Booked Out congratulate Deb Abela on her new book New City.

Inspired by governments around the world not taking enough care of the planet, Deborah Abela’s  first novel in the series Grimsdon focused on a group of kids left behind in a flooded city with sea monsters, flying machines and sneaker waves…

The sequel, New City, takes the issue of a climate-changed world further by asking what happens to the refugees created when wild weather drives them out of their homes? This time, there are ornithopters, ice tornados, rescue eagles and a brand new bad guy.

Isabella and her friends are nervous about what they’ll find in the New City. It’s inland and it’s dry – far from the flooded city they’ve just left. Will their lives here be as luxurious and carefree as Xavier says? In fact, bleak, uncertain times have brought darkness and danger to New City.

Teachers can visit Random House for teachers notes for Deb’s latest book. Click Here

Our very good friends at Black Inc. are hosting a fantastic teacher evening with Alice Pung:

Come and meet Alice Pung, author of Unpolished Gem and editor of Growing up Asian in Australia, and Clare Atkins, author of Nona & Me.

Alice will speak about her new novel Laurinda, set in an exclusive girls school, and Clare will speak about her novel Nona & Me, which is set in Arnhem Land, and is the story of two friends, Rosie, who is white, and Nona, who is Aboriginal.

Free event, all welcome. Refreshments provided.

Date: Tuesday 19th August 2014 Time: 6.30pm for a 7.00pm start Location: Black Inc. Office, 37-39 Langridge St, Collingwood VIC 3066 (on the corner of Langridge and Cambridge streets)

Bookings: Free event but numbers are limited, so please RSVP by Friday 15th August to elisabeth@blackincbooks.com

All guests will receive a complimentary Black Inc. bag with an advance reading copy of Nona & Me, teaching notes, a sample chapter from Laurinda and information about a competition for secondary students to have their work published in an anthology edited by Alice Pung.

If you live interstate and are unable to attend and are interested in receiving information about Laurinda and Nona & Me, please contact Elisabeth Young on elisabeth@blackincbooks.com

If you want to tell a friend about the event, download the flyer and pass it on to them!

Congratulations to Katrina Nannestad who recently won the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature for her book The Girl Who Bought Mischief.

Set in 1911 in Denmark, The Girl Who Brought Mischief is about an orphaned ten-year-old girl, Inge Maria, sent to live with a fiercely stern grandmother on an isolated island in the Baltic Sea.

For more information about the awards, and to read the judges comments please visit The NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Website.

We would also like to pass on our congratulations to Terry Denton, Penny Tangey and Jackie French who were all short listed for the award.

Attention all Fox Swift fans! Today the new chapter in Swift’s adventures is out: Fox Swift takes on the Unbeatables
Written by Booked Outer David Lawrence, with footy legend Cyril Rioli, Fox Swift is for footy fans.

Fox Swift is over the moon about captaining the Davinal Diggers for another season. Who wouldn’t be? The Diggers have Hawthorn champion Cyril Rioli giving them tips, some quirky star players, and a kangaroo with attitude as their mascot. But Mace Winter and his father Miles have hatched an evil plan to stop Fox and the Diggers winning this year’s flag.

Read the full synopsis HERE

This term, Booked Out author Tristan Bancks is staging a World Change Challenge to raise $20,000 to buy 20,000 books for kids in the developing world through literacy charity Room to Read. Help him out and you can win a free author talk in your school or a Random House book prize pack.

Last time Tristan staged the World Change Challenge students around Australia raised funds to build a school library in Siem Reap Cambodia.  This time, it’s 20,000 local-language books for kids in Asia and Africa. $1 funds 1 book.

It’s a great way to engage kids in literacy, fun and social good. Watch the four-minute video showing how a single class raised $567 in one day, then hit the World Change Challenge page for a campaign pack and lots of fun fundraising ideas. – http://www.tristanbancks.com/2014/03/room-to-read-world-change-challenge-2014.html

Details of the Everyday Hero campaign are here – https://give.everydayhero.com/au/room-to-read-world-change-challenge

The World Change Challenge is supported by Room to Read author-ambassadors Susanne Gervay, Deborah Abela, Sarah Davis, Gus Gordon, Kate Forsyth, Jacquie Harvey, Belinda Murrell and Oliver Phommavanh.

World Change Starts With Educated Children.

Booked Out would like to congratulate Sofie Laguna on the upcoming release of her new book, The Eye of the Sheep.

Sofie’s second novel for adults, The Eye of the Sheep is the story of Jimmy, and his family who are struggling to cope with a different and difficult child.

Ned was beside me, his messages running easily through him, with space between each one, coming through him like water. He was the go-between, going between the animal kingdom and this one. I watched the waves as they rolled and crashed towards us, one after another, never stopping, always changing. I knew what was making them come, I had been there and I would always know.

Meet Jimmy Flick. He’s not like other kids – he’s both too fast and too slow. He sees too much, and too little. Jimmy’s mother Paula is the only one who can manage him. She teaches him how to count sheep so that he can fall asleep. She holds him tight enough to stop his cells spinning. It is only Paula who can keep Jimmy out of his father’s way. But when Jimmy’s world falls apart, he has to navigate the unfathomable world on his own, and make things right.

The launch of Sofie’s new work is happening at Readings, Hawthorn on Thursday the 31st of July. Visit Readings, Hawthorn for more details

Today we might be a little delayed in getting back to you as we are moving offices! We aim to be back in full swing on Monday morning. If you have a pressing enquiry, please don’t hesitate to give us a call.

A new essay by author Meme McDonald is featured in the latest Griffith Review. Her essay ‘You Have My Heart’, is part of a special edition exploring the theme Cultural Solutions.

Cultural Solutions

Grififth REVIEW 44: Cultural Solutions explores new ways people are working together and solving social problems that governments and other organisations have struggled with. ‘In this edition our contributors share the cultural solutions that are transforming the lives of Australian people and communities,’ says Griffith REVIEW editor Julianne Schultz.
Cultural Solutions puts flesh on the bones of the cultural richness around us and proves its success in providing new fixes for old problems.

Excerpt from You Have My Heart:

‘Our patron takes us to the Wild Bird Park in Kushiro and introduces the man who speaks the language of the Japanese Crane. Twenty-five years ago, there were only six pair of Japanese Crane left in the world. The businessman and the birdman and others created a programme in schools. School children scattered corn on the snow through the long winter months to feed the birds. When we visit twenty-five years later, there are more than six hundred Japanese Crane dancing in the marshes.

Seventy people of all ages and experiences from Kushiro joined us in the final performance of Waderbirds.  Delegates with a commitment to wetland sites around the world are gathered in Kushiro this April for the international migratory birds Ramsa Convention, named after the town in Iran where the first wetland convention was held in 1971. Six hundred of these delegates form a procession through the parkland to watch the story of the Eastern Curlew. Some of the delegates were with us in Broome and so know their roles as puppeteers working two metre high bamboo poles beneath bird wings.  

When our last dinner at the sushi factory is finished and the dishes cleared and washed, the Aboriginal dancer travelling with us plays didgeridoo and clapsticks. With chef and staff, there are more than twenty of us. Soon we are all up dancing the kangaroo and emu, our patron included. He offers a precious kimono as first prize. To the dismay of most of the performers, he judges the winner of the dance to be the Australian photographer.

When we leave the sushi factory on Hokkaido, the Japanese businessman, owner of the factory, and our patron, stands beside the cars that are to take us to the airport for departure. One hand is on his suit coat covering his heart. Two tears, one on each cheek, make their way neatly down to his chin. His voice is quiet. ‘I may not see you again in this life. You have my heart.’

For more information about the Griffith Review, click HERE

Booked Out are very pleased to congratulate Amanda (AJ) Betts on winning the Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature at the recent NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. She was presented the award for her latest novel Zac and Mia, a warm and uplifting story of two young people forming an unexpected friendship in hospital.

Zac and Mia are unforgettable—they put hooks into my heart that are still there. Be warned: if you pick up this book, you won’t want to put it down.
– Fiona Wood

To read more about the 2014 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, click here to view the story via Amanda’s website.

Amanda is based in WA and is available for school bookings.

Take a moment to look around our refurbished website. You’ll find a few reasons to enjoy browsing through our list of speakers even more:

Smarty Pants

you can now read speaker profiles on the train to work with our new responsive smartphone-friendly site.

#nofilter

as Instagram has taught us, everything is better with a filter. Use our new and improved search filter to narrow down the hunt and view those speakers most relevant to your needs.

On the road, again

our new, dedicated tour page makes it much simpler to find out which interstate authors are in your area, and when.

How much do you love us?

Say goodbye to the Feedback Friday system, and hello to a more logical way to send in or view others’ feedback and testimonials. Testimonials for speakers are now viewable directly in their profiles. You can also send an evaluation to us from there. There’s also a page specifically to see reviews about our agency, here.