The Extinction Gambit (The Extraordinaires, #1) by Michael PryorĮntertaining romp through a richly re-imagined 1908 London, where magic flourishes, an enclave of Neanderthals survives in hiding, and a wolfish young man and a beautiful albino are all that stand between a trio of Immortal magicians and their plans for world domination. The engaging storyline and characters, fluid narrative and evocative writing make for a fantastic debut novel.ĭeliciously fun geek-girl detective story set in a museum with bonus gross-out natural history trivia wrapped up in a treasury of mystery genre references. A celebration of life in the face of death.Ī difficult-to-put-down, warm and gritty novel about a girl from a rough neighbourhood who is desperate to escape her small-time crim roots. Gritty yet sensitive tale of a troubled boy apprenticed to a kindly undertaker.

The first in James Moloney’s brlliant new fantasy series where a young village girl battles the Wyrdborn, a race of corrupt wizards, to save a baby prophesied to lay waste to the world. The machiavellian intrigues of this beautifully realised world will have you on tenderhooks for the final installment. The gentle candlemaker Tallow has been suborned by the corrupt Maleovellis and transformed into courtesan and assassin Tarlo. Votive (Curse of the Bond Rider #2) by Karen BrooksĬompulsively readable second installment in Karen Brooks’s fantasy trilogy. Hilarious third and final book in the Ishmael series where our cast of lovable larrikins finish Year 12 at St Daniels. Ishmael and the Hoops of Steel by Michael Gerard Bauer My Clayton’s Notable Books for Older Readers for 2012 is being announced right here, right now (Shortlist to follow… well, shortly). The REAL CBCA Shortlist and Notables will be announced nationally on 3 April. I’ve gorged on books: eighty-odd were entered in the Older Readers category this year. Agreed to be a Clayton’s judge for Qld in the 2012 CBCA Book of the Year Awards.

I flushed the loo, turned on the tap and walked out to find her still sitting on the couch watching TV.So, I’ve done it again. This morning I sat on the loo seat for fifteen minutes, ears peeled, waiting for the squeak of her stockings rubbing against her thighs as she crept down the hall. The space between each coathanger measures the required fifty-two centimetres. The thread still sits perfectly across the wardrobe doors. There’s no sign of her snooping in my room.

Not once did Mum knock on the door to see what I was doing. Three times in the last day and a half I have dragged my desk to different corners of the room, trying to decide which position gives me optimum cover yet still provides a clear view out the window and along the street. Her lack of interrogation has me climbing the walls.

The old girl hasn’t asked me about the trip. “GAME, EAT, sleep plus a bit of furniture moving.

Pig Boy by J.C. Burke