The Fairy Ring

The Fairy Ring by Mary Losure

"Elsie and Frances Fool The World"

It all began with Frances, a young girl who, being new to England, one day discovered fairies at the bottom of the garden. Unfortunately it seemed Frances was the only one to see these fairies and so without proof no one believed her, that is apart from her cousin Elsie of course. But that didn't stop the teasing that followed.

Elsie, being of kind heart and somewhat mischief nature, decided to put a stop to the teasing of her cousin Frances by providing proof of the existence of fairies. Something that was easier said then done, however with a strong will, an artistic flair and a borrowed camera she had managed to do just that.

The Fairy Ring is a true story told of how two girls, innocently enough, fooled the world and those with the passion enough to believe. As spiritualism was becoming increasingly popular at the time, fairies and nature spirits were a popular talking point, and with so little known about the subject proof of the existence of such beings were highly sought after. But little did Frances or Elsie realise just how seriously their proof would be taken.

Mary Losure Webpage
Mary Losure @ Walker Books

On sale: 01 July 2012
Price (US): $24.95
ISBN: 9780763656706
Recommended age: 12+
In a word: Fairies
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: four out of five
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The Wombles

The Wombles by Elisabeth Beresford

Meet The Wombles Of Wimbledon!

Living under Wimbledon common and keeping the greens clean and tidy are a family of Wombles. For years it has been their duty to collect, clear and recycle any and all manner of things we messy humans leave behind. Form scarves and umbrellas to buses and cement trucks, the Wombles have managed to reuse and borrow all that they need. But it's not just at Wimbledon where Wombles can be found.

The Wombles introduces these much loved creatures to a new generation of young readers. With their mini adventures, various foods and capacity for finding the lost and discarded, these delightful Wombles will have you laughing along with them in their various antics. A much loved story that children of all ages will adore.

Elisabeth Beresford @ Bloomsbury Australia
The Wombles

On sale: 11 December 2010
Price (AU): $13.99
ISBN: 9781408808375
Recommended age: 4+
In a word: Womble
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: four out of five
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Sookie Stackhouse #12

SOOKIE STACKHOUSE:
Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris

What I Did, Or Didn't Do, For Love!

Having watched friends and loved ones marry, have children, and lead reasonably normal lives, at least for the most part, Sookie has often wondered what it would be like to have those things for herself. Yes, technically she is married to Eric, but a marriage to a vampire is not exactly legal, nor ideal when you only get to see your husband for a few hours a couple of nights a week. Not too mention the added stress of a vampire Queen out to claim your husband for her own.

But, as always, Sookie has other matters to tend to. Eric has been framed for a murder she is not entirely sure he is innocent off, having caught him feeding from the victim only minutes before her murdered body was found. The fae left behind on this side are becoming increasingly restless and dangerous, not just to each other but the wider population. There are also complications with the weres, or at least one were in particular who would like to see the end of Sookie. Then there is the cluviel dor.

Deadlocked sees Sookie trapped between a rock and a hard place. While it is true the fae cannot lie that does not mean they cannot deceive and being family the betrayal will cut deep. Meanwhile her relationship with Eric is strained at best and while both are looking to the other for an act that will prove their love, neither are willing to act themselves. However the sacrifice Sookie makes for love is not the one anyone would have expected and despite how much she cares, in the end love will break her heart.

Charlaine Harris Webpage
Charlaine Harris @ Hachette

Sookie Stackhouse

On sale: 01 May 2012
Price (AU): $29.99
ISBN: 9780575096585
Recommended age: 18+
In a word: Cluviel Dor
Re-read it: probably
Recommend: to those reading the series
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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Fantasy Art Journal

Fantasy Art Journal

"My Mind Is My Weapon... And A Mind Needs Books"

A place where dragons are rescuers, where trees talk, rings are all powerful and where anything you can believe in can become reality. This is a world where anything you can imagine can be unleashed with more then enough space to give home to all those creative ideas, thoughts, dreams and wishes.

Fantasy Art Journal is a charming and inspiring journal filled with a number of fantasy quotes that will stir your imagination. Comprising of blank, lined an graph pages, this journal will support you in any creative endeavour whether that is through writing, sketching, planning or any other form of creative expression you could think of. This is a special journal you should treat yourself to or buy for that someone special.

@ Thames & Hudson

On sale: 01 March 2012
Price (AU): $19.95
ISBN: 9781908150516
Recommended age: 16+
In a word: Journal
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: five out of five
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Green Heart

Green Heart by Alice Hoffman

From The Ashes Of The Past Grows A Bright Green Future!

 

Green Angel is a beautiful, tender and heartfelt story of a girl who lost everything and everyone she loved, and then she lost herself. This is the story of the dreams of the past that haunted her, the lives of those touched by her and all that she gave up and found once again.

Green Witch is an enchanting story of magic, love and witches. When so much of the past was lost all that was left were the memories of what had been. Learning to live again, to love again, was the only hope for a future, but that future would never be unless someone could be found to share that future, unless something could be found to believe in.

Green Heart combines the two stories of Green Angel and Green Witch into one brilliantly composed book. When so many were lost in the disaster, when so much was taken, there were none left behind who had not suffered a loss. Filled with grief, witches, kidnapping and a greedy horde, in the end it will be a self belief that saves her. Out of the devastation and tragedy of the past will grow a new and bright future, where one girl ventures further then ever before to save her heart and discover a new kind of family.

Alice Hoffman Webpage

Alice Hoffman @ Scholastic

On sale: 01 May 2012
Price (AU): $14.99
ISBN: 9780545141963
Recommended age: 14+
In a word: Green
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: five out of five
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The Steampunk Chronicles 1

THE STEAMPUNK CHRONICLES:

The Girl In The Steel Corset by Kady Cross

There Are Two Sides To Every Girl!

Finley was never one to fit in, unfortunately that usually meant she was not able to hold down any one job for more then a few weeks. And now it seemed this current position would be no exception. It was too bad, it was quite a good position she held. But now after having beaten a Lord's son and hair to within an inch of his life, she just couldn't see how she would be keep her on in her position or how she would avoid the peelers.

Although it had been frightfully unavoidable the lad had thoroughly deserved every broken bone and bruise he suffered. However Finley now found she did regret it a little, but only because she was now out of a job, again, and would possible find herself in strife with the law. But the bigger problem at hand was not the young Lord and the strife he wanted to set upon her but a Duke and the expectations he now placed on her having seen what she is capable off.

The Girl In The Steel Corset is an action packed Steampunk mystery with a brilliant and colourful cast of misfit superheroes racing about the streets of Victorian London solving crimes and uncovering secrets hidden within the past. A place where the dead may be gone but doesn't mean you can't talk to them, where a broken man can be rebuilt with machines and where even those you trust may betray you. A pacy and enjoyable read that is the first in this new series.

Kady Cross Webpage

Kady Cross @ Harlequin Teen

On sale: 01 June 2011
Price (AU): $16.99
ISBN: 9781742901305
Recommended age: 16+
In a word: Steampunk
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: four out of five
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Fracture

Fracture by Megan Miranda

Death Can Be So Attractive!

Dying is nothing like they say it will be. It's not peaceful and painless; it hurts and is scary as hell. But once a person is dead they are supposed to stay dead, there is no coming back after 11 minutes of death. So how then did she survive? There is no evidence of the brain injury she should have sustained being so long without oxygen, there is no evidence of anything being wrong with her, at least none that will show up on any tests. But she is different, and there is something wrong with her.

Waking from a coma she should never have lived through, everything has changed. No one understands what's she's been through, what she's still going through, no one that is but Troy.  Attractive, mysterious and a little bit dangerous, Troy knows all too well what it is she is going through having been through something similar himself. But the secrets he is keeping are more then just dangerous, if she's not careful they just may be the death of her.

Fracture is part thriller, part supernatural and part romance rolled into a tale of family, friendship and death. As relationships are tested, trust is betrayed and hearts are broken, from the moment she fell through the ice and felt her life slip away her life has been irrevocably fractured. And if she is to begin to put the pieces of her life back together again she is going to have to want to live, and fight to stay alive.

Megan Miranda Webpage

Megan Miranda @ Bloomsbury Australia

On sale: 12 February 2012
Price (AU): $15.99
ISBN: 9781408817391
Recommended age: 14+
In a word: Death
Re-read it: probably
Recommend: yes
Star rating: three out of five
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Heaven

Heaven by Christoph Marzi

Catch A Fallen Star...!

Her one thought was getting as close as she could to her name sake, as high as she could to see the stars. There were only curtain places where the sky, the stars, was visible over London for mush of the sky was missing. It wasn't a matter of simply not being able to see the sky; the sky was literally missing, gone, nonexistent. There was a vast nothingness where the sky should be, but for the moment she was consumed with going we're the sky still was, she had to see it.

Then two things happened. First she was murdered, set upon by two men and one knife and before she knew it her heart was in his hands and she was dead. The second thing that happened, and this really shouldn't have, was that immediately following her heart leaving her body she proceeded to get up and run away. She ran scared for her life, scared that she had been killed, scared that she was still alive.

Heaven has all the elements of a classic fairytale mixed with a dash of the supernatural and a touch of mystery. This fantasy romance is an intriguing thriller that is beautifully written around two troubled yet sympathetic central characters that are both as different from each other as they are similar. This is a warm yet fresh tale of both the darker and lighter side of life. A charmingly story that is certainly one to read.

Christoph Marzi Webpage

Christoph Marzi @ Hachette Children's

On sale: 01 February 2012
Price (AU): $16.99
ISBN: 9781408314661
Recommended age: 14+
In a word: Heaven
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: five out of five
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Runes Of Elfland

Runes Of Elfland by Brian Froud

A Gateway Into Faerie!

There are many doors and pathways to Faerie, even a window will do if you can open it wide enough to fit through. However this guide takes you by the hand and leads you willingly to a place where faeries exist, a place where they play, dance and dream. Anywhere you find nature, the wind, the sky, a puddle of water, you will find a story and a gateway into Faerie.

The Runes Of Elfland are a set of twenty-four runes known collectively as the Elder Futhark. Each individual rune represents more then just its sound or letter, there is a meaning behind each symbol and a story behind each meaning. Between the pages of this book are charms, stories, gifts and symbols that will amuse, delight and enlighten all those who venture along pathways and through doors opened within these pages. A beautiful book for lovers of faeries, art, fairytales and magic.

Brian Froud - World Of Froud

Brian Froud @ Thames & Hudson

Brian Froud @ Abrams Books

On sale: 01 July 2003
Price (AU): $20.86
ISBN: 9780810946125
Recommended age: 16+
In a word: Fairies
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: five out of five
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