Random House Australia: 1821 books

Yates was cautiously lifting a cooked and curried crescent to his mouth. He stopped and looked at Pettit. 'It's a cockroach,' he said. 'I'm going to eat it.' 'What in hell for?' 'To find out what it tastes like.' Here is a journey that begins with a shuddering disaster in the Himalayas, and ends with...

Cat scooped leaves to add more over her body and then lay still. She could hear crashing from above . . . When Cat is dropped off at her grandmother's hut in a remote part of the bush, she suddenly finds herself on her own. What has happened, and what can she do? Piecing together clues, Cat starts...

Poppy is thrilled to be back doing the one thing she loves - riding horses at Starlight stables - especially when her aunt and uncle make all her dreams come true with a gift of her very own horse. But there's a catch . . . Poppy must look after the new scholarship girls. Will the bold and troublesome...

'Life would be a whole lot easier if dead things had the decency to remain dead.' Nothing is how it seems in the forest. Your best friend may turn out to be your worst enemy. A deadly poison might save your life. And two smiling children could become the most horrifying monsters of all. Morton is...

Paul is trying to escape. He's trying to escape from an Italian heritage that just doesn't seem to have relevance for him any more, and he's trying to escape from his nonno. They come from two different worlds, he and his grandfather, and Paul is more interested in his own world - his friends, the...

Stuff Happens is an important new series for boys about everyday challenges. Created by Susannah McFarlane, the series editor, the series is written by established authors Tony Wilson, Andrew Daddo, Philip Gwynne, Will Kostakis, Oliver Phommavanh, Scot Gardner, Justin D'Ath, James Roy, Pat Flynn and...

The flute music stops, and my breath catches in my throat. Silence falls like a veil. Then I hear something - no, I feel it in my chest. 'Steady yourself,' Por Por whispers. 'It's here . . . ' When Celeste travels to China to visit her grandmother, she uncovers an incredible family secret. And with...

It's 1942 and Darwin is under attack. While bombs are falling, Pearlie is doing all she can to save her beloved pets and help the wounded soldiers. But it's too dangerous to stay, and when Pearlie finally has to say goodbye, only the thought of being reunited with her best friend Naoko can cheer her...

It's 1864 . . . and Poppy lives at bird Creek Mission near Echuca.� Poppy hates the Mission, especially now that her brother, Gus, has run away to pan for gold.� What if Poppy escaped, too?� Would she survive alone in the bush?� And would she ever find Gus, whom she loves more than anything...

It's 1864 . . . and Poppy, disguised as a boy, has escaped from Bird Creek Mission to find her brother, Gus.� Life on the road is hard, but Poppy is given shelter at the Summerhill Homestead.� There she meets a new friend, Noni - but will Noni discover that Poppy is not who she says she is?�...

It's 1901 . . . and even the death of Queen Victoria can't stop the growing excitement as Melbourne gets ready to celebrate Federation - on Rose's birthday!� Meanwhile at school, Rose loves being involved in the cricket team.� She's so focused on the game coming up that she almost doesn't notice...

When the Rileys move in next door, Lily and Ella become the best of friends. But Lily can't understand why her Dad doesn't like the Rileys. Why doesn't he want them to go over there? Why is he being so horrible and mean? Does something big have to happen to change his mind?

It's 1986 and Halley's Comet is hurtling towards Earth. Everyone is talking about what the comet will bring -�wishes could be granted, people might go mad, great disasters could happen... When Andrew is asked to write down his greatest wish for the Comet Box, he can think of only one thing - that...

If you had a crazy family, a bag of frozen peas, 70 Hawaiian shirts, a tyre-swan, a shoplifter, a social cling-on, a scarily attractive girl, a cool dude, a crazy activity coordinator and a fully volcanic island, you could have written this novel. But relax - all you need to do is read it! It's a...