New Releases by Melina Marchetta

A wonderful children’s series celebrating community, friendship and kindness from the bestselling author of Looking for Alibrandi. Fun, heartwarming stories full of mischief and humour, sure to charm and engage newly independent young readers. Zola loves living on Boomerang Street with her mum and her nonna. Every day of the week is an adventure. But Zola has a problem. No matter how much she tries, she can't keep out of trouble. Like on Sunday, when it’s St Odo’s fete and Zola and the gang join in the fun . . . Collect all seven stories in the series. One for every day of the week! 'A charming series that will enchant all who read it.’ The Book Muse ‘Bursting with warmth, family love, troublesome dogs, and growing things . . . perfect for beginning readers . . . Zola is such a delightful, thoughtful, and slightly mischievous character.’ Aussie Kids Books ‘There is a rich diversity in families with single parents, same-sex parents, multi-generational families and different cultures . . . Perfect for newly independent readers or for class or home read-alouds, I highly recommend this for little humans from around 6 years upwards.’ Sue Warren A beautiful big family, cousins living in the house behind you, a hole in the fence for you to climb through and play. A beautiful street, a community of people you love . . . a neglected garden that everyone has forgotten . . . a beautiful junior novel about family and community. . . It truly does warm your heart as you read it . . . It’s absolutely stunning!’ Kids Book Review ‘Early readers aged 5–7 are very fortunate to now have a Melina Marchetta story just for them.’ Angela Crocombe, Books + Publishing

A wonderful children’s series celebrating community, friendship and kindness from the bestselling author of Looking for Alibrandi. Fun, heartwarming stories full of mischief and humour, sure to charm and engage newly independent young readers. Zola loves living on Boomerang Street with her mum and her nonna. Every day of the week is an adventure. But Zola has a problem. No matter how much she tries, she can't keep out of trouble. Like on Saturday, when it’s tomato day at Nonna Rosa’s and Zola is helping out . . . Collect all seven stories in the series. One for every day of the week! 'A charming series that will enchant all who read it.’ The Book Muse ‘Bursting with warmth, family love, troublesome dogs, and growing things . . . perfect for beginning readers . . . Zola is such a delightful, thoughtful, and slightly mischievous character.’ Aussie Kids Books ‘There is a rich diversity in families with single parents, same-sex parents, multi-generational families and different cultures . . . Perfect for newly independent readers or for class or home read-alouds, I highly recommend this for little humans from around 6 years upwards.’ Sue Warren A beautiful big family, cousins living in the house behind you, a hole in the fence for you to climb through and play. A beautiful street, a community of people you love . . . a neglected garden that everyone has forgotten . . . a beautiful junior novel about family and community. . . It truly does warm your heart as you read it . . . It’s absolutely stunning!’ Kids Book Review ‘Early readers aged 5–7 are very fortunate to now have a Melina Marchetta story just for them.’ Angela Crocombe, Books + Publishing

A wonderful children’s series celebrating community, friendship and kindness from the bestselling author of Looking for Alibrandi. Fun, heartwarming stories full of mischief and humour, sure to charm and engage newly independent young readers. Zola loves living on Boomerang Street with her mum and her nonna. Every day of the week is an adventure. But Zola has a problem. No matter how much she tries, she can't keep out of trouble. Like on Friday, when she and Alessandro decide to paint Nonno Nino’s little yellow boat . . . Collect all seven stories in the series. One for every day of the week! 'A charming series that will enchant all who read it.’ The Book Muse ‘Highly recommended . . . Full of humour and brimming with the close ties of family, [and] . . . community, children will love reading of Zola and her life.’ Fran Knight

A wonderful children’s series celebrating community, sustainability, diversity and family from the bestselling author of Looking for Alibrandi. Fun, heartwarming stories full of mischief, humour and feeling, sure to charm and engage newly independent young readers. Zola loves living on Boomerang Street with her mum and her nonna. Every day of the week is an adventure. But Zola has a problem. No matter how much she tries, she can't keep out of trouble. Like on Thursday, when she and the gang form a band and upset their cranky neighbour, Mr Walton . . . Collect all seven stories in the series – one for every day of the week! ‘Highly recommended . . . Full of humour and brimming with the close ties of family, [and] . . . community, children will love reading of Zola and her life.’ Fran Knight 'I don’t know about you but I am getting incredibly fond of Zola and her neighbourhood. This little series is just truly delightful and I know that little readers must love being able to make connections with their own family, friends, schools and communities . . . Your newly independent readers both boys and girls will just adore these stories and they would make fabulous read-alouds for either classroom teachers or teacher-librarians paired with some activities and action plans. Highly recommended for little readers from around six years upwards.’ Sue Warren

Zola loves living on Boomerang Street with her mum and her nonna. Every day of the week is an adventure. But Zola has a problem. No matter how much she tries, she can't keep out of trouble! Like on Wednesday, when Zola has a plan to help find her friend Sophia’s missing turtle . . . Collect all seven stories in the series. One for every day of the week.

Zola loves living on Boomerang Street with her mum and her nonna. Every day of the week is an adventure. But Zola has a problem. No matter how much she tries, she can't keep out of trouble! Like on Tuesday, when Zola tries to help Nonna knit a scarf . . . Collect all seven stories in the series. One for every day of the week.

Zola loves living on Boomerang Street with her mum and her nonna. Every day of the week is an adventure. But Zola has a problem. No matter how much she tries, she can't keep out of trouble! Collect all seven stories in the series – one for every day of the week.

When Rosie Gennaro first meets Jimmy Hailler, she has walked away from life in Sydney, leaving behind the place on Dalhousie that her father, Seb, painstakingly rebuilt for his family but never saw completed. Two years later, Rosie returns to the house and living there is Martha, whom Seb Gennaro married less than a year after the death of Rosie's mother. Martha is struggling to fulfil Seb's dream, while Rosie is coming to terms with new responsibilities. And so begins a stand-off between two women who refuse to move out of the home they both lay claim to. As the battle lines are drawn, Jimmy Hailler re-enters Rosie's life. Having always watched other families from the perimeters, he's now grappling, heartbreakingly, with forming one of his own ...

In the wake of a devastating bombing, a father risks everything to find out who was responsible. When Bish Ortley, a recently suspended cop, receives word that a bus carrying his daughter has been bombed, he rushes to be by her side. A suspect has already been named: a 17-year-old girl who has since disappeared from the scene. The press has now revealed that she is the youngest member of one of London's most notorious families. Years earlier, they were implicated in an attack that left dozens dead. Has the girl decided to follow in their footsteps? To find her, Bish must earn the trust of her friends and family, including her infamous mother, now serving a life sentence in prison. But even as he delves into the deadly bus attack that claimed five lives, the ghosts of older crimes become impossible to ignore. A gripping fusion of literary suspense and family drama, Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil is a fast-paced puzzle of a novel that will keep reader feverishly turning pages. "More than a crime story; it's jam-packed with family drama and heartbreak. Highly recommended for suspense and mystery fans." -- Library Journal

Critically acclaimed and universally beloved, the Lumatere Chronicles - consisting of Finnikin of the Rock, Froi of the Exiles, and Quintana of Charyn - is now available in its entirety in this e-book collection! Discover the fantasy trilogy that reviewers have called "thrilling, romantic, and utterly unforgettable" and that School Library Journal recommended for "fans of the intricate fantasies of Megan Whalen Turner or George R. R. Martin."

The climactic conclusion of Printz Award winner Melina Marchetta’s epic fantasy trilogy! Separated from the girl he loves and has sworn to protect, Froi and his companions travel through Charyn searching for Quintana and building an army that will secure her unborn child’s right to rule. While in the valley between two kingdoms, Quintana of Charyn and Isaboe of Lumatere come face-to-face in a showdown that will result in heartbreak for one and power for the other. The complex tangle of bloodlines, politics, and love introduced in Finnikin of the Rock and Froi of the Exiles coalesce into an engrossing climax in this final volume.

From master storyteller Melina Marchetta comes an exhilarating new fantasy springing from her celebrated epic, Finnikin of the Rock. Three years after the curse on Lumatere was lifted, Froi has found his home . . . or so he believes. Fiercely loyal to the Queen and Finnikin, Froi has been taken roughly and lovingly in hand by the Guard sworn to protect the royal family, and has learned to control his quick temper with a warrior's discipline. But when he is sent on a secretive mission to the kingdom of Charyn, nothing could have prepared him for what he finds in its surreal royal court. Soon he must unravel both the dark bonds of kinship and the mysteries of a half-mad princess in this barren and mysterious place. It is in Charyn that he will discover there is a song sleeping in his blood . . . and though Froi would rather not, the time has come to listen.

After his favorite uncle's violent death, Tom Mackee watches his family implode, quits school, and turns his back on music and everyone who matters, and while he is in no shape to mend what is broken, he fears that no one else is, either.

2008 Printz Award Winner Melina Marchetta crafts an epic fantasy of ancient magic, exile, feudal intrigue, and romance that rivets from the first page. (Age 14 and up) Finnikin was only a child during the five days of the unspeakable, when the royal family of Lumatere were brutally murdered, and an imposter seized the throne. Now a curse binds all who remain inside Lumatere’s walls, and those who escaped roam the surrounding lands as exiles, persecuted and despairing, dying by the thousands in fever camps. In a narrative crackling with the tension of an imminent storm, Finnikin, now on the cusp of manhood, is compelled to join forces with an arrogant and enigmatic young novice named Evanjalin, who claims that her dark dreams will lead the exiles to a surviving royal child and a way to pierce the cursed barrier and regain the land of Lumatere. But Evanjalin’s unpredictable behavior suggests that she is not what she seems -- and the startling truth will test Finnikin’s faith not only in her, but in all he knows to be true about himself and his destiny.

"What do you want from me?" he asks. What I want from every person in my life, I want to tell him. More. Abandoned by her mother on Jellicoe Road when she was eleven, Taylor Markham, now seventeen, is finally being confronted with her past. But as the reluctant leader of her boarding school dorm, there isn't a lot of time for introspection. And while Hannah, the closest adult Taylor has to family, has disappeared, Jonah Griggs is back in town, moody stares and all. In this absorbing story by Melina Marchetta, nothing is as it seems and every clue leads to more questions as Taylor tries to work out the connection between her mother dumping her, Hannah finding her then and her sudden departure now, a mysterious stranger who once whispered something in her ear, a boy in her dreams, five kids who lived on Jellicoe Road eighteen years ago, and the maddening and magnetic Jonah Griggs, who knows her better than she thinks he does. If Taylor can put together the pieces of her past, she might just be able to change her future.

Before there was Eleanor and Park, there was Francesca and Will. A compelling story of romance, family, and friendship, with humor and heart, perfect for fans of If I Stay, The Spectacular Now, and Looking for Alaska. Francesca is stuck at St. Sebastian’s, a boys' school that pretends it's coed by giving the girls their own bathroom. Her only female companions are an ultra-feminist, a rumored slut, and an impossibly dorky accordion player. The boys are no better, from Thomas, who specializes in musical burping, to Will, the perpetually frowning, smug moron that Francesca can't seem to stop thinking about. Then there's Francesca's mother, who always thinks she knows what's best for Francesca—until she is suddenly stricken with acute depression, leaving Francesca lost, alone, and without an inkling of who she really is. Simultaneously humorous, poignant, and impossible to put down, this is the story of a girl who must summon the strength to save her family, her social life, and—hardest of all—herself. Melina Marchetta is the Printz-winning author of Jellicoe Road, as well as Looking for Alibrandi and Finnikin of the Rock.

I'm beginning to realise that things don't turn our the way you want them to. And sometimes when they don't, they can turn out just a little bit better. Every so often, there comes a story so brilliant and lively and moving that it cannot be left in the past. Rediscover the magic of our country's most memorable children's books in the Penguin Australia Children's Classics series of stories too precious to leave behind.