitors enter it with a smile and depart with fear in their eyes. One day, Heloise finds a doll under the floorboards. Against her godmother's wishes, she keeps it. And that's when the delicate truce between Heloise and her godmother begins to unravel. Heloise runs away. She journeys far, but one day she must return to uncover the secret at the heart of her being.
One of the country's finest young cellists, 16 year-old Hugh Twycross has a very bright future. A future that has been mapped out by his parents, his teachers, by everybody, it seems, except Hugh Twycross. Hugh has a secret, though: he loves cars and he loves car racing. When his newly discovered grandfather, Poppy, asks him to go on a road trip to Uluru in his 1969 Holden HT Monaro, Hugh decides, for once in his life, to do the unexpected. As they embark on a journey into the vast and fierce landscape of the Australian interior, Hugh discovers that Poppy has a secret that will unravel both their lives and take them in a direction they never expected.
So far, Marc E. Jarvis has lost a white football boot, a school tie and a best friend. But there's more in store for him when he completes work experience at a local car yard – where his world is truly rocked, shocked and shaken. Then Marc meets Electra. And nothing will ever be the same again.
A story of true friends, crazed coaches, shooting stars, and loves lost and found.
Imagine your name is John Lennon, only everyone calls you Beatle. And then you meet your dream girl and her name is Destiny McCartney. But what if you're already with the perfect girl? A novel about change, chance and everybody doing the wrong thing.
