Australia

=Australia=

__Fiction__
Dowswell, Paul. **//Prison Ship: Adventures of a Young Sailor.//** Bloomsbury, 2006. This sequel to //Powder Monkey// continues Sam Witchall's adventures as he is framed for a crime and sent to Australia to live out a life sentence. Sam's experiences provide a fascinating look at Australia's early history as a penal colony, examining the complex relationships between criminal, military, and native populations. Sources and a "Fact and Fiction" author's note are included. (Horn Book Guide Online) YA- Intermediate. [Jeff]

Dubosarsky, Ursala. **//The Red Shoe.//** Roaring Book Press, 2006. Sisters Matilda, Frances, and Elizabeth live in a tiny suburb near Sydney. In fall 1954, the neighboring house becomes the hideaway of Australia's Soviet ambassador who has defected. Dubosarsky captures place and period with the heightened awareness of a dream. In lucid, poetic prose she explores the acute but partial perceptions of children struggling with a world under threat. (Horn Book Guide Online) YA-Intermediate. [Jeff]

Frazier, Angie. **//Everlasting.//** Scholastic Press, 2010. In 1855, seventeen-year-old Camille sets out from San Franscisco, California, on her last sea voyage before entering a loveless marriage. When her fatheris' ship is destroyed, she and a friend embark on a cross-Australian quest to find her long-lost mother who holds a map to a magical stone. (Titlewave.com) YA Intermediate. [Jeff]

Marchetta, Melina. **//Jellicoe Road.//** HarperTeen, 2008. Two tragic stories come together in this carefully constructed novel set in the Australian bush. At the Jellicoe School, seventeen-year-old Taylor pieces together the truth about her past, through broken memories of life with her drug-addicted mother and dream visits from a mysterious boy. Suspenseful plotting, slowly unfolding mysteries, and generations of romance shape the absorbing story. (Horn Book Guide Online) YA Intermediate. [Jeff]

Marsden, John **//Tomorrow, When the War Began.//** Houghton, 1993. When Ellie and her six friends return from a camping trip, they discover that Australia has been invaded and their families and friends are being held captive. The tense survival story proceeds as the teenagers hide from the enemy soldiers and eventually fight back. The novel is a riveting adventure through which Marsden explores the capacity for evil and the necessity of uniting to oppose it. (Horn Book Guide Online) YA Intermediate. [Jeff]

__Non-Fiction__
Clarke, Frank G. **//The History of Australia.//** Greenwood Press, 2002. A narrative history of Australia, beginning with the arrival of aboriginal ancestors around 65,000 B.C., and continuing through 2001. Includes a timeline of historical events, and biographical sketches of notable men and women. (Titlewave.com) YA. [Jeff]

Leppman, Elizabeth J. **//Australia and the Pacific.//** Chelsea House Publishers, 2006. An overview of geography, history, economy, and politics provides background for this introduction to Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and the island groups of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. A look at population trends explores the influx, integration, and clash of cultures, but not enough information on social customs is related. Clear photos and maps support the text. Reading list, timeline, websites. (Horn Book) YA. [Jeff]

Nile, Richard. **//Cultural Atlas of Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific.//** Facts on File, 1996. Explores the geographical/ethnographic background, and cultural history of Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific, and features a tour of modern-day regions. Includes a chronological table, forty maps, and illustrations. (Titlewave.com) YA. [Jeff]