ARC Winter Reading Guide 2024

ARC Winter Reading Guide 2024 We hope that you enjoy these book recommendations provided by the librarians from our Augustine Resource Centre. This reading guide is packed full of great reads for your winter book selections.

Happy reading!

Dear Parents and Guardians, We are excited to announce a groundbreaking new literacy initiative designed to ignite a passion for reading among our boys. We recognize the vital importance of fostering strong literacy skills, and we believe in the power of thinking outside the box to help the boys achieve this goal. Our latest endeavour, developed by the ARC team, leverages the principles of gamification to create an engaging and enriching literacy experience for our students.

Why Gamified Literacy?

Gamification in education involves integrating game-like elements into the learning environment to boost student engagement and motivation. This approach includes clear rules, interactive storytelling, and social components such as teamwork and communication (Haiken 2017). By gamifying literacy, we aim to create a dynamic and captivating learning atmosphere where students are encouraged to delve deeply into reading and comprehension.

Key Goals of the Initiative: 1.

Boosting Comprehension: Through peer discussions, students will have the opportunity to engage with texts on a deeper level, enhancing their understanding and interpretation skills.

2.

Encouraging Collaboration: Collaborative learning activities will foster teamwork, allowing students to share insights and perspectives on their reading tasks.

3.

Creating Rich Literacy Opportunities: Our approach encompasses critical thinking, digital literacy, and exposure to a variety of texts and genres, ensuring a holistic literacy experience.

The Power of Interactive Narratives One of the most compelling aspects of our initiative is the use of interactive narratives. These stories are designed to immerse students in an engaging, story-driven experience that goes beyond traditional reading (Shchur, 2024). Instead of merely reading words on a page, our students will be transported into the narrative, becoming active participants in the story. This method has proven highly effective in capturing the interest of young readers and encouraging them to explore texts more deeply.

Introducing "The Author" - A Mystery Whodunit To bring our vision to life, we have developed a unique mystery game titled "The Author." This interactive mystery is specifically designed to appeal to boys' interests, incorporating elements of crime fiction, suspense, and thrillers. The storyline revolves around a crime that has been committed, with over 40 pieces of digital and physical evidence for the students to analyse.

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Components of the Mystery Game: Evidence Analysis: Students will examine various types of evidence, including police reports, witness statements, receipts, autopsy reports, and more. This process will require them to think critically, make inferences, and synthesize information.

Interactive Learning: The game will be presented both physically, through displays and evidence boards at the ARC, and digitally, via our ARC’s dashboard accessed via ATLAS and the ARC tile. This dual approach ensures accessibility and encourages students to engage with the material in multiple formats.

Collaborative Problem Solving: The nature of the game encourages students to work together, discussing theories, sharing insights, and collaboratively working towards solving the mystery.

Benefits of Gamified Literacy Enhanced Vocabulary: Exposure to Tier 2 and Tier 3 words, helping students to expand their language skills.

Multimodal Learning: Information is presented in various formats, catering to different learning styles.

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving: Students will develop these crucial skills as they navigate the complexities of the mystery.

Engagement and Motivation: The competitive and interactive elements of the game will keep students motivated and invested in their reading tasks.

How You Can Support

• • •

Discuss the Mystery at Home: Engage your son in conversations about the evidence and the storyline. Ask him about his theories and encourage him to think critically about the clues.

Encourage a visit to the ARC: Encourage your son to explore the physical evidence displays at the ARC. This hands-on experience is crucial for a deeper understanding of the narrative.

Utilize the Dashboard at home: Familiarize yourself with our online dashboard where digital evidence is displayed. Help your son navigate this resource to ensure he is making the most of the available information.

Strong libraries require innovative approaches to literacy, constantly adapting, evolving, and experimenting with new techniques and ideas. Our new gamified literacy initiative exemplifies this commitment to innovation.

We are confident that this approach will not only enhance our students' reading skills but also transform the literacy experience into something quirky, enjoyable, and memorable.

Your support and enthusiastic involvement are crucial to the success of ARC initiatives like this. We eagerly anticipate the positive impact it will have on our school community and look forward to seeing our students thrive in this dynamic learning environment.

Thank you for your continued support.

Warm regards, Mrs. Mace Head of Library Services

2024 International Boys’ School Coalition Annual Conference Turning the Page: Why Teenage Boys Stop Reading and What Schools Can Do About It Our Head of Library, Mrs. Mace, will be presenting in London over these school holidays together with representatives from five other schools committed to nurturing reading cultures.

Read more about the conference and the program here.

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Years 5 & 6 Fiction

To and Fro Anton Clifford-Motopi Sam thinks he's a weird-looking white kid with an afro. He lives with his white mum (annoying but not smelly) and brown dog Trevor (smelly but not annoying). He's never met his father. He just knows that his father is black.

A delightfully funny story about family and identity, and what it means to be truly Sam.

My Side of the Mountain Jean Craighead George Sam Gribley is terribly unhappy living in New York City with his family, so he runs away to the Catskill Mountains to live in the woods – all by himself. He intends to survive on his own. Sam learns about courage, danger, and independence during his year in the wilderness, a year that changes his life forever.

Future Hopes: Hopeful stories in a time of climate change Lauren James (Editor) Skyscraper farms. Insects for dinner. Guerilla gardening.

Nine authors pose ingenious and thought-provoking solutions to the climate crisis in this anthology of climate fiction. Rooted in real-world science and technology, the stories offer a roadmap for a future where our planet can thrive.

The Peak Spy Academy #1 Jack Heath After thwarting a robbery, Nolan Hawker is invited to the world’s most dangerous school. At The Peak, he learns to crack codes, fly planes and deceive enemies so he can someday infiltrate the deadly anarchist group known as Swarm. But someone at the Peak secretly works for Swarm, and they have a plan—the kind no one walks away from.

Tweet Morris Gleitzman The people of the world are puzzled. Birds everywhere are sitting on highways, on buildings, on BBQs, stopping traffic, lawnmowers and leaf blowers. Then a boy and his pet budgie discover the secret to what the birds are up to. Jay and Clyde embark on an urgent, yet hilarious journey with a message about the environment for humans.

Running with Ivan Suzanne Leal Thirteen-year-old Leo Arnold hates his life. He doesn't want a new school, a new house or a new family. And he definitely doesn't want to be sharing a room with his new stepbrother, Cooper. So when he uncovers an old music box and turns the key, he is astonished to find himself in Prague, surrounded by whispers and fears of a second world war. A war that ended decades ago.

The Boy Who Didn’t Want to Die Peter Lantos Peter and his parents set out from a small Hungarian town, travelling through Austria and then Germany together. Along the way, unforgettable images of adventure flash one after another, catching butterflies in the meadows – and as Peter realises that this adventure is really a nightmare – watching bombs falling from the blue sky outside Vienna, learning maths from his mother in Belsen.

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Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone J. K. Rowling (Audiobook access here) Harry Potter as you know it but narrated by the ever-entertaining Stephen Fry. Perfect to listen to on long car trips or rainy days at home.

Rise Sam Thaiday (eBook access here) For sixteen years, Sam Thaiday has entertained Brisbane Broncos, Queensland State of Origin and Australian fans both on and off the field. He’s one of rugby league’s most highly regarded and respected players and this book tells his story.

Being Jimmy Baxter Fiona Lloyd (eBook access here) It’s not eggsactly easy being Jimmy Baxter 'cause:· The real Jimmy's hiding inside· Ned Kelly’s giving him the evil eye· Mum’s stopped going to work and stays in bed· There’s no eggs in the fridge — or anything else. AND there’s new jobs, bad-at-school brains and a whole lot of trouble called Duke.

But then . . . there’s Mac.

Years 5 & 6 eBooks & Audiobooks

JT The Making of a Total Legend Jonathan Thurston (eBook access here) As a young Brisbane kid, Johnathan Thurston was written off as too skinny, too slow and too wild to play rugby league professionally. But he defied the odds to become one of the game's greatest players. Follow his journey from his debut with the Canterbury Bulldogs in 2002, to State of Origin star, and to total legend of the game.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Young Readers Edition William Kamkwamba (Audiobook access here) When a terrible drought struck William Kamkwamba's tiny village in Malawi, his family lost all of the season's crops, leaving them with nothing to eat and nothing to sell. William began to explore science books in his village library, looking for a solution. There, he came up with the idea that would change his family's life forever: he could build a windmill.

1914 Sophie Masson (eBook access here) Louis Jullian and his older brother Thomas are on holiday in Sarajevo, enjoying the privileges of life in a diplomat's family. But the peace is shattered as a bomb explodes and the heir to the Austrian Empire is assassinated, in front of their eyes.

As Europe descends into war, Louis convinces his parents to let him go to the front as a war correspondent.

Messi, Neyman, Ronaldo Luca Caioli (eBook access here) The world's greatest players, head to head. Lionel Messi, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo have risen from humble beginnings in Argentina, Brazil and Portugal to rank among the most exciting talents football has ever seen. Caioli presents a unique insight into what makes a modern player not just successful, but truly great.

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Years 7 & 8 Fiction

All the Broken Places John Boyne Ninety-one-year-old Gretel Fernsby has lived in the same mansion block in London for decades. She leads a comfortable, quiet life, despite her dark and disturbing past. She doesn't talk about her escape from Germany over seventy years before. Most of all, she doesn't talk about her father, the commandant of one of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps.

Two Sparrowhawks in a Lonely Sky Rebecca Lim After their family encounters terrible hardship in rural China, siblings Fu and Pei must draw on all their resilience and courage as they embark on a dangerous journey towards a better life. A compelling and poignant children's novel from the CBCA award-winning author of Tiger Daughter.

Bite Risk S.J. Wills Sel Archer lives in a normal town with normal residents, except for one night a month.

When the full moon comes out, almost all of the adults turn into werewolves, and it's up to the young people to protect themselves from danger.

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The Princess Bride William Goldman A hilarious adventure story that is not at all what it appears to be. Girl meets boy, and so starts a fairy tale like no other, of fencing, poison, true love, hate, revenge, giants, bad men, good men, snakes, spiders, chases, escapes, lies, truths, passion and miracles. A fine story that will have you laughing out loud.

Take the Shot Susan White Bug's secrets have secrets. Like...

Number one: he's formed a basketball team at his new school based on a giant lie.

Number two: his parents don't know he's playing basketball again. Number three: his new teammates have no idea he isn't allowed to play, and they don’t know why. No one can know the biggest secret of all: Bug risks his life every time he steps out onto the basketball court.

Electric Life Rachel Delahaye This fast paced and thrilling story set in a fictional yet believable future explores important themes and asks some big questions about where our society could be heading.

Saltwater Boy Bradley Christmas Heartfelt and poignant, this coming of age story explores father-son relationships, against a backdrop of small town rivalries, buried truths, with themes of sustainability, preserving the past and environmental care.

The Cradle of All Worlds Jeremy Lachlan Step inside. Don’t look back. Forward is the only way. His Dark Materials meets Mad Max in this unforgettable blockbuster adventure series about the world between the worlds, and one girl who is destined to save them all.

Eragon Christopher Paolini (Audiobook access here) When Eragon finds a polished stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter.

But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself. Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic and power.

A Short History of Nearly

I am Number Four Pittacus Lore (Audiobook access here) Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you.

We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having.

We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. Now all of us are running. Spending our lives in shadows, in places where no one would look, blending in.

We have lived among you without you knowing.

Everything Bill Bryson (Audiobook access here) Bill Bryson's quest to find out everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization - how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us. His challenge is to take subjects that normally bore the pants off most of us, and see if there isn't some way to render them comprehensible to people who have never thought they could be interested in science.

Tracks of the Missing Carl Merrison and Haeka Hustler (eBook access here) Deklan 'Dek' Archer and his mates arrive at school to a tense atmosphere. 'Old Mate', Mr Henry, who has lived in town for a long time, has been found murdered. He had been selling grog on the black market for years. To add to these worries, the Year 12s, who were on camp, are now missing. The police think there is a link between the missing students and the murder.

Years 7 & 8 eBooks & Audiobooks

Baseball Genius 1 Derek Jeter (eBook access here) Jalen DeLuca loves baseball.

Unfortunately, his dad can’t afford to keep him on the travel team. His dad runs a diner and makes enough to cover the bills, but there isn’t anything for extras. So Jalen decides to take matters into his own hands and he sneaks into the home of the New York Yankee’s star second baseman, James Yager, and steals a couple of balls from his personal batting cage.

The Great Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle (Audiobook access here) From the strange case of 'The Red-Headed League' to the extraordinary tale of 'The Engineer's Thumb', Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr Watson grapple with treachery, murder, and ingenious crimes of all kinds.

But no case is too challenging for the immortal detective's unique power of deduction.

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Years 9 & 10 Fiction

After the Shot Drops Randy Ribay A powerful novel about friendship, basketball, and one teen's mission to create a better life for his family in the tradition of Jason Reynolds and Walter Dean Myers. Told from alternating perspectives, After the Shot Drops is a heartpounding story about the responsibilities of great talent and the importance of compassion.

Just a Hat S. Khubiar It's 1979, and thirteen-year-old Joseph Nissan can't help but notice that small-town Texas has something in common with Revolution-era Iran: an absence of fellow Jews. But when the Iran hostage crisis, two neighbourhood bullies, and the local reverend's beautiful daughter put him in all sorts of danger, Joseph must find new ways to cope at home and at school.

Snowglobe Soyoung Park, Joungmin Lee Comfort (Translator) Enclosed under a vast dome, Snowglobe is the last place on Earth that’s warm. Outside Snowglobe is a frozen wasteland, and every day, citizens face the icy world to get to their jobs at the power plant, where they produce the energy Snowglobe needs. Their only solace comes in the form of twenty-four-hour television programming streamed directly from the domed city.

Spellslinger Sebastien de Castell Kellen is moments away from facing his first mage's duel and the start of four trials that will make him a spellcaster. There's just one problem: his magic is gone. As his sixteenth birthday approaches, Kellen falls back on his cunning in a bid to avoid total disgrace. But when a daring stranger arrives in town, she challenges Kellen to take a different path.

The Boy Lost in the Maze Joseph Coelho, Kate Milner (Illustrator) Theo, a seventeen-year-old London schoolboy with a single mother, is desperate to track down the father who left them, whom he scarcely remembers. At school he discovers Greek mythology and the ancient story of Theseus, a fatherless son driven on a similar search. As Theo focuses on Theseus in a series of poems he composes, it becomes clear the two journeys echo each other in uncanny ways.

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Four for the Road K.J. Reilly Asher Hunting wants revenge. Specifically, he wants revenge on the drunk driver who killed his mom and got off on a technicality. No one seems to think this is healthy, though, which is how he ends up in a bereavement group (well, bereavement groups. He goes to several.)

It’s there he makes some unexpected friends: There’s Sloane, who lost her dad to cancer; Will, who lost his little brother to a different kind of cancer; and eighty-year-old Henry, who was married to his wife for fifty years until she decided to die on her own terms.

Gus and the Missing Boy Troy Hunter Gus's life is flipped on its head one day when he finds a missing persons website with a digitally aged picture of a missing boy who looks eerily like him. Could he be a kidnapping victim? It would explain a lot about his patchy background, but what would that make his mum - his kidnapper?

We Didn’t Think it Through Gary Lonesborough (eBook access here) From the author of the awardwinning The Boy from the Mish, comes a compelling coming-of-age YA novel about sixteen-year-old Jamie Langton finding his future and navigating the challenges of racism, family and friendship in a small Australian town.

Into the White Joanna Grochowicz (ebook access here) This is the story of Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova expedition to Antarctica and the memorable characters, who with a band of shaggy ponies and savage dogs, follow a man they trust into the unknown. The team pushes on against all odds.

The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives Dashka Slater (Audiobook access here) One afternoon on the bus ride home from school, a single reckless act left Sasha severely burned, and Richard charged with two hate crimes and facing life imprisonment.

Years 9 & 10 eBooks & Audiobooks

One Song A J Betts (eBook access here) Aspiring singer-songwriter Eva has one last chance to enter Triple J Unearthed High and break into the music industry. But after three failed attempts, she needs some help. Cue the band, five people who have nothing in common but music. Can they record the most important song of their lives?

Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything Joshua Foer (eBook access here) Joshua Foer used to be like most of us, forgetting phone numbers and mislaying keys. Then he learnt the art of memory training, and a year later found himself in the finals of the US Memory Championship. He also discovered a truth we often forget: that, even in an age of technology, memory is the key to everything we are.

Keep this to Yourself Tom Ryan (eBook access here) It's been a year since the Catalog Killer terrorized the sleepy seaside town of Camera Cove, killing four people before disappearing without a trace. Like everyone else in town, eighteen-year-old Mac Bell is trying to put that horrible summer behind him—easier said than done since Mac's best friend Connor was the murderer's final victim. But when he finds a cryptic message from Connor, he's drawn back into the search for the killer—who might not have been a random drifter after all.

If You Tell Anyone, You’re Next Jack Heath (Audiobook access here) An exclusive group chat. A deadly challenge. How far would you go to join?

Jayden Jones is missing.

Everyone thinks he ran away. His best friend, Zoe Gale, knows they’re wrong.

Zoe’s search leads her to The 17—a secret group chat, used by anonymous teens to blackmail the powerless.

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Years 11 & 12 Fiction and True Stories

Bligh Rob Mundle Meet a 24-year-old Master Bligh as he witnesses the demise of his Captain and mentor Cook; a 34year-old Lieutenant Bligh at the helm of the famous Bounty then cast adrift by Fletcher Christian on an epic 47-day open-boat voyage from Tonga to Timor; and a 36year-old Captain Bligh as he takes HMS Providence, on a grand scientific voyage around the world.

And all this before he was forty.

The Trial Franz Kafka Josef K., an ordinary bank clerk, is accused of a crime he did not commit, whose nature is never revealed to him. As he tries to defend his innocence amid a labyrinthine world of anonymous bureaucrats, stifling courtrooms and casual brutality, he becomes increasingly uncertain of his fate and spirals towards destruction.

One Way S.J. Morden It's the dawn of a new era - and we're ready to colonize Mars. But the company that's been contracted to construct a new Mars base, has made promises they can't fulfill and is desperate enough to cut corners.

The first thing to go is the automation . . . the next thing they'll have to deal with is the eight astronauts they'll send to Mars, when there aren't supposed to be any at all.

Boy Swallows Universe Trent Dalton Brisbane, 1983: A lost father, a mute brother, a mum in jail, a heroin dealer for a stepfather and a notorious crime for a babysitter. It's not as if Eli's life isn't complicated enough already. He's just trying to follow his heart, learning what it takes to be a good man, but life just keeps throwing obstacles in the way.

Wrong Answers Only Tobias Madden Marco should be at university, studying biomedicine. Instead, he’s been sent to live on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean with his estranged uncle, all because of a ‘blip’ everyone else is convinced was a panic attack. (Which it most definitely was not.) And even though Marco’s trip is supposed to provide answers – about himself, about his family – all he finds on board the Ocean Melody are more and more questions.

I Fight, You Fight Alex Noble Sixteen-year-old Alex Noble was a high school rugby star with a promising sporting career ahead of him when an on-field injury left him fighting for his life in the ICU. Following a four-day coma and a diagnosis of C4 quadriplegia, Alex’s first words to his brother Zac were, ‘If I fight, you fight.’

Showing Up Nedd Brockman Nedd Brockmann isn’t afraid to dream big. Fresh after running fifty marathons in fifty days, the twenty-three-year-old had an idea: a 4000-kilometre run across Australia, averaging 100 kilometres per day with the aim of completing it in the fastest known time of 43 days. He wasn’t chasing fame or public recognition. He just wanted to test his limits and raise a million dollars for homelessness in the process.

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Into the Wild Jon Krakauer (eBook access here) The true story of Chris McCandless, a young man, who in 1992 walked deep into the Alaskan wilderness and whose SOS note and emaciated corpse were found four months later. Jon Krakauer explores the obsession which leads some people to discover the outer limits of self, leave civilization behind and seek enlightenment through solitude and contact with nature.

Sacred Hoops Phil Jackson (Audiobook access here) One of the most successful coaches in NBA history, Chicago Bulls head coach Phil Jackson provides an inside look at the higher wisdom of teamwork with Sacred Hoops.A new paradigm of leadership based on Eastern and Native American principles, Jackson's approach flies in the face of the egoistic, winner-takeall attitude that has changed the face of American sports.

Breath Tim Winton (eBook access here) When paramedic Bruce Pike is called out to deal with another teenage adventure gone wrong, he knows better than his colleague, better than the kid's parents, what happened and how. Thirty years before, that dead boy could have been him. A moving novel about the damage you do to yourself when you're young and think you're immortal.

Years 11 & 12 eBooks & Audiobooks

The Wolf You Feed Andrew Webster (eBook access here) Webster shows us a complex, brilliant and difficult man. We come to admire the good wolf of Bennett's nature - the genius who transforms young unformed players into titans of the game.

And the bad wolf - the wrangler who plays the dark arts of football politics with obsessive determination.

Wool Hugh Howey (Audiobook access here) In a ruined and hostile landscape, in a future few have been unlucky enough to survive, a community exists in a giant underground silo. Inside, men and women live an enclosed life full of rules and regulations, of secrets and lies. To live, you must follow the rules. But some don't. These are the dangerous ones; these are the people who dare to hope and dream, and who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple and deadly, they are allowed outside.

Within Reach: My Everest Story Mark Pfetzer and Jack Galvin (Audiobook access here) In May 1996 the media scrambled to document the gripping story of 16-year-old Mark Pfetzer's expedition to Mount Everest. Not only was he the youngest climber ever to attempt the summit, he also witnessed the tragedy documented in Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, in which eight climbers perished in a sudden storm.

The Extinction Trials S.M Wilson (eBook access here) Betrayal. Sacrifice. Survival.

Welcome to The Extinction Trials... In Stormchaser and Lincoln's ruined world, the only way to survive is to risk everything. To face a contest more dangerous than anyone can imagine. And they will do anything to win.

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Parents & Staff Fiction

Safe Haven Shankari Chandran After arriving in Australia seeking asylum, Fina dedicates herself to aiding the refugees held in a detention centre at Port Camden, a remote island outpost.

Appalled by the mistreatment of those in custody, Fina speaks out to the media about the poor conditions within the facility, as a result she is arrested, taken from her home in the small country town of Hastings and threatened with deportation.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop Satoshi Yagisawa Twenty-five-year-old Takako has never liked reading, although the Morisaki bookshop has been in her family for three generations. When Takako's boyfriend reveals he's marrying someone else, she reluctantly accepts her eccentric uncle's offer to live rent-free in the tiny room above the shop. Hoping to nurse her broken heart in peace, Takako is surprised to encounter new worlds within the stacks of books lining the Morisaki bookshop.

The Wager David Grann From the international bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon and The Lost City of Z, a mesmerising story of shipwreck, mutiny and murder, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth.

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers Samuel Burr Clayton Stumper is an enigma.

Abandoned at birth on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, he was raised by the sharpest minds in the British Isles and finds himself amongst the last survivors of a fading institution. As Clay begins to unpick the clues, he uncovers something even the Fellowship have never been able to solve - and it's a secret that will change everything.

Into Your Arms: Nick Cave's Songs Reimagined Kirsten Krauth (Editor) These stories, from some of Australia’s favourite creators, respond to Cave’s visionary genius with their own original and unsettling tales of death, faith, violence and love. This collection is best read with accompanying music. It’s as much a listening experience as it is reading one.

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What Happened to Nina?

Dervla McTiernan Nina and Simon are the perfect couple. Young, fun and deeply in love. Until they leave for a weekend at his family's cabin in Vermont, and only Simon comes home. What happened to Nina?

Nobody knows. Simon's explanation about what happened in their last hours together doesn't add up.

Soon, facts are lost in a swirl of accusation.

The Long Goodbye Keri Kitay Poignant and moving, The Long Goodbye is a stirring account of losing a parent to the ravages of an unforgiving disease and a heartfelt exploration of what it means to face this with grace and dignity.

Sanctuary Garry Disher Grace is a thief- a good one. She was taught by experts, and she's been practising since she was a kid. She specialises in small, highvalue items-stamps, watches-and she knows her Jaeger-LeCoultres from her Patek Philippes. But it's a solitary life, always watchful, always moving. It's not the life she wants.

Grace walks into Erin Mandel's rural antiques shop and sees a chance for something different.

Bruny Heather Rose (Audiobook access here) BRUNY is a searing, subversive novel about family, love, loyalty and the new world order. It is a gripping thriller with a jawdropping twist, a love story, a cry from the heart and a fiercely entertaining and crucial work of imagination that asks the burning question: what would you do to protect the place you love?

Klara and the Sun Kazuo Ishiguro (eBook access here) From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behaviour of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside. She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.

Thinking, Fast and Slow Daniel Kahneman (eBook access here) Kahneman showed that there are two ways we make choices: fast, intuitive thinking, and slow, rational thinking. His book reveals how our minds are tripped up by error, bias and prejudice (even when we think we are being logical) and gives practical techniques that enable us all to improve our decision-making.

Midnight in Chernobyl Adam Higginbotham (eBook access here) A harrowing and compelling narrative which brings the 1986 disaster to life through the eyes of the men and women who witnessed it first-hand. Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews conducted over the course of more than ten years, as well as letters, unpublished memoirs, and documents from recently declassified archives, this book makes for a masterful non-fiction thriller.

Unbreakable Jelena Dokic (Audiobook access here) This is a story of Jelena Dokic's survival. How she survived as a refugee, twice. How she survived on the tennis court to become world No. 4. But, most importantly, how she survived her father, Damir Dokic, the tennis dad from hell. From wartorn Yugoslavia to Sydney to Wimbledon, she narrates her hellish ascent to becoming one of the best tennis players.

Parents & Staff eBooks & Audiobooks

Open Water Caleb Azumah Nelson (Audiobook access here) At once an achingly beautiful love story and a potent insight into race and masculinity, Open Water asks what it means to be a person in a world that sees you only as a Black body, to be vulnerable when you are only respected for strength, to find safety in love, only to lose it.

Suite Française Irène Némirovsky (Audiobook access here) In June 1940 France fell to the Nazis. The effects of this momentous event on the lives of ordinary Parisians and the inhabitants of a small rural community under occupation are brilliantly explored in Irène Némirovsky's gripping and heartbreaking novel. Némirovsky herself was a tragic victim of the Nazi regime but she left behind her this exceptional masterpiece. In Suite Française she conjures up a vivid cast of wonderful characters who find themselves thrown together in ways they never expected.

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Resource Spotlight

Why join the State Library NSW? - Free membership - Provides access to expensive eresources that we have limited subscriptions to - Over 80 per cent of the eresources collection can be accessed online - HSC resources and eresources in other languages

What are eresources?

- Local and international newspapers - Full text journals - Databases - Ebooks - Magazines - Digital images from their unique heritage collections

How do I join?

Students, staff, and our wider community can join the State Library NSW here. If you reside in NSW your library card will be posted to your address.

If you already have a NSW public library card you can use this to register for access to the eresources collection here.

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Aus Lit