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Crow Country

Kate Constable's latest book Crow Country just arrived in stock on Wednesday and by Thursday evening I had finished it. It is beautiful.

It's the story of Sadie, who has moved to a country town (which was NOT her idea of a good move) with her mum. Her weekend are apparently going to involve watching the local footy team get beaten and her mum forcing her to make friends.

Then when Sadie is exploring the cracked, dried bed of what used to be a lake she happens upon a curious circle of boulders. Drawn to them, she can sense their importance. A crow speaks to her and sets into motion an exciting, frightening time-slip mystery. If she can correct some old wrongs she might just be able to make amends in her present.

The characters are all brilliant, it's beautifully written and has Dreaming stories woven through the narrative. With mystery, love, feuds, family and friendship and a bit of magic Crow Country is a must read for 11+.

Hooray, Mr Badger returns!

Mr Badger and the Magic Mirror, Leigh Hobbs, Allen & Unwin

I'm sure you all remember Mr Badger from his previous adventures?

Well then, you will be glad to know that he is back in fine form for the latest addition to this wonderful series for younger readers.

This one has a secret whirligig and banana cake and a moat and a hideous creature (no, not Sylvia Smothers-Carruthers) and a surprise appearance by Algernon, the no longer missing ape!

Excellent.

Andy Griffiths Today!

We are currently at MAXIMUM CAPACITY but there's the possibility of a waiting list. If you RSVPd and can no longer come, please let us know so others may enjoy the hilarity!

for more information click here.

The Naked Boy AND 13-Storey Tree House

It's not August, it's Andygust. Ummmm. Andy-fest?

Andy Griffiths has two fantastic new books out this month and both are IN STOCK at the Younger Sun.

there's The Naked Boy and the Crocodile, which is a brilliant collection of short stories written by young Indigenous kids from some remote communities. Even Andy said he couldn't have come up with such hilarious and original tales.

And ahead of our launch party TOMORROW NIGHT, we have hundreds of copies of 13-Story Treehouse written and illustrated by everyone's favourite pair Andy and Terry Denton. Imagine if you lived in a tree house with thirteen floors, with a bowling alley, a huge pool, Tarzan vines to swing on, evil kissing mermaids...

Andy will be at the Sun Theatre (by way of the bookshops) tomorrow night -

TUESDAY 23 AUGUST

at 4.30pm

- so come on down and celebrate his latest book! It's a hoot, trust us. RSVP here or call us on 9689 0661.

Our Favourite Books

The kids of Yarraville have spoken!

Cath Crowley Pops In...

to sign some of her incredible award-winning YA novel Graffiti Moon.

We've got loads of other fab new books signed by their equally fab authors. All I Ever Wanted by Vikki Wakefield. Clara in Washington by Penny Tangey. Little Sister by Aimee Said.

Chalk it up to reading

We are having a blast at National Bookshop Day. Come and write your favourite book on our footpath.

CBC Book of the Year - Winners

Older Readers Book of the Year 2011

	Author	Title	Publisher
WINNER	Hartnett, Sonya	The Midnight Zoo	Viking Books, Penguin Group (Australia)
HONOUR	Crowley, Cath	Graffiti Moon	Pan Macmillan Australia
HONOUR	MacLeod, Doug	The Life of a Teenage Body-Snatcher	Penguin Books, Penguin Group (Australia)

Younger Readers Book of the Year 2011

	Author	Title	Publisher
WINNER	Carmody, Isobelle	The Red Wind	Viking Books, Penguin Group (Australia)
HONOUR	Bauer, Michael Gerard	Just a Dog	Omnibus Books, Scholastic Australia
HONOUR	Branford, Anna Illus: Davis, Sarah	Violet Mackerel's Brilliant Plot	Walker Books

Early Childhood Book of the Year 2011

	Author	Title	Publisher
WINNER	Ormerod, Jan Illus: Blackwood, Freya	Maudie and Bear	Little Hare Books
HONOUR	Champion, Tom Niland & Niland, Kilmeny Illus: Niland, Deborah	The Tall Man and the Twelve Babies	Allen & Unwin
HONOUR	Norrington, Leonie Illus: Huxley, Dee	Look See, Look at Me	Allen & Unwin

Picture Book of the Year 2011

	Author	Title	Publisher
JOINT WINNER	Baker, Jeannie	Mirror	Walker Books
JOINT WINNER	Greenberg, Nicki	Hamlet	Allen & Unwin
HONOUR	Bancroft, Bronwyn	Why I Love Australia	Little Hare Books
HONOUR	Riddle, Tohby	My Uncle's Donkey	Viking Books, Penguin Group (Australia)

Eve Pownall Book of the Year 2011 (non-fiction)

	Author	Title	Publisher
WINNER	Ursula Dubosarsky Illus: Riddle, Tohby	The Return of the Word Spy	Viking Books, Penguin Group (Australia)
HONOUR	Brooks, Ron	Drawn From the Heart: A Memoir	Allen & Unwin
HONOUR	One Arm Point Remote Community School	Our World: Bardi Jaawi: Life at Ardiyooloon	Magabala Books

Congratulations to all winners, honour books, shortlisted and notables. It was a great year for books and we would have found it hard to choose.

Story Time with William McInnes

As part of National Bookshop Day we will be hosting a Story Time session tomorrow

10 am - Saturday 20 August!


Come to hear stories for your children read by favourite local William McInnes.

Plus prizes and activities and lots of fun. See you all tomorrow.

Support your local bookshops!

One bookclub, two bookclub, red bookclub, blue bookclub

There are changes afoot in the Younger Sun.

From September there will now be TWO bookclubs.

The Teen Bookclub will continue as is, with the group reading fantastic, fast-paced stories aimed at girls and boys aged 9 to 13 and featuring books like The Golden Day, the Percy Jackson series and When You Reach Me.

For the Saturday 3rd September bookclub (meeting at 2pm) we will be reading Northwood by Brian Falkner. It's in stock now, with a 20% discount, as usual. Come on in!




In October we are thinking about reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.




The Young Adult Bookclub is a new offshoot, aimed at slightly older readers who still want to read well-written stories but those that explore themes for older readers aged 14 to 18. Think Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Sarah Dessen, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part time Indian and Generation Dead.


For the inaugural Young Adult Bookclub on Saturday 3rd September (meeting at 3pm) we'll be reading Lili Wilkinson's rom-crime novel A Pocketful of Eyes. In stock now, 20% off.

If you have any questions at all, please send us an email at youngersunbookclub@gmail.com or call Kate on 9689 0661.

Claude is back!

Remember Claude?

Well, look what we got!

Claude on Holiday, Alex T. Smith, Hodder

In this fabulous new adventure Claude and Sir Bobblysock are off to holiday at the beach. Claude makes sure to pack his tambourine and some underpants, a lampshade and some sticky tape.

At the beach the sun is bright and while Claude quite fancies a tan, he makes sure to wear sunscreen as sunburn would make him clash terribly with the wallpaper.

--clare&kate--

The Accidental Princess

The Accidental Princess, Jen Storer & Lucia Masciullo (Viking)

In this gorgeous hardback book Matilda is angry with her big sister so she hides Iris's special coin in the lilac hedge. Soon though, Matilda is sucked into the hedge and identified as royalty! The hedge people, little mouse Binny Trinket, King Arden and the pillywiggins (fairies!) need Princess Matilda's help to defeat the terrible imps who threaten the magic of the hedge.

There are no Rainbow Magic style fairies here. Matilda might have a pretty princess dress and hat but she can also defeat a troll by using her smarts and make her way through dark, dank, muddy tunnels to rescue kidnapped pillywiggins and fight off scary dribbling creatures.

With short chapters perfect for bedtime reading, this is a book not to be missed!

--Kate--

Solomon Crocodile

Solomon Crocodile, Catherine Rayner, Macmillan

Solomon wants to play. But everyone else wants to relax in the morning sun.

When Solomon starts leaping and splashing about the frogs

and the dragonflies and the storks and the hippos

get cranky...

Catherine Rayner (creator of the wonderful Ernest, a moose too big for his book)

brings us another great story with illustrations from beyond the valley of the marvellous.

This one even comes with a subtly sparkly cover.

New Jackie French! Nanberry: Black Brother White

Nanberry: Black Brother White by Jackie French (Harper Collins)

For really, really good Australian young adult (and middle-grade) historical fiction, Jackie French has always been a winner - just look at titles such as Somewhere Around the Corner, The Night they Stormed Eureka, and her recent A Waltz for Matilda. With Nanberry: Black Brother White she delivers an excellent fictionalised account of the First Fleet’s settlement at Sydney Cove, spanning the years 1788 to 1823, and using real historical figures to do so. Nanberry is the young indigenous boy who grew up half-English, half-Aboriginal, adopted by the Chief Surgeon John White when Nanberry’s entire people were killed by an outbreak of smallpox. French gives us such a rich view of the colony and its everyday workings, weaving them into the story effortlessly and without the dreaded information “dump”. She also doesn't gloss over the nasty parts of first fleet colonial life, such as the treatment and plight of Aboriginals, the terrible treatment of women in the colony, the drunkenness and violence of both soldiers and convicts (they are the real ‘savages’ in this story), malnutrition and the ‘tyranny of distance’. All of the characters are well drawn, with distinct voices, and French offers two strong female characters in Rachel and Maria. Nanberry: Black Brother White is a powerful novel; it would fit excellently into the Australian schools curriculum but it will also satisfy any reader from 11 up, including grown-ups.

--Kate--

This review originally appeared in Bookseller+Publisher magazine.

Nobody Owns the Moon

Nobody Owns the Moon, Tohby Riddle (Puffin)

Clive the fox lives in the big city and has managed to make a nice little life for himself in a place where animals generally find it hard to fit in.

Humphrey the donkey is finding it harder, just living day to day, but he has a friend in Clive and one night they happen upon tickets to a play, to the glittering premiere.

For children and adults to peel back the layers, discovering all its meanings, Nobody Owns the Moon is a beautiful, bittersweet story with remarkable and detailed illustrations.

This wonderful book is NOW IN PAPERBACK!

A Sick Day for Amos McGee

A Sick Day for Amos McGee, Philip and Erin Stead, Allen and Unwin

Amos McGee has a routine. He wakes up to his clangy alarm, puts on his uniform, has his tea and oatmeal and hops on the 6 o'clock bus to the City Zoo.

There are plenty of things for Amos to do at the zoo, but he never neglects his friends. There are games of chess to be had with Elephant, races to be run with Tortoise and a quiet sit to be had with shy Penguin.

Until a terrible cold brings about some unexpected happenings.

This is ABSOLUTELY gorgeous and my favourite new picture book.

--clare--