Axel As Well

Alex As Well by Alyssa Brugman

"You Will Never Forget Her"

Alex is not just your average teen dealing with emotions, identity and parents that are unwilling to listen or understand. Growing up Alex was always different, special. But now after making a life changing decision Alex is branded a weirdo and worse, and not just by strangers, just for accepting what Alex feels to be true on the inside. The struggles, conflicts and courage it takes to change a life and accept ones true self is a hard path to follow, especially for Alex.

Alex As Well is a challenging, charming and unique story of an individual who was raised as a boy, but who desperately want to be the girl Alex's feels to be on the inside. A story encompassing issues of gender, identity, acceptance and family. It tells of the pressures to conform to the expectations of peers, parents and society and the bravery it takes to challenge these expectations in order to be the person Alex is inside. A story that you will never forget and a girl you will remember always.

Alyssa Brugman Webpage

Alyssa Brugman @ Text Publishing

On sale: 31 January 2013
Price (AU): $19.99
ISBN: 9781922079237
Recommended age: 13+
In a word: Alex
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: four out of five
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The Midnight Palace

The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

"The Best Place To Start A Story Is At The Beginning"

For the past few years the Midnight Palace has been home to the secret club of the Chowbar Society, a select group of people who live by two hard and fast rules. The first is to share all knowledge they possess, learn and come by. The second is to protect each member of the group with their lives. Now at sixteen years of age and legally adults, the members of this group are meeting up for the last time.

Growing up as orphans in 1930's Calcutta, the seven members of the Chowbar Society all believed themselves to be children with no past and therefore the future was free and open. However one of these members was about to discover not only a dark past filled with lies, murder and the family he never new existed, but there was still the threat of danger alive today from a man long dead out to kill again.

The Midnight Palace is a tale of friendship, family and demons from the past. While the ghost of those long dead return, restless and seeking out the living for their own haunted purposes, it is the living that will have to sacrifice one of their own for a chance at peace. A dark and tragic tale of friendship, loss and love written as only Carlos Ruiz Zafon can produce.

Carlos Ruiz Zafon Webpage

Carlos Ruiz Zafon @ Text Publishing

On sale: 30 May 2011
Price (AU): $22.95
ISBN: 9781921656941
Recommended age: 13+
In a word: Mystery
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: four out of five
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Shyness #2

SHYNESS:
Queen Of The Night by Leanne Hall

A Night Of Dreams!

The endless night that once brought Wildgirl and Wolfboy together is now the one thing holding them apart. The suburb of Shyness is changing, no longer filled with its dark creatures and strange happenings; it is now a place for the lost and the dreamers. But it is not just Shyness that has changed. Wildgirl has lost her spirit, her fearlessness that once brought her to Shyness and to Wolfboy. But Wolfboy too is changing, losing his howl and his identity along with it.

After six months Nia has given up on returning to Shyness, to Wolfboy and to her identity as Wildgirl. Jethroh too is moving away from his Wolfboy identity, spending more and more of his time out of Shyness and the dark endless night. But neither can run from the darkness of Shyness, nor the darkness within. For the darkness hides dreams and in dreams nightmare become more real then life, and in a place like Shyness where the night is endless who can tell the difference between a dream and what is real.

The Queen Of The Night takes you back to a place were fantasy and reality merge. In a dreamy landscape of endless night there are those that will sleep their lives away and others who use the dark for their own ends. As Wolfboy and Wildgirl once again reunite under the darkness of a Shyness endless night they are once again drawn into the strange and the extraordinary and drawn together by the light of each others warmth. And just as light is returning to their lives, Shyness is beginning to see an end to a very long night.

Leanne Hall Webpage

Leanne Hall @ Text Publishing

On sale: 27 February 2012
Price (AU): $19.95
ISBN: 9781921758645
Recommended age: 13+
In a word: Shyness
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: five out of five
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Before I Go To Sleep

Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson

Who Am I?

When she woke it was to a room she had never seen before, to a man she didn't remember and to a version of herself that she believed could not exist for at least another twenty years. Every morning she would have to be told her name, Christine, that the man beside her was her husband, Ben, and that over twenty years ago in an accident she had lost all her memories. Every morning she would have to be told who she was and where she was, and then she would sleep and lose another day of her life.

When she woke it was to a room she had never seen before, to a man she didn't remember. Every morning she would have to be told who she was and where she was, every morning was the same. But recently things had been changing. Little things she remembered told her she had a past, a history. However these memories would conflict with what she was being told. Was she being lied to, was her mind playing tricks on her? In the morning she wouldn't remember, but right now she needed to remember before she goes to sleep.

Before I Go To Sleep is a psychological thriller that questions what it is to be, what it is to love and what it takes to survive. As it looks at how our memories shape us and our ability to interact with the world around us, it also plants seeds of doubt in the gapes left behind between what we know to be true and what we have been told to believe. A chilling mystery of lost memories, hidden truths and enduring love that has to be read to be remembered.

S. J. Watson Webpage

S. J. Watson @ Text Publishing

On sale: 02 May 2011
Price (AU): $29.95
ISBN: 9781921758157
Recommended age: 18+
In a word: Memories
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: four out of five
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Genesis

Genesis by Bernard Beckett

Identity Shaped By History!

In 2075 one girls survival triggered events that were to change the course of history. But it is not the girl that history remembers, it is Adam Forde, the boy who defied society to save her. But there is more to this event then the famous actions of one afternoon in 2075, of the one life taken and another saved, it is the consequences of those actions and the choices made afterwards that have had the greatest impact on the world and on the future.

Anaximander has spent the last three years studying those events in 2075 and the consequences that followed. She has spent three years studying her hero Adam Forde, his life and the impact his actions have had to her present, in preparation for her exam into the Academy. But there is more to these events then history remembers and the impact this will have on Anaximander will change her life forever.

Genesis is a complex and thoughtful tale about how history shapes the future and about the changing face of society. A stimulating story on consciousness, identity and the individual. But more then this it is a story of how ethics and morals shape who we are and how technology and human evolution impact what we are meant to be. A simple yet brilliant science fiction story that is a powerful and deeply philosophical look at humanity and what it is to be human.

Bernard Beckett @ Text Publishing

On sale: 31 January 2011
Price (AU): $19.95
ISBN: 9781921758034
Recommended age: 16+
In a word: Thought
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: five out of five
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August

August by Bernard Beckett

Life Is Unpredictable!

Tristan's tale is one of hardship, discipline and learning. Growing up somewhat sheltered his determination and capacity for learning drove him from his home and towards the church, there thought, prayer and higher learning were open to him. His life was all planed out ahead of him, a life full of promise and God. Then one night something happened that made him question all that he believed. One night he met Grace and his life was changed forever.

Grace's tale is a story of misunderstandings, mistreatment and loss. Her childhood was strict and rigorous but also sheltered. As a naive girl Grace was easily led by her heart and an eagerness to please others, and as fate and circumstance conspired against her she was cast out from the protection of her childhood home and left to her own devices. As her life spiralled away from her control she at least could hold on to one thing, her angel.

August is largely a philosophical debate on the soul, what it means to have freewill and what it is to be free. A deeply thoughtful look at the way religion, society and circumstance shape who we are and how at our very essence we are beings of instinct as shown through our actions. Theology, love and life clash in this thrilling tale of chance, destiny and the chaos that is the human mind.

Bernard Beckett @ Text Publishing

On sale: 28 February 2011
Price (AU): $23.95
ISBN: 9781921758041
Recommended age: 18+
In a word: Freewill
Re-read it: probably
Recommend: yes
Star rating: four out of five
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Shyness

SHYNESS:
This Is Shyness by Leanne Hall

One Very Long Night!

A mysterious, beautiful boy with a scruffy appearance and tendency to howl introduces himself as Wolfboy. A fearless, captivating girl with an adventurous spirit insists on being called Wildgirl. In one night these two are drawn together with only a look. But this is no ordinary night, for in the suburb of Shyness there exists only darkness and the night, and Wildgirl has chosen Wolfboy to be her guide to this endless night.

In their separate lives Wolfboy and Wildgirl are both fighting a darkness, but in the cover of night they are able see past the cool, calm and fearless persona each have adopted to reveal the pain, insecurity and loneliness felt on the inside. After encountering wide-eyed tarsiers, sugar-crazed kids, a gang of land pirates, an enchanting gypsy and one very dangerous doctor, Wolfboy and Wildgirl are able to find in each other a light in the darkness.

This Is Shyness is an urban fantasy that explores the darkness, both literally and figuratively. In a suburb that never sees the sun it is easy to feel as though the world is nothing more then a dream, easy to believe that monsters do exist. But in the darkness there can also be found a sense of freedom, deeper understanding and total acceptance. In the darkness can also be found love. But just as every night must end, everyone will find a ray of light in this story of night.

Leanne Hall Webpage

Leanne Hall @ Text Publishing

On sale: 02 August 2010
Price (AU): $19.95
ISBN: 9781921656521
Recommended age: 13+
In a word: Night
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: five out of five
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The Prince of Mist

The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

A Man By Any Other Name!

Max was thirteen when his eccentric watchmaker of a father decided to move the family out of the city and to a beach house in a small town on the coast. There was war coming and it was a move to keep them from danger. However danger found them but it wasn't the war, it was something much more sinister.

Hidden behind a high wall at the edge of a forest is a garden full of statues, but these are not ordinary statues. A sunken ship sits at the bottom the sea, but it did not sink naturally. The clock at the old station was not just slow it was moving backwards, but that was not the only clock to be moving back time.

A new friendship, a hidden secret and a promise that must be kept will lead to a summer that will change lives forever. A summer that would bring fear to your very core, a summer that would break your heart, a summer that would never be forgotten.

The Prince of Mist is just one name this sinister being goes by. It is also a dark and haunting tale of danger, magic, friendships and love. One of the most eerie and gripping mysteries that will leave a chill down your spine and so unforgettable that will stay with you long afterwards.

Carlos Ruiz Zafon Webpage

Carlos Ruiz Zafon @ Text Publishing

On sale: 03 May 2010
Price (AU): $22.95
ISBN: 9781921656354
Recommended age: 13+
In a word: Mystery
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: five out of five
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Baba Yaga Laid an Egg

Baba Yaga Laid an Egg by Dubravka Ugresic

The Old Witch!

Once you notice them, old women are everywhere...

And so too are the starlings to my mothers great dismay. The noise is bad enough, but the mess they make would drive my mother crazy. She could not stand anything unclean or untidy in her home. But cleanliness was not her only battle, she was losing her words and becoming mixed up from Alzheimer's.

At the Grand Hotel three old women are checking in, how long they stay is up to fate. The oldest is confined to a wheelchair, wearing a single large boot with both legs tucked inside. The next is an exceptionally tall woman who seems to always carry a breeze about her; she also carries a string of dead husbands behind her. The last is a short grey haired woman with big bosoms and an equally big heart.

But what has any of this to do with Baba Yaga, a witch who flies about in a mortar, all but blind with only her great sense of smell to lead her as she moves about the world for good deeds or ill, making mischief at her will. As a woman of great power, Baba Yaga has the ability to alter her size or her shape, often taking the form of a bird. And isn't it birds who lay eggs...

Baba Yaga Laid an Egg is an utterly unique story retelling the myth of Baba Yaga in a distinctive style that is free of traditional form. The story of Baba Yaga is a story of women; mothers, daughters and lovers.

Traditionally Baba Yaga is an old woman so it is no surprise that the leading characters here are themselves old woman. But it is not just ageing that is central to the issues in this book but also femininity and identity that is questioned. A story recommended only for those who are willing to put in the effort to get to know this old and startling witch known as Baba Yaga.

Dubravka Ugresic Webpage

Dubravka Ugresic @ Text Publishing

On sale: 03 August 2009
Price (AU): $23.95
ISBN: 9781847670663
Recommended age: 18+
In a word: Baba Yaga
Re-read it: possibly
Recommend: yes
Star rating: four out of five
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When You Reach Me

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Diamond-Jumping Can Be Hazardous, Not To Mention Confusing!

A young girl and her brother are approached by three strange women. They are then taken on a journey through time and space to rescue a father they barely knew. It was a dangerous and thrilling journey, but it was also just a story. A story about family and adventure and time travel. Which is possible, according to Marcus, at least in theory.

Miranda's life was simple, she had her mother and she had Sal, her best friend. What more could she want? Then one day something happened to change all that. For no apparent reason Sal got hit, Sal stopped talking to her, and a letter arrived.

Other letters soon followed about things that had yet to happen, that had already happened. Could the lives of two people really lie in Miranda's hands; a twelve year old who had just lost her best friend and was all but alone in the world? But as we see there is more then one way to save a life...

When You Reach Me is a circular story that is deeply thoughtful, philosophical and also just about a girl. 'Tell me a story' the letters had said, and she did. Miranda's story is simply about life, about friendships, about growing up and making mistakes. And also about time-travel.

 

Rebecca Stead Webpage

Rebecca Stead @ Text Publishing

 

On sale: 01 February 2010
Price (AU): $16.95
ISBN: 9781921656064
Recommended age: 12+
In a word: Time
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: four out of five
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The Shadow of the Wind

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Which Ever Way The Wind Blows!

Julian Carax was once heard to say that we only exist as long as there is someone to remember us. According to all reports Julian Carax had died many years ago, but thanks to a small boy, Julian Carax is about to exist once more amongst the living.

Awoken in the night by the cries of his young son Daniel, a father makes a decision that will change his son's life forever. Daniel is introduced to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, and it is within these numerous dust filled shelves that Daniel discovers Julian Carax, and a mystery that will haunt him and bring danger to everyone he loves.

From the moment Daniel picked up the book The Shadow of the Wind at the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, he became enthralled with the author Julian Carax. The only problem was that no one seemed to know much about how to locate any of his other books, if they still existed, and even less was known about the man himself.

Determined to discover all he can about the man whose books mean so much to him, Daniel embarks on a journey into the past. Hidden beneath secrets and around dark corners, Daniel is slowly able to put together the life of Julian Carax, a life that is not so different from his own, but will he live long enough to see it through to the end of the story.

This is a story about first loves, and true loves, and loves of literature. This is a story about danger, and murder, and wars; a story of secrets and mysteries. In this story madmen roam the streets with all authority and characters escape the confines of their pages to walk amongst their readers. This is a story about The Shadow of the Wind. In this, you will be taken in, unable to escape the mystery that burns within; a brilliant and unforgettable read.

 

Carlos Ruiz Zafon Webpage

Carlos Ruiz Zafon @ Text Publishing

 

On sale: 03 July 2006
Price (AU): $25.00
ISBN: 9781920885854
Recommended age: 18+
In a word: Mystery
Re-read it: probably
Recommend: yes
Star rating: five out of five
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The Penelopiad

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

Can You Be Innocent With Blood On Your Hands!

There are many tales of Odysseus, ruler of Ithaca, who left his home to fight in the Trojan War, and than proceed to wander the seas a further ten or more years before returning home. We all know the stories of monsters fought, goddess bedded and treasures won, but what of his family at home. What of his young wife and newly born son?

This is the story of Penelope, Princes of Sparta, Queen of Ithaca and young woman, forced to take on the responsibilities of a man, without the respect and title.

Penelope was a virtuous wife, and also a cunning woman, but everyone makes mistakes. Although she was able to save herself from the greedy and selfish suitors come to take her husbands place, she was unable to save those she loved and the innocent blood spilt still stains her conscience.

Twelve young maids were hung, strung up by their necks, there little feet dancing in the air. They were Penelope's most beloved maid, she raised them herself and they shared her strictest confidence. They trusted Penelope; she was their mistress, their friend. But Penelope failed them; they were raped by her suitors and killed by her husband. How could Penelope have let this happen?

Any lover of myths or anyone who has ever taken in interest in mythology, or history, or tales of heroes and war should read this book; as should any woman. This is a hunting and absorbing story that shines new light on an old tale. The Penelopiad is a book that cannot be left unread.

 

Margaret Atwood Webpage

Margaret Atwood @ Text Publishing

 

On sale: 26 November 2007
Price (AU): $23.95
ISBN: 9781921351198
Recommended age: 18+
In a word: Mythic
Re-read it: probably
Recommend: yes
Star rating: four out of five
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