RECOMMENDED READING – YEAR 9

PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING FORMAT IF YOUR BOOK SUITS THIS YEAR LEVEL
NAME (Surname, First), TITLE, PUBLISHER, KEY THEMES, ONE SENTENCE DESCRIBER MAX. TRY TO INSERT YOUR NAME ALPHABETICALLY TO KEEP SEARCHING EASIER.

Chebatte, Helen: BRO; Hardie Grant Egmont. Australian identity, multiculturalism, teen Violence, racial rivalry, mateship, loss, grief, first love, family. BRO is about the consequences of a fight club in a racially divided boys high school.

Doyle, Trinity, PIECES OF SKY, Allen & Unwin, themes: identity, grief, mental health, family, A strong atmospheric novel about Lucy, a sixteen-year-old competitive swimmer in a coastal town who is grappling with a fear of water after the untimely death of her surfer brother.Keighery, Chrissie, Whisper, Hardie Grant Egmont,  Themes: Deafness : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExXO40ztVw8 Teachers Notes file:///C:/Users/christine/Downloads/Whisper%20Teachers%20Notes%20(3).pdf

Fusillo, Archimede, BRUISES: BOYS DON”T CRY. Penguin Books..FAMILY, MATESHIP, LOYALTY, GRIEF, BULLYING, RELATIONSHIPS, ILLNESS, LOSS, COURAGE…Falco’s older brother is dying and there is nothing anyone can do to prevent it. Falco feels the enormity of his helplessness weighing him down even as he courageously fights against the bullying and anti-social behaviour of Ape and his crew directed at him and others when the school camp becomes the hunting ground for the “strong” over the percieved weak.

Gardiner, Kelly, ACT OF FAITH, HarperCollins, History, Books, Ideas, Censorship, Refugees, Girls’ education. Set in Cambridge, Amsterdam and Venice in the mid-seventeenth century, ACT OF FAITH (and its sequel THE SULTAN’S EYES) follow the adventures of Isabella Hawkins and her friends as they write and publish books full of dangerous ideas and face a backlash from the Spanish Inquisition.

Hayes, Nicole, ONE TRUE THING, Random House, MUSIC, POLITICS, THE MEDIA, PUBLIC VERSUS PRIVATE, FRIENDSHIP, FAMILY, SECRETS, SEXUALITY. Sixteen year old Frankie MUST deal with the public and personal fallout when photos of herpolitician mother in a secret rendezvous with a much younger man go viral.

Hayes, Nicole, THE WHOLE OF MY WORLD, Random House, FAMILY, GRIEF, FOOTBALL (AFL), GENDER, IDENTITY AND BELONGING, FRIENDSHIPS AND RELATIONSHIPS. The lines between friendship and love become blurred when a grieving teenager befriendsher football hero.

HOLOHAN, Amanda; UNWANTED; Penguin Books. Themes: class, race, self-empowerment, betrayal, loss, gender, love and sacrifice.  In a city besieged by a terrifying enemy, Bea Azaeli wants nothing more than to protect her people and earn the coveted ink of a Dread warrior; but one impulsive act is about to change everything.

Howell, Simmone, GIRL DEFECTIVE, Pan Macmillan, Themes: family life, identity, gentrification, music, may be of interest to gay/questioning teens or those looking for depictions of ASD: Skylark Martin lives in St Kilda with her misfit family above their fledgling record store in contemporary St Kilda.

Howell, Simmone, EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL, Pan Macmillan. Themes: Faith, Sexuality, identity, Body Image. Incredible true romance between angry atheist girl and despondent wheelchair boy at Christian camp in Nhill, Australia.

Howell, Simmone, NOTES FROM THE TEENAGE UNDERGROUND, Pan Macmillan: Themes: friendship, feminism, film-making, image, identity, creativity. Gem Gordon wants to lose her virginity and make an underground film …not necessarily in that order.

Kalkipsakis, Thalia; LIFESPAN OF STARLIGHT, Hardie Grant Egmont, TECHNOLOGY, CLIMATE CHANGE, TIME TRAVEL, MATERNAL SACRIFICE, RESOURCE RATIONING, IDENTITY. Fourteen-year-old Scout is an illegal who survives on half her mother’s rations in water-scarce 2084. When she steals a microchip, Scout gains access to the privileges of Australian citizens, but she also discovers a skill inherent in all human beings: the ability to travel through time.

Lawson, Sue, FREEDOM RIDE, Black Dog Books (Walker Books). Themes: racism, identity, friendship, family.

The summer of 1965 – is a time of Oz, The Beatles, Victor Lawn Mowers, Bandstand and endless heat.

For Robbie Bower, it’s a time of discovery and change. Everything he thought to be real and true will be ripped apart when secrets, lies and a busload of university students collide in a small country town.

And there’s no going back.

Lawson, Sue YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW, Black Dog Books (Walker Books). Themes: family, identity, grief, change, acceptance. Alex wakes in hospital, unable to remember what has happened. Slowly, with help from his roommate, Mackie, Alex remembers and accepts.

Pajalic, Amra THE GOOD DAUGHTER, Text Publishing, Friendship, Culture, Identity, Belonging, Migration, Religion, Family, Bullying.

Fifteen-year-old Sabiha has a lot to deal with: her mother’s mental health issues, her interfering aunt, her mother’s new boyfriend, her live-in grandfather and his chess buddy, not to mention her arrogant cousin Adnan. They all want to marry her off, have her become a strict Muslim and speak Bosnian.

And Sabiha’s friends are not always friendly. She gets bullied by girlfriends and is anxious about boyfriends, when she just wants to fit in. But two boys, Brian and Jesse, become the allies of this fierce and funny girl. (shortlisted for the 2009 Melbourne Prize, Best Writing Award, Winner of 2009 Melbourne Prize Civic Choice Award).

Pryor, Michael, 10 FUTURES, Random House Australia, Sustainability, Future Trends, Relationships, Change. Ten linked stories looking at possible futures for us over the next hundred years through the eyes of two best friends. Teachers’ Notes available.

Saliba, Sue, FOR THE FOREST OF A BIRD, Penguin Books, GRIEF, FAMILY, PERCEPTION, CHANGE, NATURE/ENVIRONMENT. Two years after her beloved father has left the family, 15 year-old Nella clings to the idea that their relationship has not changed but when she leaves Melbourne to stay with him she is forced to face a different reality; one which she can only come close to understanding through her love of nature.

Bongers, Christine, INTRUDER, Random House, CRIME, GRIEF, FAMILY, RELATIONSHIPS, HUMOUR, DOGS. Kat Jones is used to coping on her own – her Mum is dead and her Dad works nights – but when an intruder looms over her bed it becomes the catalyst for unwanted but much-needed change in her life.

Wang Gabrielle, LITTLE PARADISE, Penguin Books. Themes: war, love, identity both personal and national, friendship, family. Amidst the seething chaos of post WWII Shanghai, as the civil war escalates, a young ChineseAustralian girl from Melbourne must decide whether to flee to safety with her baby or stay and find her lover, a Chinese intelligence officer being hunted by both sides.

Weetman, Nova, FRANKIE AND JOELY, UQP, Themes: Friendship, first love, loyalty, trust, hurt, identity. Frankie and Joely are best friends. They love each other like no one else can. But will they still be Frankie and Joely by the end of the summer?