Muttonfish Magic by Aunty Ruth Simms, Lucy Robertson and Jasmine Seymour

"These are true stories from my lived memory in my mother's language, as well as the memories of my sisters and brothers ... They are stories from a different time, and from a place significant to all Australians." Aunty Ruth Simms

Publisher blurb: Aunty Ruth remembers going with her mother and brothers on a day out to the cove near their home, to learn traditional fishing and abalone hunting and cooking methods. After a day on the rocks watching mum work her magic, they return home with a feed for their family.

There are two text lines in this book that really resonated with me:

"We filled our pram with just enough muttonfish for a family meal ... "

This is the essence of sustainability surely. They only took what the family needed.

"No plaque marks our fishing spot or spills our secrets. We remember."

These simple words are a powerful way to talk to the children in your family and library about the importance of shared stories, shared culture, wisdom of the elders, and community memories. 

This book should be an essential addition to your school library.

Dharug woman and Prime Minister’s Literary Award winner Jasmine Seymour accentuates the family’s bond through illustrations that radiate warmth and connection. Her expressive depictions of family interactions, combined with luminous land and waterscapes and meticulous renderings of local flora, deepen the book’s sense of place and belonging. Primary school-aged readers familiar with Seymour’s Open Your Heart to Country and Lisa Kennedy’s books will appreciate Muttonfish Magic. It is an impressive picture book that should receive critical acclaim and wide educational use. Joy Lawn Books and Publishing

Thanks to Magabala Books for my advance copy of Muttonfish Magic which will be published this week.

When you share this book in your library, please talk about Aunty Ruth Simms and explain that this story comes from her lived experience. You could find a map of the La Perouse area and talk about the way the kids and their mother walked across a golf course. You will also need to look at pictures of muttonfish (abalone) and muckendy (rock cod). Other names for abalone are: Sea Ears, Ear Shells, Muttons Shells, Muttonfish, Pāua, and Ormer. Here is a video from the ABC you could share with your older students. 

Muttonfish (abalone)

Read more about Red Rock Cod here

You might compare this photo with the wonderful illustration by Jasmine Seymour

Better Read Kids are hosting an event for this book on 21st February 2026.

It would be good to also read Going Fishing with Nana. I would also share Going for Pippies and Three Dresses. 

Aunty Ruth Simms was born on The Reserve in La Perouse in 1941 as one of nine children. She grew up with a strong connection to both Larpa and Jerrinja cultures. From a young age she learnt about traditional bush foods, language and medicines and went to sleep on ‘goonjarn’ stories (ancient spirit stories). Today, Ruth lives in Nowra with her daughter Trudy and works as an Aboriginal Education Officer (AEO) in local primary schools. She has a Diploma of Education and is passionate about embedding Indigenous perspectives into the curriculum. She is currently the longest serving AEO at the NSW Department of Education and remains a strong advocate for her people. In 2012, Aunty Ruth was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for her contributions to education.

Lucy Robertson is a primary school Teacher Librarian and has always been passionate about good stories. She grew up on a vineyard and winery in Mudgee before studying journalism and creative writing, later completing an education degree after a move to the South Coast surfing village of Culburra Beach. When Lucy first started working with Aunty Ruth, she was struck by her beautiful stories of fishing, crabbing and shell work with her family in La Perouse and ‘The Dock’ in Orient Point, eventually convincing her to start writing them down for future generations.

Jasmine Seymour is a Dharug woman and descendant of Maria Lock, who was the daughter of Yarramundi, the Boorooberongal elder who had met Governor Phillip on the banks of the Hawkesbury River in 1791. Maria was the first Aboriginal woman to be educated by the Blacktown Native Institute. She was married to carpenter and convict, Robert Lock and their union resulted in thousands of descendants who can all trace their Dharug heritage back past Yarramundi. Jasmine is a member of the Dharug Custodian Aboriginal Corporation.

Baby Business

Here is an interview with Jasmine Seymour about this book

The Experiment by Rebecca Stead

The Experiment is a thrilling suspenseful dramatic exploration of friendship, family 

and what it means to be human. It’s dynamite! Story Links

Compelling and page-turning. Kirkus

Nathan and his parents know they are actually aliens living on Earth as a part of an experiment (yes that is the title). Nathan lives in New York and to some extent he lives like a normal kid - going to school, using his phone to talk to his friend, enjoying sleepovers, and reading his favourite comic - Calvin and Hobbes. But early on in the story a few things seem strange. He has to brush his teeth five times a day including at school with a special pink paste, his mother documents all his food and Nathan himself is weighed and measured regularly. Nathan also has some friends who live in different parts of America - Izzy (Isabel) from Illinois; Nina from New Mexico; Annie from Alabama; Leo from Louisiana; and Miriam from Missouri. Are you noticing a pattern here? And then we read that some kids have disappeared. 

The action moves with a swift pace as we watch a count down at the start of each section - Lift off minus eight days; Lift off minus seven days; Lift off minus six days; Lift off minus ten hours; Lift off minus ten minutes; Fate and Happiness. You should also stop and notice the chapter headings.

There is a moment in this book on page 255 where I found myself screaming at Rebecca Stead. I was sure Nathan was either going to die or be whisked off to Kast. I read The Experiment late into the night and again around 3am and then this morning I finished it off. This is a long book (207 pages of smallish print) but readers aged 9+ with reading stamina are sure to find themselves quickly hooked into the story. 

I want to mention a couple of things that I loved and that are quite different in this story - Nathan does not hide things from his parents - as a group they feel like a team and all of them want to discover the truth about The Kast and Hester and also find out why Nathan now has a tail (he names her Tuck) - you can see this on the cover. The other aspect of this story that was very different from other books about power and control came at the end (spoiler alert) when Hester is taken away on the spaceship and not punished and it seems she might have some sort of odd, but nevertheless happy, ending. 

Publisher blurb: Nathan never understood what was ‘fun’ about secrets, probably because he’s always had to keep a very big one, even from his best friend, Victor. Although he appears to be a typical grade-six kid, Nathan learned at an early age that his family is from another planet, and he’s part of an experiment to work out how to behave like a human and blend in. But the experiment suddenly seems to be going wrong. Some of the other experimenters, including Nathan’s first crush, Izzy, are disappearing without a word. After his family is called back to the mothership, Nathan begins to question everything he’s been taught to believe about who he is and why he’s on Earth. Can he, Victor and Izzy uncover the truth? The Experiment is a fast-paced adventure—with aliens—that asks universal questions about how we figure out who we want to be, whether it’s ever too late to change, and the importance of friendship.

Betsy Bird has penned a very detailed review of The Experiment (but be warned it is filled with spoilers). She links this book with Charlotte's Web, and like my experience of reading this book, that idea has also blown my mind! Betsy recommends reading her review AFTER reading The Experiment - and I whole heartly agree. Also DO NOT SKIP to the end of The Experiment - please let the story unfold and know you can trust Rebecca Stead that there will be answers to all of your (and Nathan's) questions.

Strong character development, like the complicated backstory of a villain, brings further depth, as do the believably strong relationships, including Nathan’s unbreakable friendship with Victor. Stead’s creativity shines here, from Nathan’s unusual tail to later plot twists and turns (not to mention the tattletale, alien-enhanced cat). Anyone who enjoys Stead’s writing, along with sci-fi lovers and even superhero fans will easily devour this latest offering, staying up late under the covers with flashlight in hand to read just one more chapter. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

In this video Rebecca Stead talks about her books including The Experiment and Rebecca is interviewed by Betsy Bird. Here is the Reading Time review (but I disagree with the idea that this is 'tongue in cheek') Here is the review from Ms Yingling.

A few years ago I penned a post about Science Fiction books for young readers. For myself I well remember reading Trillions by Nicholas Fisk and The World Eater by Robert Swindells and having my mind blown because that's what Science Fiction can do - and now that has happened again with The Experiment - my mind is officially blown again. But by far the best books to compare with The Experiment are Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left by Robin Klein and Edsel Grizzler and the Voyage to Verdana by James Roy. Sorry, these are both old books now so you will have to hunt in a library.

Halfway across the Galaxy and Turn Left

Edsel Grizzler and the Voyage to Verdada

Here are the teachers notes

Galax Arena by Gillian Rubinstein (1992) is a far more sinister story but it is also a book that I thought of after reading The Experiment. 

Read a detailed description of the plot here

And try to find these too:

The Last Cuentista

The Raven's Song

You might also look for this book:

The Future Trap

I think parts of The Experiment will also linger with me because earlier this week I re-read The Giver by Lois Lowry which, as you probably know, also talks about control and manipulation. 

Here are other books I have read and enjoyed by Rebecca Stead:

When you reach me

The list of things that will not change

Liar and Spy Five posts

Bob

The Lost Library

Snoop by Gordon Korman

This story is a wild romp - yes, it is filled with improbabilities but I am sure readers aged 10+ will enjoy 'snooping' with Carter - watching all the improbable things that are happening in his small town you just have to be prepared to suspend your disbelief.

Carter has two broken legs thanks to an accident while skiing with his father and Martin his younger brother. Who caused the accident? Well Martin was just learning to ski but, yes, he did crash into Carter but why didn't Carter just step out of the way. Well Carter was watching a video his phone. 

Now Carter has two broken legs and is confined to a wheelchair. He can't even get back to his bedroom because it is up the stairs, so he has to 'live' in the guest bedroom which smell like onions because it is beside their kitchen.

At first Carter survives his enforced time at home by watching videos on his laptop and phone. Carter discovers he can watch more than silly dance routine videos - he can watch the live cameras from around his town. This is only the beginning of his snooping. He finds a way to access more private cameras inside shops. This is a small town, and Carter begins to notice the behaviour of various people. The pregnant lady with her mischievous toddler at the park, the two owners of rival cafes who seem to be determined to sabotage one another, and then he starts watching a man who seems suspicious and a red car that sits in the same spot with the driver inside. 

Now take a look at the cover - about a third of the way into the book I finally thought about the cover. That is a red panda - an endangered animal Why are endangered animals roaming around his town? Carter's tech is taken away by his photographer mother. Is there a way he can still spy on the town and on his classmates.

There is an appropriate layer in this story about the dangers of addiction to devices but, while this is an important message, it did not feel too didactic in this story and in fact it is good to view the way Carter is able to change is own relationship with his phone and laptop especially after he is forbidden from using them. Read more about this here. Gordon Korman is a Canadian author. He has written over one hundred books. 

Blurb from author page: If Carter hadn’t been checking his phone, he might have seen his brother coming down the ski slope. And if Carter had seen his brother in time and avoided the crash, he might not be stuck at home for weeks, with both legs in casts. He’s never been so bored. Just to connect himself to the world, he starts checking out the live feeds from cameras around town. Before he knows it, he’s hooked – watching his classmates when they don’t know he’s looking, spying on neighbors, and discovering some other highly unusual things – things that no one else is noticing. Things that just might be illegal. But the biggest problem is once you start snooping, the hardest thing is to look away.

Korman dishes up an expert mix of entertaining foolery, peer and family dynamics, and cautionary messages about both the ethical nuances of online snooping and the hazards of jumping to conclusions. Kirkus

Here are some other books I enjoyed by Gordon Korman:

The Unteachables

Masterminds

Criminal Destiny

Shipwreck; Survival; Escape 

There are three books in this series The Island Trilogy - perfect for reluctant boy readers

Look for the others too - The Titanic Trilogy, The Dive Trilogy, and The Everest Trilogy.

Hans Christian Andersen Award short list for 2026

To write for children is to speak of truth, tenderness, and enduring hope

Maria Jose Ferrada

The Hans Christian Andersen Award is the highest international distinction given to authors and illustrators of children's books. Given every other year by IBBY, the Hans Christian Andersen Awards recognize lifelong achievement and are given to an author and an illustrator whose complete works have made an important, lasting contribution to children's literature. The Winners of the 2026 Hans Christian Andersen Awards will be announced at the IBBY Annual Press Conference on 13 April 2026 at the Bologna Children's Book Fair.

I am thrilled to see Timothée de Fombelle from France; Pam Muñoz Ryan from United States; and Michael Rosen from United Kingdom because I know their work and also Beatrice Alemagna from Italy nominated for illustration. Now I will dig deeper into the work of the other short-listed nominees. Our Australian nominees were Bruce Whatley and Emily Rodda (they didn't make the short list). Here is a list of all the 2026 nominees from around the world. 

Timothee de Frombelle

(This is one of my favourite books for readers aged 11+)

I read this book many years ago. Parts of the plot still linger with me. This book is a mammoth one to read but the story is so beautifully crafted. A rich reading experience.

Read my profile of Michael Rosen

Here are a few brief facts about each of the short-listed candidates.:

Ahmad Akbarpour: One of Iran’s most celebrated authors for young readers, with over fifty books to his name. He was shortlisted for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2023 and 2025.

Timothée de Fombelle: In 2006, his debut novel Tobie Lolness: La vie suspendue (Toby Alone) — the story of a boy one and a half millimeters tall fighting to save his world, a giant oak tree — became an international sensation, translated into over 30 languages and hailed as a modern classic for its moral depth and visionary worldbuilding. Other books include Captain Rosalie and Celeste My Planet.

María José Ferrada: She has since published over sixty books across genres and age groups, translated into more than twenty languages. Her work is marked by quiet precision and emotional depth — celebrating small wonders (a cloud, a word, a gesture) while confronting heavy histories: dictatorship, exile, injustice.

Lee Geum-yi: Lee’s work consistently centers marginalized voices — women, migrants, disabled individuals, non-traditional families — and challenges adult stereotypes that harm young lives.

Pam Muñoz Ryan: Ryan’s award-winning works — including The Dreamer (2010) and Echo (2015) — explore identity, social justice, and the transformative power of music and storytelling, all rendered in lyrical prose with deeply authentic characters. Her stories celebrate cultural diversity, resilience, and the human spirit — inviting empathy across borders and generations.  Here is her web page.

Michael Rosen: He has written over 200 books — for children and adults — often collaborating with illustrators like Quentin Blake, Tony Ross, and Helen Oxenbury. As Children’s Laureate (2007–2009), he championed poetry in classrooms.

Beatrice Alemagna: “Writing and drawing children’s books is a terribly political act for me,” she says — about building worlds of respect, justice, and freedom. Her art invites readers — children and adults alike — to linger, imagine, and complete the story themselves. Her books, like On a Magical Do-Nothing Day (2017), celebrate quiet wonder and emotional honesty — winning the Landerneau Prize, Grand prix de l’illustration, English Association Book Award, and a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators (USA). She was shortlisted for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award four times (2014–2017).

Read about this book here

Linda Bondestam: she is one of the Nordic region’s most distinctive and celebrated illustrators — known for her bold, evolving “Bondestamian” style: rich, dark palettes that make jewel-toned highlights pop, layered textures, and whimsical, miniature creatures that scurry through her pages. Her work thrives on contrast — visual, emotional, and narrative — blending humor, mystery, and quiet wonder. Characters are richly detailed, each hinting at hidden stories the reader is invited to imagine. Her books — over forty illustrated, several authored — are published across Finland and Sweden, and translated into more than a dozen languages, including Arabic, German, Russian, and Turkish. 

Cai Gao: Her style is richly versatile: blending Western textures, Chinese folk art’s vigor, and classical painting’s elegance.

Gundega Muzikante: Over more than thirty years, she has illustrated over seventy children’s books, her distinctive visual language also appearing in animated features such as Cuckoo and Her 12 Husbands and on commemorative Latvian collector coins. Her illustrations are celebrated for their warmth, humor, and meticulous detail — inviting readers to return again and again, discovering new layers with each look. She was twice nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (2020, 2025), and is a nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2018 and 2026.

Walid Taher: His books encourage empathy, self-awareness, and imagination — values he sees as essential to raising thoughtful readers. Taher has illustrated over ninety children’s books, more than thirty of which he authored himself. His work has been translated into multiple languages and recognized with honors including the Kaheel Lifetime Achievement Award. 

María Wernicke: Since 1981, she has worked independently as a graphic designer, and in 1994, she published her first illustrated book. Over the following decades, she has illustrated dozens of titles published across Argentina, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, and the United States. in 2006, her debut as author-illustrator, One and Another, won the Outstanding Book Award for Best Picture Book from Argentina’s ALIJA and represented the country at the 2007 Biennial of Illustration Bratislava. In 2012, it was named one of Argentina’s ten best picture books and included in IFLA’s global project “The World through Picture Books.”

The Giver by Lois Lowry

“Jonas,” she said, speaking not to him alone but to the entire community of which he was a part, “you will be trained to be our next Receiver of Memory. 

We thank you for your childhood.”

“But why can’t everyone have the memories? I think it would seem a little easier if the memories were shared. You and I wouldn’t have to bear so much by ourselves, if everybody took a part.”

People felt things once. You and I have been part of that, so we know. We know that they once felt things like pride, and sorrow, and—” “And love,” Jonas added, remembering the family scene that had so affected him. “And pain.”

Many of you (my blog readers) will be familiar with The Giver so I will just give you a brief plot summary (or you could read the Kirkus review see below) and then I will share some text quotes which resonated with me.

Bookseller blurb: It is the future. There is no war, no hunger, no pain. No one in the community wants for anything. Everything needed is provided. And at twelve years old, each member of the community has their profession carefully chosen for them by the Committee of Elders. Twelve-year old Jonas has never thought there was anything wrong with his world. But from the moment he is selected as the Receiver of Memory, Jonas discovers that their community is not as perfect as it seems. It is only with the help of the Giver, that Jonas can find what has been lost. And it is only through his personal courage that Jonas finds the strength to do what is right…

Text quotes:

For a contributing citizen to be released from the community was a final decision, a terrible punishment, an overwhelming statement of failure. 

He listened politely, though not very attentively, while his father took his turn, describing a feeling of worry that he’d had that day at work: a concern about one of the newchildren who wasn’t doing well. Jonas’s father’s title was Nurturer. He and the other Nurturers were responsible for all the physical and emotional needs of every newchild during its earliest life.

There were only two occasions of release which were not punishment. Release of the elderly, which was a time of celebration for a life well and fully lived; and release of a newchild, which always brought a sense of what-could-we-have-done. This was especially troubling for the Nurturers, like Father, who felt they had failed somehow. But it happened very rarely.

The children all received their bicycles at Nine; they were not allowed to ride bicycles before then. But almost always, the older brothers and sisters had secretly taught the younger ones. Jonas had been thinking already about teaching Lily.

Mirrors were rare in the community; they weren’t forbidden, but there was no real need of them, and Jonas had simply never bothered to look at himself very often even when he found himself in a location where a mirror existed. Now, seeing the newchild and its expression, he was reminded that the light eyes were not only a rarity but gave the one who had them a certain look ...

The little girl nodded and looked down at herself, at the jacket with its row of large buttons that designated her as a Seven. Fours, Fives, and Sixes all wore jackets that fastened down the back so that they would have to help each other dress and would learn interdependence. The front-buttoned jacket was the first sign of independence, the first very visible symbol of growing up. The bicycle, at Nine, would be the powerful emblem of moving gradually out into the community, away from the protective family unit.

Your living arrangements will have to be different from those of most family units, because the books are forbidden to citizens. You and I are the only ones with access to the books.” Jonas glanced around at the astonishing array of volumes. From time to time, now, he could see their colors. With their hours together, his and The Giver’s, consumed by conversation and by the transmission of memories, Jonas had not yet opened any of the books. But he read the titles here and there, and knew that they contained all of the knowledge of centuries, and that one day they would belong to him.

To his surprise, his father began very carefully to direct the needle into the top of newchild’s forehead, puncturing the place where the fragile skin pulsed. The newborn squirmed, and wailed faintly. ... As he continued to watch, the newchild, no longer crying, moved his arms and legs in a jerking motion. Then he went limp. His head fell to the side, his eyes half open. Then he was still.

All of it was new to him. After a life of Sameness and predictability, he was awed by the surprises that lay beyond each curve of the road. He slowed the bike again and again to look with wonder at wildflowers, to enjoy the throaty warble of a new bird nearby, or merely to watch the way wind shifted the leaves in the trees. During his twelve years in the community, he had never felt such simple moments of exquisite happiness.

I first read The Giver back when it was published in 1993. This week I re-read so I could participate in an online a book club I've joined. I had forgotten so many details of this story including the open ending. 

Wrought with admirable skill—the emptiness and menace underlying this Utopia emerge step by inexorable step: a richly provocative novel. Kirkus

I think The Giver might have been my first experience of a dystopian story. I am a huge fan of this genre.

Listen to an audio sample here.

There are three more books in this series:

Gathering Blue; Messenger; and Son

Companion books:

Masterminds

Forbidden Memories

A Place called Perfect

Eventown

Among the Hidden

Where the river runs gold

Home

The Last Cuentista

The Aerimander Chronicles Book 1: The Last Ember by Lily Berlin Dodd

Dragon stories - What do you think of when you hear that term? Journeys; friendship; heroes; saving the last of a species; a special human-dragon connection; bravery; quests; flight; a race against time; the fight of good over evil; battles; and the disproving of myths about dragons. Do any of these resonate with you?

Well in The Last Ember, yes some of this is certainly true, but so much of this book also breaks these traditional story threads.

First off dragon stories can begin with an egg. In The Last Ember there is indeed an egg but it takes a long while for the hero of this story, Eva Alexander, to realise the stone she has discovered, in a department store, is indeed an egg and not a rare mineral called Rubibium which is also a highly unstable explosive. AND the egg does not hatch (spoiler alert) until page 251 Chapter 46.

Clearly this 'stone' has fallen into the wrong hands - Eva's hands. But where did it come from? Why does a powerful man named Eoin Parnassus, Director of Kingdom Secrets want this object? Eva attends the Young Ladies Royal Academy of Science and Mathematics. Her best friend is a girl named Myrnie and both girls excel at science. It is Myrnie (Myrnabelle Wilshins) who first suspects the stone is really an egg and more importantly that it is an aerimander egg. The dragon that could hatch from this will be incredibly dangerous but also the egg itself should never be touched by human hands.

Okay, okay I warned you - do not touch this egg. Of course, Eva does touch it, albeit accidentally, and that sets off another chain of events. I won't go into too much detail but the egg is now bonded to her skin! And remember I told you Parnassus wants this egg. He knows Eva has it and how did it come to be at Bronsworth's Department store? And who killed the courier? 

Now for the next important character in this tale. Dusty is an orphan living at St. Ichabod’s Dairy Production and Home for Delinquent Boys. It is a place of cruelty as you might expect but Dusty has made a friend in the city. Dusty has joined the Thieves Union and so he has been able to steal food and medicine, making his life a little better. One-night members of the Union are called together and told they must find this 'Thing'. Dusty and his friend Cal hatch a plan to steal the thing or stone from Eva's room at the Academy but everything goes horribly wrong and now the egg is firmly attached to Eva's hand and this pair of very unlikely friends are on the run and Cal has been left behind.

This book has almost 340 pages but I read the final 150 pages in one sitting - yes this book is a real page turner. Every chapter ends on a cliff hanger - I usually find this annoying but for this book it worked really well. I feel so lucky to have read this splendid book. It came as a title from one of our Australian standing order services - Pegi Williams in South Australia and my friend, who is a subscriber, loaned me this book to read over January. Little did she know that reading this book would be such a powerful and rewarding reading experience. The chapter voices alternate and every so often an off-stage narrator pops in to add very helpful background details. These are called Interludes (I especially enjoyed Interlude VII). Listen to an audio sample here of the Prologue. Reviewers and the publisher list this book for ages 8 or 9+ but in my view the intensity of the story, the print size, the book length and minor references to drug taking, make this book one I would recommend to mature readers aged at least 10+. The torture scenes are also disturbing. Book One ends with the promise of more adventures. There is a very slight feel of steam punk to this story with the mention of zeps used by the army - I wonder if this idea will be further explored in book 2. 

Read more about Lily Berlin Dodd here.

Dodd’s debut novel is fantasy done right: Fans ... will devour this series opener, thanks to the lush worldbuilding and wry humor permeating every page. And while the story will have readers grinning, it still explores difficult topics like poverty and war with grace and dignity. ... Egg-cellent storytelling; readers will be eager for the second book. Kirkus

Dodd’s writing is incredibly engaging, allowing readers to understand the society and world she has built fully. Her interludes of information serve more as a friend offering insight rather than information loading. In Eva and Dusty she has created two great hero figures who are complex and interesting to spend time with. Even her secondary characters, including Eva’s roommate and Dusty’s best friend, are fully drawn and fascinating. Add in a potential dragon and you have a rollicking book filled with scientist girls, thieving boys and a dangerous government. Waking Brain Cells

Dark, funny, intricate, and exciting, this fast-paced action fantasy debut will thrill upper-middle grade readers who love their stakes high and their humour sharp. Readings Melbourne

Here are a few text quotes:

"The pain was instant. It was as if she had dipped her right hand into a pool of fire. No, not of fire, of molten silver, of boiled gold. It felt like her skin was bubbling, frying, peeling off ..."

"She let herself cry. Very rarely did she allow emotions to overcome her reason. (but) ... she was alone, in the cold and dark, with something dangerous and volatile attached to her skin."

Eoin Parnassus ... "at his core, he was a simply man of pure evil. He believed he was doing the right thing, as most villains do, but he also didn't particularly care one way or another."

"The infant aerimander was no bigger than a newborn kitten and similar in shape. Her legs were short and stubby, her face broad, her eyes enormous. ... On her back were the  most delicate-looking wings ..."

"I will work on you until you are crying blood, until you are kneeling in a puddle of your own fear and begging me to let you speak every worthless little secret you have ever known. Then I will kill you."

Publisher blurb: Aerimanders are extinct. Or so the government would have you think. Centuries ago, the Kingdom of Glaucus decreed the destruction of these dangerous, dragon-like creatures whose deadly flame could level entire cities and upend world orders. But when twelve-year-old Eva Alexander, a wealthy chemistry student in the city of Porttown, walks into a fashionable department store and walks out (accidentally) with the world’s last aerimander egg, everything changes. Suddenly, Eva is the target of unwanted attention—including from the Thieves’ Union, a mysterious organization with a rebellious streak and fingers in every pie in Porttown. The Union orders its youngest member, the orphaned dairy delivery boy Dusty St. Ichabod, to steal the egg from Eva. Which is far easier said than done. 

When Eva and Dusty meet one autumn night under extraordinary circumstances, an epic game of cat and mouse unfolds across the Kingdom. Initially at odds, the unlikely pair must come together to navigate a maze of sinister crime syndicates, elite boarding schools, and an incredibly slow getaway pony named Gourd—all while fighting to keep the egg out of the hands of power-hungry Eoin Parnassus, Director of Kingdom Secrets. As the duo races against time, their fates and that of the whole world are at stake. Because there’s one question no one dares to ask: What happens when the egg hatches?

Companion books:

Impossible Creatures

The Poisoned King

The Ogress and the Orphans