Booklists

Bee Ballentine is starting her first year of high school at beachside Crescent Bay. Still reeling from the departure of her mother who left for an ashram in India, Bee talks to Buddha and begs for her first period not to arrive. She's not ready to become a woman yet, whatever that means. Although Bee has yet to find her group at school, her best friend forever is Leon Mckay, the hottest boy in Year 8. As long as Leon has her back Bee can survive the mean girls, her meddling step-mum Kath, her swimming nemesis, The Piranha. LISTEN ON BOOK BITES! You can listen to Pip Harry read the first chapter of this book on the PRC's Book bites podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or The Arts Unit website! Copy and paste this URL into your browser to start listening! https://artsunit.nsw.edu.au/listen-the-arts-unit/literature-and-language-arts/book-bites/7-9-book-list#are-you-there-buddha-pip-harry

Nash finds himself pulled between his two parents after their divorce. This is not uncommon, however his mum is the local police officer and his dad is a retired boxer and former prisoner who finds himself needing to come up with a large amount of money very quickly. Nash finds his love and loyalty to his father tested as he is involved in his father's past mistakes and present schemes. LISTEN ON BOOK BITES! You can listen to Tristan Bancks read the first chapter of this book on the PRC's Book bites podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or The Arts Unit website! Copy and paste this URL into your browser to start listening! https://artsunit.nsw.edu.au/listen-the-arts-unit/literature-and-language-arts/book-bites/5-6-book-list#cop-and-robber-tristan-bancks

Thirteen year old Morgan lives with his Dad and his older brother Mitch. He hasn't seen his Mum since she left when he was two. He spends his time practicing his soccer skills in order to meet his father's high expectations about what it is to be a man. Then Morgan becomes friends with Gray at school, gets injured in a game of soccer, finds his long-lost Mum and everything changes. Morgan must decide what kind of man he wants to be. A story that ultimately asks, How do you find your light when you're stuck in the dark? LISTEN ON BOOK BITES! You can listen to Barry Jonsberg read the first chapter of this book on the PRC's Book bites podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or The Arts Unit website! Copy and paste this URL into your browser to start listening! https://artsunit.nsw.edu.au/listen-the-arts-unit/literature-and-language-arts/book-bites/7-9-book-list#darkest-night-brightest-star-barry-jonsberg

Fourteen-year-old Nate has just moved back to Australia and is finding it hard to navigate a new city, school and changed home life. His next-door neighbour, Luna, is dealing with her own issues: a viral video, friends who have dropped her, and a subsequent anxiety disorder. When a swarm of 20,000 bees unexpectedly settle in the walls of Nate's family's house, Nate and Luna come together to save the hive, befriending local beekeeper Tyler. Over the course of one summer, their loyalties will be tested and their lives will be forever changed. LISTEN ON BOOK BITES! You can listen to Pip Harry read the first chapter of this book on the PRC's Book bites podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or The Arts Unit website! Copy and paste this URL into your browser to start listening! https://artsunit.nsw.edu.au/listen-the-arts-unit/literature-and-language-arts/book-bites/7-9-book-list#drift-pip-harry

Jayden Jones is missing. Everyone thinks he ran away. His best friend, Zoe Gale, knows they're wrong. Zoe's search leads her to The 17 - a secret group chat, used by anonymous teens to blackmail the powerless. To join, you have to put on a mask and record yourself completing a challenge. The challenges are always illegal. Sometimes dangerous. Maybe deadly. Who are The 17? What have they done to Jayden? And what will they do to silence Zoe? A rollercoaster of suspense and twists from the author of the Liars series. LISTEN ON BOOK BITES! You can listen to Jack Heath read the first chapter of this book on the PRC's Book bites podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or The Arts Unit website! Copy and paste this URL into your browser to start listening! https://artsunit.nsw.edu.au/listen-the-arts-unit/literature-and-language-arts/book-bites/7-9-book-list#if-you-tell-anyone-you-re-next-jack-heath

Dear Iris, If all goes well I will be in touch by this evening. If you hear nothing, contact Glassy Bay International Travellers' Hostel and ask after me. Use our real names. Your Mama xxx Missing people. Mysterious deaths. A growing attraction between two girls caught up in the search for the truth. Somehow, they're all connected. But in order to find out how - and in order to even meet each other - Iris and Lena will have to go into the mouth of the wolf... LISTEN ON BOOK BITES! You can listen to Erin Gough read the first chapter of this book on the PRC's Book bites podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or The Arts Unit website! Copy and paste this URL into your browser to start listening! https://artsunit.nsw.edu.au/listen-the-arts-unit/literature-and-language-arts/book-bites/7-9-book-list#into-the-mouth-of-the-wolf-erin-gough

Ellie Marsden was born into the legendary Lovinger acting dynasty. Grandmother of the infamous Lottie Lovinger as a child Ellie shared the screen with Lottie playing the child monster in a cult indie horror movie. The experience left her traumatised and estranged from family members. Now 17, Ellie has returned home to Hobart as Lottie is dying and Ellie wants to make peace with her before it's too late. Ellie meets Riya, a young film buff who leads a feminist horror film club. Is this someone she could show her true self to and at last come to terms with her family's legacy. LISTEN ON BOOK BITES! You can listen to Danielle Binks read the first chapter of this book on the PRC's Book bites podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or The Arts Unit website! Copy and paste this URL into your browser to start listening! https://artsunit.nsw.edu.au/listen-the-arts-unit/literature-and-language-arts/book-bites/7-9-book-list#the-monster-of-her-age-danielle-binks

"What happens when your closest family are the prime suspects in a murder mystery? Spending a weekend visiting her step-grandmother and hanging out with relatives at the family farm isn't 14 year-old Ruth's idea of fun, especially when there is no internet or phone reception, and there is the added complication of trying to suppress her crush on her sort-of-cousin 15 year-old Dylan. But when the sudden and suspicious death of step-grandmother GG keeps the extended family trapped at the farmhouse, it gives Ruth and Dylan a chance to solve the murder mystery themselves." LISTEN ON BOOK BITES! You can listen to Kate Emery read the first chapter of this book on the PRC's Book bites podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or The Arts Unit website! Copy and paste this URL into your browser to start listening! https://artsunit.nsw.edu.au/listen-the-arts-unit/literature-and-language-arts/book-bites/7-9-book-list#my-family-and-other-suspects-kate-emery

Oscar has more going on than a kid in year 7 should have to deal with. His neighbour is out to get him, the police don't believe him and at school he is in love with Tiffany, the most popular girl who does not know he is alive. Oscar hopes to win her affection by giving her a necklace that his grandfather left him, but this necklace may be more valuable than Oscar realizes. Tiffany will not be the only one interested in such a valuable necklace which may put Oscar and all his friends in danger. Life is definitely a challenge for this teenage boy. LISTEN ON BOOK BITES! You can listen to Ross Curnow read the first chapter of this book on the PRC's Book bites podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or The Arts Unit website! Copy and paste this URL into your browser to start listening! https://artsunit.nsw.edu.au/listen-the-arts-unit/literature-and-language-arts/book-bites/7-9-book-list#oscar-vs-the-grand-old-dude-named-york-ross-curnow

Nolan Hawker is invited to attend the Peak, the world's most dangerous school. There he learns to crack codes, fly planes and deceive enemies so he can someday infiltrate the deadly anarchist group, Swarm. But Swarm is already inside the Peak, and they have a plan - the kind that no-one walks away from. Does Nolan have what it takes to save his friends, his school, the world? LISTEN ON BOOK BITES! You can listen to Jack Heath read the first chapter of this book on the PRC's Book bites podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or The Arts Unit website! Copy and paste this URL into your browser to start listening! https://artsunit.nsw.edu.au/listen-the-arts-unit/literature-and-language-arts/book-bites/7-9-book-list#spy-academy-1-the-peak-jack-heath

It's the Second World War and Himmler's Lebensborn Program is in full flight when eight-year-old Zofia Ulinski is kidnapped by the Germans. She has blonde hair and blue eyes, just like the other Polish children taken from their families and robbed of their names, their language, their heritage. But when Zofia is adopted into a wealthy and loving German family, it is easier, it is safer to bury her past, deep down, so everything is forgotten. Until the Polish boy arrives. And the past comes back to haunt her. LISTEN ON BOOK BITES! You can listen to Katrina Nannestad read the first chapter of this book on the PRC's Book bites podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or The Arts Unit website! Copy and paste this URL into your browser to start listening! https://artsunit.nsw.edu.au/listen-the-arts-unit/literature-and-language-arts/book-bites/7-9-book-list#waiting-for-the-storks-katrina-nannestad