New Releases by Jackie French

Can enemy warriors become your friends? A story of adventure in a new land When Vikings raid and destroy a small coastal village, Hekja and her dog, Snarf, are captured and taken to Greenland. In this harsh and cold land, Hekja becomes a thrall - a slave - to Freydis Eriksdottir, daughter of the infamous Erik the Red. Hekja''s fiery determination earns her the respect of her mistress. But Hekja''s journey was just the beginning, as she and Snarf and other colonists join their leader, Freydis, on a voyage to Vinland to establish a new settlement where more perilous adventures await them... AWARDS Shortlisted - Young People''s History Prize, NSW Premier''s History Awards (2006)

Take a closer look at Australia''s best-known marsupials. Why does Australia have animals that are so different from others anywhere else in the world? Why do ''roos and wallabies have such big tummies? Who were the kangaroos with fangs that lived 10 million years ago? What''s the best way to become invisible (to kangaroos, at any rate)? Which wallaby is a ''living fossil'' - the same as the wallabies that grazed 10 million years ago? Why do joeys eat their mother''s droppings? Fnd out in this fascinating new book! PS: What do you call a kangaroo with a flower behind their ear and a big grin? A happy hippy hoppy. Ages 7-12

Captain Cook''s goat is the first of many historical animals to bring the past to life. the HM Bark Endeavour is sailing to tahiti to map the transit of Venus, but there are rumours that once the task is completed, Lieutenant James Cook has a set of secret orders - orders that command him to search for the Great South Land. Isaac is twelve and has joined the crew of the Endeavour as a master''s servant, good for scrubbing decks and not much else. He''s certainly not considered good enough to fetch hay for the Goat who will provide fresh milk for Cook and his officers. And this goat even has more experience at sea than Isaac - she has already sailed around the world once, watching the ocean and lands slip by from her spot on the quarterdeck. Over the months on board the Endeavour, a friendship grows between the Goat and Isaac, one that will last through shipwreck, bushfire and illness. A friendship that helps in the discovery of exotic new lands ... Ages 9 - 13

A modern tale of truth and lies woven with a story from the past. Luke lives in modern-day Australia with his mother and stepfather, Sam. He is burdened by a guilty secret: Sam has helped him to cheat in an entrance exam for a prestigious school.Lulach lives in ninth-century Scotland with his mother and stepfather, Macbeth. Macbeth becomes a great king and restores peace to the land.Luke dreams about Lulach and Macbeth at night. He is also studying the play Macbeth at school and in Shakespeare''s version, Macbeth is a villain who murders the rightful king. Why did Shakespeare lie about who Macbeth really was? When is it okay to lie and when should you tell the truth? Similarly to Hitler''s Daughter, Macbeth and Son challenges the reader to consider the actions of people, both in the past and present, and from a seemingly simple storyline, Macbeth and Son arrives at the morally complex question of ''What is truth? And how important is it?'' AWARDS Shortlisted - 2007 CBCA Book of the Year Awards (Younger Readers)

Book 2 in the Animal Stars series - where history comes alive through the eyes of special animals. To outsiders, Mary is a queen and a threat, but to her devoted dog Folly, she is his world To the world outside her luxurious prison, Mary Queen of Scots was either a shameless beauty who killed her husband, or the rightful Queen of England and Scotland, tragically held captive by Elizabeth I. But to the dog who loved her, Mary was simply his mistress, and the centre of his world. While Mary desperately plotted to seize both her freedom and the throne, her dog Folly''s world is one of chasing mice behind the tapestries and enjoying turkey legs with quinces for supper. Until the day comes when they try to take his Queen away ... Based on the true story of the dog who was with Mary when she died, the Dog Who Loved a Queen is a fascinating tale of religious bigotry, plots and passion - and the unquestioning loyalty of a small Scottish terrier.

The story of the famous Burke and Wills expedition ... as it has never been told before. The humans call him ''Bell Sing'', but to the other camels he is known as ''He Who Spits Further Than the Wind''. Transported from the mountains and deserts of the ''Northwest Frontier'' (present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan), Bell Sing accompanies explorers Burke and Wills as they try to cross Australia from south to north. Bell Sing has never had a high opinion of humans -- or horses. And this expedition is the worst-managed caravan he''s ever been in. Camel handler Dost Mahomet and soldier John King are also beginning to wonder if their leader is competent ... or crazy. Bell Sing can smell water over the sandhills on the horizon ... and freedom too. Can the expedition succeed? And who -- if anyone -- will survive? This is the gritty and true story about one of the most extraordinary and iconic events in Australia''s history. PRAISE FOR THE ANIMAL STARS ''an irreverent and informative charmer'' - Sunday Age ''What a delight to read this book! ... could inspire much original history reading by young readers'' - Book News ''This is history brought to life for the younger reader'' - Reader''s Feast Book Guide

A story about dreams, beliving in yourself ... and a dancing kangaroo. From the award-winning duo of Diary of a Wombat comes another hilarious tale of a bush animal you''ll never forget.Josephine is a kangaroo - who loves to dance. Her little brother, Joey, tells her that kangaroos don''t dance, they hop - but Josephine continues to point her toes and leap through the air.When a ballet troupe comes to town and both the lead ballerina and understudy are injured, Josephine''s talents are called upon to help save the day. Can she do it and, more importantly, does it matter that she''s a kangaroo?A very funny picture book that looks at the importance of believing in yourself and realising your dreams.Ages 4- 9

It''s 1939, and for Georg, son of an English academic living in Germany, life is full of cream cakes and loving parents. It is also a time when his teacher measures the pupils'' heads to see which of them have the most ''Aryan''- shaped heads. But when a university graduation ceremony turns into a pro-Nazi demonstration, Georg is smuggled out of Germany to war-torn London and then across enemy seas to Australia where he must forget his past and who he is in order to survive.

One hot summer day, four bored children start a watermelon seed-spitting battle that soon spreads throughout their town.

When Viking raiders attack Hekja''s peaceful village and take her and her puppy prisoner, they are at first terrified of the strange new surroundings. Soon, to their amazement, they find their place within the clan and embark on incredible sea voyages.

Buster is a werewolf. He shouldn''t have to go to school!

Cecil''s mom wears high black boots and makes her enemies walk the plank. Is she really a pirate?

One by one, seven monkeys who go out to have a good time wind up falling in love over the course of a week.

The sheep-shearers in Shaggy Gully all have a sheep dog, but the new guy Shaun uses an extremely polite sheep named Pete.

In the second installment of the Keepers trilogy, Nell, a promising young witch, continues her difficult quest to become Apprentice Keeper.

Adventurous monkeys have a series of mishaps and escapades involving a bike, a golf cart, a canoe, a restaurant, and a hotel.

He sleeps. He eats. He gets bored. He creates havoc wherever he goes! He''s Mothball''s baby - and he''s even cuter, naughtier and more determined than his mum.

The dragonling''s adventure among humans begins in this three- books-in-one set.

When a mysterious bag lady hands Alec a strange coin and tells him it will grant him one wish, Alec thinks she''s crazy. But then, in a fit of anger, Alec wishes his little brother Stevie had never been born, and Stevie disappears! If I Had One Wish … was an American Library Association Recommended Book for Reluctant Young Readers and a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age.

When his Labrador retriever survives a bear-mauling on Christmas Eve, Matt is convinced that her recovery is a miracle sent by his mother from heaven.

A book that tries to answer all the big questions about life, death and the universe - a mixture of science and philosophy put in simple terms that 10- to 12-year-olds can understand.

Caring for her two younger siblings after their unreliable mother abandons them, fifteen-year-old Anna discovers the difficulties of trying to be a parent.

Sixteen-year-old Rebekah joins her missionary father in the New World in the 1630s and, after being introduced to Indian culture, begins to question whether these "savages" need saving after all

When his father moves away to find work and his mother becomes ill, Danny struggles to help his family during the Great Depression.