Books published by publisher University of Queensland Pr (Australia)

When you have nowhere left to run, sometimes the only place is the sky... Saria is the last of her kind, the final child to be born in the Darklands, a quarantined expanse of outback desert, contaminated generations earlier by the remote and mysterious Nightpeople. Spirited away at her birth before the Nightpeople could remove her from the genetic pool, Saria, now in her early teens, is called before the Council of Dreamers to be used as a bargaining chip. There she discovers the truth about her own past, and that of her people. Nightpeople explores a society turned in upon itself and a future which readers will find both alien and disturbingly familiar. 'This is an outstanding novel, the best work to date from a writer who has already won the Premier's Award: superb writing, a thoroughly engrossing story, and utterly credible characters trapped in a future world that is as fascinating as it is dangerous. A page-turner if ever there was one!' - Van Ikin

From bestselling author Rebecca Sparrow, comes the little book of information that every young woman should read. Ask Me Anything is a question-and-answer style book for Australian teenage girls. Set out in an easy-to-read, open-at-any-page format, it covers deeply personal and real questions girls want to ask and find a trusted answer for: ‘I’m ugly. How will I ever get a boyfriend?’ or ‘Do I need to know what I want to be when I’m older?’ or ‘How can I be more popular?’ or ‘How do you know if your friends really like you?’ From the author of Find Your Tribe and Find Your Feet, Rebecca Sparrow has written the perfect big sister book, full of advice, wisdom and humour. This little book will be invaluable and a must-read for those who need a little help with friendship, life, love and family.

It’s 1989 and Rachel Hill is the girl most likely to succeed at her school and most likely to have everything under control. That is, until her father invites the moody Nick McGowan to live with them. With the help of her best friend Zoe, Rachel prepares herself for Nick McGowan to move into her old bedroom and into her life. Nick immediately pegs Rachel as uptight and having bad taste in music. Rachel immediately labels Nick as hopeless and as having a bad attitude. Despite their initial mutual antipathy, however, a secret from Nick’s past will draw them together and make the year Nick McGowan came to stay one that Rachel will never forget. This funny and witty tale expertly describes the universal themes of awkward adolescence and first crushes.

From the author of Smooch & Rose and Spud & Charli comes another thrilling adventure about Australia’s endangered cassowaries ‘Cassowaries are not just birds,’ Dad growled. ‘They’re the most dangerous birds in the world.’ When Flynn and Dad arrive at Grandad Barney’s banana farm, it’s clear that Flynn has a lot of investigating to do. Everything in the place is a mystery, especially his grandad who died almost a year ago, and the strange dinosaur-like birds called cassowaries that make his dad so scared. Why won’t Dad tell Flynn what happened? After Flynn meets local girl Abby and discovers two orphaned baby cassowaries, the mystery deepens. Can Flynn find out the truth about his grandad and the cassowaries before it’s too late?

When you've run from the past, you have to stand and face the future ... Dara, her brother Jaran and their cousin Eyna have grown up among the Clan; their lives are peaceful as they eke out an existence in the towering forest below their escarpment home. But when the ghosts of a dead civilisation reach out to haunt them one final time, they and their family must set out, on an unmapped path across a dying land. Walking daywards, always into the sun. Daywards is the highly anticipated conclusion to a powerful trilogy from award-winning author Anthony Eaton.

A laugh-aloud collection of stories about cricket, kissing and school from award-winning children’s author Pat Flynn. Tony Ross is an ordinary 13-year-old boy with big dreams: he wants to prove he’s as good as his best mate Kane and he wants to kiss Ashleigh Simpkin – the love of his life. But dreams don’t always go the way we see them in our head. Tony finds this out when he ends up dead. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, but mostly you’ll be amazed at the crazy stunts that Tony pulls to win a cricket match and capture a girl’s heart.

A 1974 Holden, two girls and a hitchhiker - a chance to escape on the open road and find their own freedom. Gunner escapes abuse at home while Arkey leaves a relationship gone wrong. And Saxon is looking for a new future. In this gentle and perceptive road novel, moving on holds some tough lessons. James Roy has been commended in the Ena Nokl Award - Australian IBBY Award for Literature for Children and Young People 2000 for his impressive narrative qualities and contemporary appeal. A must for all young people!.

An important story that will empower young children dealing with bullying that includes inventive ideas for overcoming it She's big. She's smart. She's mean. She's the bully on the bus. She picks on me and I don't like it. But I don't know how to make her stop. When the bully on the bus taunts seven-year-old Leroy and threatens him of worse to come, his teacher introduces him to the adventures in The Big Bad Book of Fairytales. Hidden throughout are the clues that Leroy will need to overcome the bullying taunts once and for all. Bully on the Bus incorporates fairy tales to teach lessons about coping and self-esteem, empowering young children to deal with and overcome bullying.

To produce one long thread of silk, a weaver must never allow the silkworm to fully transform or ever emerge from the cocoon into the light. Ruby and Sally Moon are twins, cut from the same cloth but as different as night and day. While Sally is bold and adventurous, Ruby is quiet and creative. When divorce splits their family in two, and Sally moves with their mother to the Northern Territory, Ruby holds onto the thought that one day her family will be complete again. But when tragedy strikes, wrapping Sally in a cocoon from which she might never escape, Ruby learns that love is never simple but one of the many tangled branches in her family tree. A beautiful and engaging tale from an exciting Australian storyteller.