Books with author Maureen McCarthy

I woke up with a feeling about today,' Stella says dreamily. 'Something truly amazing is going to happen.' 'To us or to the world?' I say. 'To you.' 'To me?' I laugh. 'Nothing ever happens to me, Stella.' 'But today it will.' 'Will it be good?' She looks thoughtful and then frowns. 'I ... I don't know.'Peach is nineteen and pretty happy with the way things are. She has her university work, two wildly different best friends, her sister, Stella, to look after and a broken heart to mend. But when she takes a summer job at a cafe in the old convent, her idea of who she is takes a sharp turn into the past.Where once there were nuns, young girls and women who had fallen on hard times, Peach discovers secrets from three generations of her family. As their stories are revealed, Peach is jolted out of her comfort zone. But does she really want to know who she is?Warm and real, intense and provocative, Maureen McCarthy's The Convent shows in vivid detail how fate and the choices we make ripple and reverberate through time.A novel to fall in love with.

I woke up with a feeling about today,' Stella says dreamily. 'Something truly amazing is going to happen.' 'To us or to the world?' I say. 'To you.' 'To me?' I laugh. 'Nothing ever happens to me, Stella.' 'But today it will.' 'Will it be good?' She looks thoughtful and then frowns. 'I ... I don't know.'Peach is nineteen and pretty happy with the way things are. She has her university work, two wildly different best friends, her sister, Stella, to look after and a broken heart to mend. But when she takes a summer job at a cafe in the old convent, her idea of who she is takes a sharp turn into the past.Where once there were nuns, young girls and women who had fallen on hard times, Peach discovers secrets from three generations of her family. As their stories are revealed, Peach is jolted out of her comfort zone. But does she really want to know who she is?Warm and real, intense and provocative, Maureen McCarthy's The Convent shows in vivid detail how fate and the choices we make ripple and reverberate through time.A novel to fall in love with.

Don'tcha just hate the way you get caught up in stuff without really wanting to? You make a wrong move, and before you know it you're in some weird scene that isn't you but . how do you get out of it? Maybe you lied, maybe you stole, maybe you betrayed your closest friend. It happens. Yeah. Then it goes a bit further, and suddenly you're one of those jerks you hate because . you can't be trusted.Rose is all packed up. She's got a van full of petrol and a stack of CDs. She's got a surfboard in the back and a secret that won't go away. But that's okay. She also has enough attitude to light up the night sky.Then her mother decides to come along . and Rose's road trip takes an unplanned U-turn, straight to the heart of last summer.Reviews: No one explores that time of possibilities between school and university or work as honestly as Maureen mcCarthy.' Gleebooks summer reading catalogue, distributed in Sydney Morning Herald 20/11/06 a fantastically paced and engaging novel, which deals with some really topical issues affecting most children today. Sure to appeal to the fans of Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, this is well written and a real feel-good novel that every older teenager girl will enjoy.' Bookseller + Publisher Oct 2006 Maureen McCarthy's books are engrossing because the protagonists' lives ring true and she articulates the feelings that most people leave unsaid ' Weekend Australian 28-29 Oct 2006 The directness and clarity with which the author deals with characters and their feelings should resonate with those who read the book a satisfying story about big decisions.' Viewpoint Vol 14 No 4 Summer 2006 brilliantly evokes family relationships McCarthy's writing is sparkling, never missing a beat, and replete with original and striking imagery. The novel will be deservedly popular with older teenagers.' Magpies Vol 21 No 5 Nov 2006. Rose by any other name was one of Magpies Picks of 2006'. as suitable for teenagers as it is their grandmothers.' Melbourne Herald Sun 4/11/06

Don'tcha just hate the way you get caught up in stuff without really wanting to? You make a wrong move, and before you know it you're in some weird scene that isn't you but . how do you get out of it? Maybe you lied, maybe you stole, maybe you betrayed your closest friend. It happens. Yeah. Then it goes a bit further, and suddenly you're one of those jerks you hate because . you can't be trusted.Rose is all packed up. She's got a van full of petrol and a stack of CDs. She's got a surfboard in the back and a secret that won't go away. But that's okay. She also has enough attitude to light up the night sky.Then her mother decides to come along . and Rose's road trip takes an unplanned U-turn, straight to the heart of last summer.Reviews: No one explores that time of possibilities between school and university or work as honestly as Maureen mcCarthy.' Gleebooks summer reading catalogue, distributed in Sydney Morning Herald 20/11/06 a fantastically paced and engaging novel, which deals with some really topical issues affecting most children today. Sure to appeal to the fans of Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, this is well written and a real feel-good novel that every older teenager girl will enjoy.' Bookseller + Publisher Oct 2006 Maureen McCarthy's books are engrossing because the protagonists' lives ring true and she articulates the feelings that most people leave unsaid ' Weekend Australian 28-29 Oct 2006 The directness and clarity with which the author deals with characters and their feelings should resonate with those who read the book a satisfying story about big decisions.' Viewpoint Vol 14 No 4 Summer 2006 brilliantly evokes family relationships McCarthy's writing is sparkling, never missing a beat, and replete with original and striking imagery. The novel will be deservedly popular with older teenagers.' Magpies Vol 21 No 5 Nov 2006. Rose by any other name was one of Magpies Picks of 2006'. as suitable for teenagers as it is their grandmothers.' Melbourne Herald Sun 4/11/06

'There is no real risk as long as you're careful,' Rodney said to Ruth. 'You'll have three chances to create your perfect life. If for some reason you don't like where you've ended up, you can return. But if you choose to stay longer than one day, you'll stay in your new life for ever.'Ruth Craze thinks life can't get any worse. She fights with her brothers, her parents driver her mad and no one ever listens to her. So when Rodney the Rat suggests a way out, Ruth is ready to risk everything.Three wishes. Three chances to create her perfect life.A million ways to get it wrong.A gloriously life-affirming adventure from a much-loved storyteller.

At seventeen, Sophie is a mess. Her best friend is dead and her boyfriend has gone. She's dropped out of school, sleeps through the day, eats all night and refuses to see anyone. Her family has had enough. But Sophie is about to embark on the strangest journey of her life. It will take her back into her family's past, back to the origins of the bitter rift between her mother and her Aunt Fran, to her Uncle Jimmy and the Vietnam War, and finally to the girl in the painting and the story haunting all their lives.

With echoes of such classic wish-gone-wrong books as Freaky Friday, Half Magic, and Coraline, this terrific novel has the potential to become a middle-grade staple.Eleven-year-old Ruth Craze is pretty sure she’s stuck in the wrong life. With an absentminded inventor for a father and a flighty artist for a mother, it’s always reliable Ruth who ends up doing the dishes, paying the bills, and finding lost socks. Her brothers are no help (they’re too busy teasing her), and her friends have just decided she’s not cool enough to be a part of their group anymore. So when Rodney the Rat—a slightly sinister stuffed animal that was a gift from her favorite aunt—suggests a way out, Ruth is ready to risk everything. Three wishes. Three chances to create her perfect life. A million ways to get it wrong.Praise for When You Wish Upon a Rat"Winning, original moments."—Kirkus Reviews"An engaging look at friendship and family."—Booklist

When Alice looks up and sees Tom staring at her, everything closes down around them and becomes very still. No one is breathing. No one else is in the room. Tom feels as if he can see right into the soul of Alice Wishart. It lies open before him, like a wide, long pane of glittering glass. So delicate and beautiful and . ready to break.Three years have passed since the murder of Alice's mother, but still the killer is unknown. Alice, her cousin Jonty and his friend Tom are drawn together by the mystery, but what is each of them hiding? Will their secrets bind them tighter or tear everything apart?Maureen McCarthy's intensely real characters will draw you deep into a world of suspicion, betrayal, desire and redemption.A compulsive reading experience from the bestselling author of Rose by any other name.

When burglars break into Jack's house, they take all his stuff. Now he's got no skateboard, no TV, no music, nothing. All his brothers do is fight, his mum thinks they all need counselling, his dad's trying to set an example, but hey, who's interested? Jack just wants to get out of that house. So he does. And he meets Diana. And her dog. And her grandma, who wears tiger-skin bikinis. They're all pretty vicious. And suddenly, life is anything but boring.

With echoes of such classic wish-gone-wrong books as Freaky Friday, Half Magic, and Coraline, this terrific novel has the potential to become a middle-grade staple. Eleven-year-old Ruth Craze is pretty sure she's stuck in the wrong life. With an absentminded inventor for a father and a flighty artist for a mother, it's always reliable Ruth who ends up doing the dishes, paying the bills, and finding lost socks. Her brothers are no help (they're too busy teasing her), and her friends have just decided she's not cool enough to be a part of their group anymore. So when Rodney the Rat--a slightly sinister stuffed animal that was a gift from her favorite aunt--suggests a way out, Ruth is ready to risk everything. Three wishes. Three chances to create her perfect life. A million ways to get it wrong.

Three very different girls from the same country town share an inner-city house during their first year out of school, in this Australian young adult modern classic 'Sometimes your life changes and you don't know why. A kind of shift happens. I remember thinking, well, that's over: eighteen years, three months and fifteen days. From now on it will be different . . . ' Carmel, Jude, and Katerina come from the same country town, but they couldn't be more different. Carmel is a talented musician, but awkward and painfully shy. Jude is a passionate idealist still coming to terms with the death of her revolutionary father. And Katerina, well, let's just say she's not called Queen Kat for nothing. So when they all move into the same inner-city house in their first year in college, sparks fly. But this year is a time to reinvent themselves, a time to square up to the world. Time to get a life. This is a story of friendship, family, love, betrayal, and a tumultuous year in the lives of three unforgettable young women.

Kelly is seventeen. She's a scholarship girl, her dad drinks too much and her mum lives in another city. Her house isn't renovated like those of her friends. But Kelly has one thing her friends are envious of – Phil. Rich, devoted, handsome Phil. And it looks like their future together is all mapped out. Then, on a hot afternoon in a dingy little pizza shop, Kelly meets Con. He's unlike anyone she's ever known before. It's a dramatic meeting, a chance encounter that changes everything . . .A passionate and uncompromising story of love, conflict and choices, from the author of Chain of Hearts and the highly acclaimed Queen Kat, Carmel and St Jude Get a Life.