Dare to dream. Live to defy. I can’t remember the last time I dared to dream about anything—not about my future, never about love, and certainly not about the sorcery the ancestors left behind. All that’s about to change. Kith has spent each of her seventeen years being coddled by the wisps and semi-wisps of her world. Born physically fragile, her family, elders and neighbors have never allowed her the independent life she craves. It’s no wonder she looks forward to her brush with sorcery each morning. When she passes through an ancient gate to a neighboring world, the animal-like shadows are there to welcome her—and the shadows aren’t the coddling type. Bound by treaty to feed and educate her, the magical shadows have become beloved teachers for Kith—until one of them makes a shocking decision. Kith must succeed at a new type of education: she must learn to run faster than a shadow or risk going hungry. With the weight of an inter-world treaty on her shoulders–and encouragement from a young man with courtship on his mind—Kith sets out on a journey to become stronger, smarter and more independent, all within the bounds of her dying world and the body she was born with. Because as the last of her ancestors’ protective sorcery gives way, it’s no longer enough for Kith to defy the odds. It’s time to live to defy. Read more

From award-winning young adult author Amra Pajalic comes a #ownvoices coming of age YA novel for fans of Melina Marchetta and John Green. Sabiha and her mother Bahra are more than mother and daughter, they’re best friends. It’s been them against the world, with Sabiha being her mother’s carer and confidante during her periodic bipolar breakdowns. When their extended family comes to Australia, Bahra becomes a Born-Again-Muslim to impress them, and expects Sabiha to step in line as the perfect daughter. Can Sabiha play the part of the good daughter so that her mentally ill mother is accepted back into the Bosnian community? Sabiha’s Dilemma is the first in the Sassy Saints Series for fans of fake friendships, love triangles, loners and outcasts who are searching for belonging, and fierce and funny girls. ‘Sabiha’s Dilemma is a ‘raw and honest story about duty and the desire to run free. A strong voice in Australian fiction.’ MELINA MARCHETTA ‘Rewarding, poignant and occasionally chuckle-out-loud funny,’ Books Buzz. Read more

*Selected as a Book Excellence Award Finalist* After his crush’s mysterious death, a teen boy uncovers century-old dark secrets in his small town. One of Us Is Lying meets Stephen King’s IT. Sixteen-year-old Mark Parker is devastated when he learns that his high school crush, Veronica McBride, has been found dead at the bottom of a cliff in their small beach town of Rockport. As the last person seen with the ill-fated girl, the town becomes suspicious of Mark and he swears to find the truth—but in doing so, he uncovers unearthly and evil secrets his town has been harboring for a century. Until Veronica McBride and her family moved to the small beach town of Rockport, its citizens were all from the original bloodlines of the town dating back to it’s founding in 1917—the same year the suicides began and the legend of Mermaid Cliff was born. With a suicide mysteriously happening every twenty-five years, the legend went that a mermaid lured people to the edge of the cliff, and they were in such awe of her that they walked right over the edge, falling to their death. But legends are stuff of lore… or so Mark believed. Mark thought he walked Veronica home after the big party the night before, but he can’t be sure since he partied a little too much. When snarky classmates accuse Mark of having something to do with Veronica’s death, his best friend Jason assures him that he saw those classmates—whom he calls the Seven—at the entrance of Mermaid Cliff that night as he was driving home. Trouble is, the Seven includes Mark’s older brother, Charles. When the FBI’s Agent Amelia Taylor arrives, it’s confirmed that Veronica’s death was a homicide, and Mark, along with Jason, is determined to find out who’s responsible. As Mark starts asking around, he’s collecting more questions than answers. His mother claims she was home but wasn’t. Old Man McGinty, who found Veronica’s body on the beach, has piles of newspaper clippings of the legend’s tragedies…along with a charm from Veronica’s bracelet. Even the FBI agent has a strange connection to the town through her own tragic circumstances. “Don’t believe everything people tell you, boy,” the old man tells Mark. “Everything in this town is connected in a way you or I will never fully understand…” Jason and Mark come to realize that their town is full of dark secrets, and their poking around is unveiling them one by one. “Loyalty. We may be connected to the rest of this world by land, but we have our own traditions and secrets we keep to ourselves,” his mom said mysteriously. “Some secrets are better kept secret…” Soon, Mark will learn of his own role in his town’s terrifying evils—and his destiny to stop it and put the legend to rest. The debut book in The Awakening trilogy. For fans of The Mortal Instruments, Twilight, and Stephen King’s IT. Previously published as – Mermaid Cliff Read more

Teens are disappearing in a small river town in southern Ohio as Keira Ryan begins her freshman year. Kidnappings aside, her worries mount as she crushes on an older guy, her best friend starts dating a spoiled cheerleader, and the parents that abandoned her at birth arrive at her doorstep. And, oh yeah, she’s a tooth fairy destined to kick some butt and bring about the end of a royal line of vicious, blood-sucking tyrants. Over the years, humans have pieced together sightings and assumptions to create the myth of the tooth fairy. As it turns out, they were pretty much wrong. Read more

The Minimum Wage Sidekick returns in an all-new adventure! Eighteen-year-old Alex Fry (Beams) thinks he’s seen it all in his year and a half as a part-time sidekick. That’s why he’s surprised when the police call him and his boss to investigate the gruesome slaughter of a local crime gang. Nineteen of Golden City’s most wanted killed in one night by one man. The culprit: A supervillain knight known as Slasher seeking to conquer Golden City in the name of his mysterious king. Slasher is willing to kill anyone who stands in the way of his conquest of the city and Beams and Rubberman are at the top of his hit list. Now Beams must use all of his cunning, strength, and powers to defeat Slasher and save Golden City. Yet when Beams’ own failing powers threaten to kill him, defeating Slasher may be the least of his troubles. Read more