With winter settling in what better time to rug up with a warm blanket, a cup of milo and some of these new Kids Fiction books from your local library!
Hour of the Bees
by Lindsay Eagar
This novel blurs the line between truth and fiction as Carol unravels the fantastical stories of her mentally ill grandfather. When she and her family move to his deserted ranch in order to transfer him to a care home, Carol struggles to cope with the suffocating heat and the effects of her grandfather’s Alzheimer’s. Bees seem to be following her around, but the drought means this is impossible. She must be imagining things. Yet when her grandfather chooses her as the subject for his stories – tales of a magical healing tree, a lake, and the grandmother she never knew – Carol sees glimmers of something special in what her parents dismiss as Serge’s madness. As she rethinks her roots and what she thought she knew about her family, Carol comes to the realization that Serge’s past is quickly catching up with her present.
How to Capture an Invisible Cat by Paul Tobin
Every Friday the 13th, 6th grade genius and inventor extraordinaire Nate Bannister does three not-so-smart things to keep life interesting. This time, he taught a caterpillar math, mailed a love letter, and super-sized his cat Proton before turning him invisible.
Teresa by Deborah Abela
Teresa and her family survived the bombing of their home and went hungry during the long siege of their island during the war. Life in peace time is still hard. Her parents want a better life, and so apply to migrate to Australia to find it. But after the long voyage to Sydney, there are more testing times ahead for Teresa as she tries to learn Australian ways, avoid the bullies and do well at school. She is not about to let anything stop her from making her family and her nanna back in Malta proud of her.
The Secrets we Keep by Nova Weetman
Clem Timmins has lost everything – her clothes, her possessions, her house and her mum. Now living in a tiny flat with her dad, Clem has to start a new school and make new friends. On her first day, Clem tells Ellie that her mum died in a house fire and immediately regrets it when Ellie latches on and confides that her own mother is dying of cancer. When Clem receives a letter she doesn’t want to read, it becomes clear she can’t run from her past forever, especially when the truth appears right in front of her face.
Wicked’s Way
by Anna Fienberg
Will could walk a tightrope and juggle bananas as he went. ‘One day you’ll be the star of a circus,’ his mother told him. ‘But until then, you must be a secret.’ For each year pirates came to the islands to steal young boys for their crew. And if that happened to you, well, you may as well kiss your life goodbye. So what’s a young lad to do when his mother disappears and pirates arrive at his door?..Will takes courage from a crazy truth-telling parrot, and his mother’s advice: ‘Keep putting one foot in front of the other and your eyes on the prize.’ But will this be enough to survive the perils at sea? And will that infuriatingly polite boy called Horrendo finally tip the balance?..A high-seas pirate adventure about scoundrels and blaggards, devilish treachery, and finding the most precious treasure of all…