Booklists

Isola Wilde sees lots of things others don't. But when a dead girl appears at Isola's window, full of threats, Isola needs help. Can her real-life friends and her brother-princes - magical creatures seemingly lifted from the pages of the French fairytales Isola idolises - protect her. Isola needs to uncover the truth behind the dead girl's demise... before the ghost steals Isola's last breath. Explores concepts for older readers. Usually read by students in Years 9, 10 or above.

Set in middle America in the 1950s, Sarah and her father have hired a belligerent dragon of Russian heritage to clear their land. His arrival signals the beginning of a destiny that spirals beyond anyone's control. This story explores race, sexuality, gender stereotypes and how dragon power can be used for good or for evil. Usually read by students in years 9, 10 and above.

It's not easy when the Chosen One goes to your school. The one who fights the zombies or the soul-eating ghosts or whatever new thing there is. Mikey just wants to graduate and find the courage to ask Henna out before school gets blown up, again. Sometimes, there are problems bigger than this week's end of the world and you have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life. Mature themes. Usually read by students in Years 9, 10 or above.

The monster showed up just after midnight. But, it isn't the monster thirteen year old Conor has been expecting. He expected the one from his nightmare, the one he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments for cancer. This monster is different, it's something ancient and wild, and tells Conor three stories. The monster wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor, it wants the truth. Usually read by students in years 9, 10 and above.

Living in the commission, Lexie is left to fend for herself. Her mother is mostly absent, out searching for something to help her forget the tragic death of Lexie's dad. After witnessing the aftermath of a shocking incident, Lexie finds solace in the most unlikely of places, a troubled old man called The Creeper. A chance, life-saving encounter on the commission's roof seeds a friendship between the two and when they enlist the help of Lexie's friend Davey, the three set off on a epic journey; one that will change their lives forever. Usually read by students in Years 9, 10 or above.

Six months ago, Zoey's life went off the rails. After the tragic loss of her brother, she partied her way to oblivion, estranged her best friend, Cass, and pushed away her now ex, Finn. But when her destructive behaviour reaches dangerous heights, Zoey realises she needs to pull herself together and get her old life back, including her ex. There's just one complication: Finn is now dating Cass. Now, it's the last week of summer and Zoey, Cass and Finn are setting out on the road trip of a lifetime to see their favourite musician, Gray, perform live, joined by Finn's infuriatingly attractive bad-boy cousin Luc and his vibrant younger sister Jolie. Zoey thinks this is her chance to put things to rights and convince Finn they should get back together. But she wasn't counting on her friends' lingering resentment, Luc's disarming sincerity, and Jolie's infectious love for life to turn her plans upside down. Usually read by students in Years 9, 10 or above.

The end of a long and dangerous journey for the Manth people as they leave the ruined Mastery to seek a new homeland. Sometimes violent and cruel but always compelling. Usually read by students in Years 9, 10 or above.

It is five years later, and Kestrel's people have been enslaved. It is a strange set of circumstances that will lead to the overthrow of the Mastery. Sometimes violent and cruel but always compelling. Usually read by students in Years 9, 10 or above.

Any three titles read from this series can be included as official Challenge books; up to five more titles can be included as your personal choice books. To see the individual book titles and their PRC ID numbers, go to the Series lists on the Booklists page, on the website. Or, you can search for a series name or the individual titles by using the Search function on the top left hand corner of the screen.

Kestrel hates the rules of Aramanth and, in defiance, climbs the wooden tower known as the wind singer. This brings the wrath of the Chief Examiner against her family and Kestrel and her twin brother must travel on a terrifying quest.to save their beloved father. Sometimes violent and cruel but always compelling. Usually read by students in Years 9, 10 or above.

Petula has avoided friendship and happiness ever since tragedy struck her family and took her beloved younger sister Maxine. Worse, Petula blames herself. If only she'd kept an eye on her sister, if only she'd sewn the button Maxine choked on better, if only...Now her anxiety is getting out of control, she is forced to attend the world's most hopeless art therapy class. But one day, in walks the Bionic Man: a charming, amazingly tall newcomer called Jacob, who is also an amputee. Petula's ready to freeze him out, just like she did with her former best friend, but when she's paired with Jacob for a class project, there's no denying they have brilliant ideas together - ideas like remaking Wuthering Heights with cats. But Petula and Jacob each have desperately painful secrets in their pasts - and when the truth comes out, there's no way Petula is ready for it. Usually read by students in Years 9, 10 or above.

Anna has high expectations for herself and her future. She is hardworking and focussed, but while she would like life outside of studying to stay in the shadows, her family's dark history summons her to the country and to the grandparents she has never met. Anna discovers secrets she never knew existed and answers to questions she never thought to ask. Usually read by students in years 9, 10 and above.

Sixteen stories, which centre round family life, are written by well-known and unknown writers. Usually read by students in Years 9, 10 or above.

A gang of children robs houses. Gunna, a member of the gang, finds that one of the houses draws him back and that it is for a reason. Usually read by students in Years 9, 10 or above.

The icon-maker and angel-summoner Liliath, long believed dead, has woken from her century long sleep to pick up the threads of a plan that has already destroyed one kingdom and may yet destroy another. To succeed, Liliath must bring together Agnez the musketeer, Simeon the doctor, Dorotea the mage, and Henri, one of the Cardinal's clerks...and take them into utmost danger. Set in an alternative seventeenth century where angels can be summoned to do the bidding of those with a talent for magic, Angel Mage is an action-packed story of angels, heroes, gunpowder and high magic. Usually read by students in Year 9, 10 and above.

Eighteen-year-old art student Susan Arkshaw arrives in London in search of her father. But before she can question crime boss Frank Thringley he's turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive Merlin. Merlin is one of the youngest members of a secret society of booksellers with magical powers who police the mythic Old World wherever it impinges on the New World - in addition to running several bookshops, of course! Merlin also has a quest of his own: to find the Old World entity who arranged the murder of his mother. Soon they become involved in an even more urgent task to recover the grail that is the source of the left-handed booksellers' power, before it is used to destroy the booksellers and rouse the hordes of the mythic past. As the search for the grail becomes strangely intertwined with both their quests, they start to wonder... Is Susan's long-lost father a bookseller, or something altogether more mysterious?

'The discovery of a sorcerous map leads left-handed bookseller Merlin into great danger, requiring a desperate rescue attempt from his sister, the right handed bookseller Vivian, and art student Susan Arkshaw who is still struggling to deal with her own recently discovered magical heritage. The map takes the trio out of this world to a place maintained by deadly sorcery and guarded by monstrous living statues. To unravel the secrets of a murderous Ancient Sovereign, the booksellers must investigate centuries of disappearances and deaths.

The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime New York Times bestseller about one man's coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed. Usually read by students in Years 9, 10 or above.

Shane's family lives on a remote station. Most of the Aboriginal people have been driven off but Red and her grandfather remain. All risk losing their homes when a big company wants to combine five stations. Strong language used in context. Usually read by students in Years 9, 10 and above.

A sequel to, The Barrumbi kids, in which a trip to Barrumbi changes everything. Dale is warned in a dream that his brother, Sean, is in danger. He doesn't know that what happens to Sean will have a devastating effect on the whole community. Usually read by students in Years 9, 10 and above.

Black parachutes fall from the sky. Young soldiers and a dog are on a rescue mission in a remote part of Afghanistan. But, the mission ends in chaos. Eighteen year old Corporal Mark Hollis and Prince, the dog, embark on a perilous journey. To get back to base, they must navigate an unforgiving landscape and avoid capture or death at the hands of the Taliban. Mark and Prince must depend on each other to survive. Usually read by students in Years 9, 10 or above.

Adele loves being one of the popular girls at Keziah Christian Academy. She knows the upcoming semester at school will be great with her best friend Delia at her side. Then Delia dumps her for a new girl with more money, and Adele is forced to share a room with Lottie, the school pariah, who doesn't pray and defies teachers' orders. As they share a copy of Jane Eyre, Lottie's gruff exterior and honesty grow on Adele, and together they take on bullies and protect each other from the vindictive and prejudiced teachers. When a boy goes missing on campus, Adele and Lottie must work together to solve the mystery, in the process learning the true meaning of friendship. Usually read by students in Years 9, 10 or above.

Alice Dyson knows exactly how she'll be spending her final year of high school: with her head down, concentrating on her textbooks and homework. She's focused on the future, and nothing is going to get in her way. Until a bizarre encounter with the school's most notorious troublemaker derails all her plans, turning Alice into the unwilling centre of attention and her life into one enormous complication. And even worse? Now Teddy Taualai won't leave her alone. Usually read by students in years 9, 10, and above.

The summer is finally here, and Pearl Nash is on a mission to save her slowly disintegrating friendship with a whirlwind end-of-year road trip. However, suddenly Pearl ends up stuck in the middle of the desert beside Obi Okocha, a boy with an irritating attitude. Add a breakdown, multiple arguments, an AWOL nana and a kiss; the perfect ingredients for a perfect disaster. Or is it? Usually read by students in years 9, 10, or above.

The door creaks open and standing in the entrance is my absolute worst nightmare. Perfect hair, perfect teeth, perfect brain. Perfect sneer. Evelyn Tait. Taking Down Evelyn Tait is a story about family, friends and embracing who you are. Even if that person is kind of weird. Usually read by students in years 9, 10 and above.

This #LoveOzYA anthology - the first to focus entirely on horror - unites a stellar cast of Australia's finest YA authors with talented new and emerging voices, including two graphic artists. The stories in this wide-ranging collection dig deep and go hard. While some are straight-up terrifying rollercoaster rides, others are psychologically rooted in our society's deepest fears and concerns: acceptance and fitting in, love and loss, desire and temptation, and the terror of a world threatened by catastrophic change -- and even collapse. From body horror to the supernatural, hauntings to transformations, and the everyday evil of humans to menacing outside forces, Hometown Haunts will have you glued to your chair... until you leap out of it! Usually read by students in years 9, 10 and above.