Books with author Dianne Bates

Orphaned then abandoned by long-term foster carers, teenager Sophie lives with Amy and Matt. For a long time and unknown to others, Sophie has been self-mutilating: more recently she has been in therapy. Concerned about Sophie’s increasing depression, the doctor admits her to a hospital. There Sophie is placed in an adolescent ward where she forms tentative relationships with other troubled teenagers and begins sessions with psychiatrist, Helen Marshall. However, the doctor crosses the patient-therapist line, but so too does Sophie ...

Claire's mum has been keeping secrets ... and now she's left Claire's dad and dragged her to live in a run-down old shack in the country.Did anyone ask Claire if that was what she wanted?!Not only does Claire have to leave her dad, her friends and her perfectly good life in the city, but now she has to deal with her mother’s new boyfriend, 'Mac’.Claire is pretty sure that this enormous life-as-we-know-it change is absolutely NOT a good thing. But with her mum in love with Mac and her new job, it looks like it’s up to Claire to bring her ‘real’ family back together.A warm-hearted story about changing families and embracing new beginnings.

The Awesome Animals series features fascinating stories about animals from all over the world. Each beautifully styled book contains true stories and amazing facts about our best-loved pets: dogs, cats & horses.Featuring lots of gorgeous illustrations combined with images of the adorable dogs and cats from Best Friends Rescue and Little Legs Cat Rescue, these books are loaded with information and interesting facts.The inclusion of real-life images and stories of the charismatic animals from pet rescue organisations adds another level of education and inspiration.Aimed at children 8 to 12 years of age, with a average reading age of 10, this series will appeal to both the trade and educational markets, with kids sure to enjoy the entertaining combination of interesting and bizarre facts and stories and wacky jokes and verse.

Heroes. You find them in the strangest places, doing all those wonderful things. But kids can be heroes, too, in so many different ways. Author Di Bates has collected lots of stories about what Aussie kids have done to earn their stripes as heroes. And we're sure that you'll enjoy the illustrations that artist Marjory Gardner has drawn to go with their special stories. Here are just a few of the amazing but true stories you'll find in this book: 16-year-old Grace Bussell and young Aboriginal stockman Sam Isaacs saved 40 out of 48 people in 1876 after the Georgette was shipwrecked off the Western Australia coast... At the age of 14, Melinda Tubolec won a trip to the United States to spend five days in an astronaut-training program at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). During the program Melinda won awards for her innovative space station designs and simulated space shuttle missions... On his first try to scale Mount Everest (the world's highest mountain), Christopher Harris became the youngest person to climb above 7,000 metres. Christopher started mountaineering with his dad Richard at just eight years of age. Since then, Christopher has won the Australian Geographic's Young Adventurer of the Year award... Justin Kroh has been blind since he was five years old. However, he entered and won the 1993 UNICEF Art Award when he was 11. Justin's collage, titled How the Crocodile Got to Like Fish, was judged the best overall entry from a total of 4,890 entries from 254 schools.

Sandy was the costliest hurricane in U.S. history after Katrina, but the waters had barely receded from the Jersey coast when massive efforts began to “Restore the Shore.” Why do people build in areas open to repeated natural disasters? And why do they return to these areas in the wake of major devastation? Drawing on a variety of insights from environmental sociology, Superstorm Sandy answers these questions as it looks at both the unique character of the Jersey Shore and the more universal ways that humans relate to their environment. Diane C. Bates offers a wide-ranging look at the Jersey Shore both before and after Sandy, examining the many factors—such as cultural attachment, tourism revenues, and governmental regulation—that combined to create a highly vulnerable coastal region. She explains why the Shore is so important to New Jerseyans, acting as a key cultural touchstone in a state that lacks a central city or even a sports team to build a shared identity among the state’s residents. She analyzes post-Sandy narratives about the Jersey Shore that trumpeted the dominance of human ingenuity over nature (such as the state’s “Stronger than the Storm” advertising campaign) or proclaimed a therapeutic community (“Jersey Strong”)—narratives rooted in emotion and iconography, waylaying any thought of the near-certainty of future storms. The book also examines local business owners, politicians, real estate developers, and residents who have vested interests in the region, explaining why the Shore was developed intensively prior to Sandy, and why restoration became an imperative in the post-storm period. Engagingly written and insightful, Superstorm Sandy highlights the elements that compounded the disaster on the Shore, providing a framework for understanding such catastrophes and preventing them in the future.

Nine Years old and always in trouble, Sam has a kind heart but more challenges than most. After Sam gets in trouble with the police, things get even worse and Sam and his four brothers and sisters are left alone when their mum goes missing. Here Comes Trouble! is a story about how the kindness of strangers and unconditional love can turn lives around.