Booklists

It's May 1910 and 16 year old Linda Duke has just received a strange message: a playing card, the Jack of Spades, in an envelope that was sent from Paris, where her widowed father, Professor Charles Duke, a noted but impractical Shakespearean scholar, has gone on a research trip. In the code devised by her late French mother Madeleine, who was a dedicated card-player, 'Jack of Spades' means treachery and danger. Her father knows that. But it is not his handwriting on the envelope. Linda is convinced he is in great danger, and being both brave and determined, decides to set out immediately to Paris to look for him.

When Jacqueline was a little girl living in France, World War 2 began. Her father is sent to fight while her mother becomes brave and fierce. She protects her little girl and tries to keep the family together and strong.

To show off the beauty below the waves, pioneering oceanographer, Jacques Cousteau, developed new diving technology and innovative ways to photograph underwater life. His films opened our eyes to an unknown and spectacular marine universe and enlightened us about the complexity of the oceans' ecology, and the need to preserve it.

Atl has been a Temple slave for six years but now he is imprisoned in a box, waiting to be sacrificed to the Serpent-Sun god. When the Spanish lords attack the temple, Ichtaca releases Atl to run to the next town to ask for help. Now he is free, Atl must decide whether to deliver the message or save himself.

Jahanara, favorite daughter of Emperor Shah Jahan and the most beloved of his four wives, writes about family jealousies, court intrigues, and war strategies, as well as the extravagant lifestyle of her royal family.

A story told from two points of view: Jake, then Lily, telling two sides to similar events. They know that together they are a powerful force, but that they have to learn how to stand alone as well.

Jake Atlas and his family are on the run. They're on a mission to stop the mysterious People of the Snake from hiding the secret of humankind. But the international police are chasing Jake and his family through one of the jungles of Honduras - one of the most dangerous places in the world. Can they make it out alive and discover the hidden mystery of human kind?

Young orphan, Tree, fervently wishes to set up a home for himself and his brother away from the orphanage in this story about identity, belonging and the transfiguring power of love.

Jameela lives with her family in a war-torn village in Afghanistan. Life is hard but when her mother dies and her father remarries, Jameela has to face a greater horror. To survive she draws on the strong sense of self that her mother gave her. Based on the story of an actual devout Muslim girl and life in post-Taliban Afghanistan.

When two wealthy young men move to the neighbourhood, Mrs Bennet -- mother to five unmarried daughters -- is thrilled. Surely it is only a matter of time before one of her girls is snapped up! But the course of love does not always run smooth. While Jane and Mr Bingley seem destined for one another, there are those who would wish it otherwise; while Elizabeth and Mr Darcy do not seem destined for one another, somehow their paths must always cross. Then there are Lydia and Kitty, the silliest and vainest of the Bennet sisters, keen to attract the wickedly attractive Mr Wickham and his military comrades. Love is in the air - but where will it all end??

When a fierce quake strikes the remote island of Bluehaven, and her father disappears, Jane Doe is thrown headfirst into an epic quest to bring him home. But this ain't no ordinary rescue mission. Her father is lost in a place between worlds; a dangerous labyrinth of shifting rooms, infernal booby traps and secret gateways. And Jane has to find him fast, because someone else is searching for him, too. A man who knows her father's secrets. A man who has an army. With a pyromaniac named Violet and the enigmatic Hickory by her side, Jane is about to discover that this adventure is even bigger on the inside than it looks ..

Only nine when she is orphaned and sent to live with an unloving aunt, Jane spends miserable, lonely years at boarding school before becoming a governess in the home of a mysterious man. A classic story.

Helene has been inextricably ostracised by the girls who were once her friends. Her school life is full of whispers and lies. Her loving mother is too tired to help. Helene has one consolation, Charlotte Bronte's Jayne Eyre, where she can identify with Jane's tribulations and ignore her tormentors. On school camp, an encounter with a fox brings hope for Helene, and then comes Geraldine.

When twelve-year-old Clancy and her fourteen-year-old sister, Tash, kidnap their grandfather from his aged-care home, it's almost by accident. But they soon set out on an intrepid adventure, in search of a better place for Pa to live. Along the way they face many challenges, and Clancy becomes increasingly sure that their journey is being guided. Is the ghost of their grandmother accompanying them on their quest?

We first meet Marc Jarvis and his best mate, Travis, as stereotypical sports-playing, girl-ogling sixteen year olds. As the book unfolds, we see beyond the exterior as Marc makes sense of his feelings and attitudes. His views about people, loyalty, friendship, love and its loss are challenged.

Jatta is a princess in the kingdom of Alteeda but her life is no fairytale. When Jatta was three, her mother was slain by werewolves and, now, at furteen, she has discovered that the werewolves left their curse on her and she will transform into a wolf on the full moon. With her brother, she bravely resists a dark lord and grows in confidence, resourcefulness and bravery to overcome the evil.

The adventures of the boys from the school and more of the story of the March family, set at Plumfield School, run by Jo and her husband on the lines of her husband's theories of education.

Joan of Arc's courage, eloquence and martyrdom make her an enduring inspiration. Find out about her childhood in war-torn France and how she helped a king win his rightful crown. She fell into British hands and suffered an unjust trial for heresy but, eventually, her reputation was gloriously and posthumously restored.

Through a mixture of narrative and historical sources, the extraordinary life of Joan of Arc is detailed from her childhood in the small village of Doremy to her eventual burning at the stake, at the tender age of 18. The story follows Joan's quest to have the Dauphin crowned as the true King of France and the English invaders defeated.

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.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy is the youngest man ever to be elected President of the United States. Youthful, charming and articulate, he symbolised hope and optimism in a time of turmoil. His presidency lasted less than three years, due to an assassin's bullet which killed him.

Josh, a poet, visits his great aunt for a week in a rural town and has to endure some strange treatment.

Llewelyn Jones is a twelve year old boy who journeys to Australia to find his convict mother and uncle. He ends up on the goldfields at the time of The Eureka Stockade. Some strong language used in context.

Elias, an apprentice barber-surgeon, sets sail for Jamestown Colony. There, he meets a Pamunkee Indian girl training to be a medicine woman and dream reader. They forge a friendship, sharing their medical knowledge, regardless of the war around them.

An ancient book is opened by the eccentric Professor Lidenbrock and his life, and that of his nephew, Axel, is changed for ever. An old piece of paper has tumbled from the book, a priceless parchment that will lead them on a terrifying journey to find what lies at the centre of the Earth.

Miss Minton and Maia are sailing to the city of Manaus, a thousand miles up the mighty Amazon river. Maia, a lonely orphan, is excited to be starting a new life with relatives she's never met. Mysterious Miss Minton has secret reasons of her own for making the journey. But years of living in the jungle have sent Maia's uncle and aunt slightly mad and their twin daughters are definitely not like normal children.

Ashleigh is fifteen and her life makes her angry. Through a school project she meets Joyous, whose positive take on life helps to teach her to 'work things round a little'.

As a young Brisbane kid, Johnathan Thurston was written off as too skinny, too slow and too wild to play rugby league professionally. But he defied the odds to become one of the game's greatest players. In this young readers' edition of his bestselling autobiography, follow his journey from his debut with the Canterbury Bulldogs in 2003, to State of Origin star, and to total legend of the game.

It's 1838 and London is gripped by orchid fever. Charles Darwin's diary turns up in Higgins's bookshop, closely followed by two ex-body snatchers and a peculiar fellow with small teeth. Julius wonders what's in the diary and whether it has something to do with the terrifying painting of an orchid it contains. Before he knows it, Julius is spinning through time and parallel realms in a race to rid London of the soul-catcher and a future too horrible to imagine.

When Julius Higgins isn't running from Crimper McCready and his gang of bullies, he's working in his grandfather's bookshop in Ironmonger Lane. That is, until Jack Springheel, a mysterious clock collector, appears looking for the fabled diary of John Harrison, the greatest watchmaker of all time. Julius becomes a thief and a runaway, and makes a deal with Springheel that he will live to regret. And, all before he finds out that Harrison's diary is really an instruction manual for making a time machine.

The hilarious adventures of Theodore, a time jumper from the year fifteen billion and seventy three. He has hair that changes colour and a coat that talks to him, informing him of important details like the weather and what he should be eating.

Jules and Gen are saying goodnight after their first date when they are rudely interrupted by Franklin who is time jumping into their lives and insisting they come with him to the year 15000000000073. Gen and Jules must help him save the world.

Jules and Gen find their life turned upside down as they are yet again caught up in time jumping mysteries. They want to know why Quincy Carter I is trying to change history and stop them living normal lives.

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.

In this classic story, Mowgli, the human child lost in the jungle, escapes the vicious jaws of the growling tiger, Shere Khan, and is adopted by Father Wolf and the pack. Lovable old Baloo the Bear and Bagheera the Panther teach Mowgli the law of the jungle and his extraordinary adventures begin.

Determined, passionate and privileged, Elizabeth was born into a world where she felt she didn't belong and had to fight to survive. Her mother, Anne Boleyn, was executed by her father, Henry VIII. Elizabeth competed with her two half-siblings for love and the British throne as Queen Elizabeth 1. In the gilded corridors of the royal palace, enemies she couldn't see and those bound to her by blood, plotted to destroy her.

Set in Judea in 71 AD, this is the story of 14 year old Judith who lives a simple life in her rural village. But one night the Roman army invades, stealing food, killing and enslaving the villagers and destroying her home. Saved by the foresight of her great grandmother, Rabba, the pair escape along with her younger sister and a stubborn goat. They hide in a cave and Judith must use all her skills to provide for her remaining family during the long, icy winter to come. Rabba has much wisdom and many stories to share, but the one Judith and her surprise guest, Caius, want to learn more about is the story of Maryiam, Rabba's extraordinary friend and mother of Jesus. Like Judith, Maryiam of Nazareth was never 'just a girl'.

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.

Just a girl to those around her, Elizabeth is now the Queen of England. She has outsmarted her enemies and risen above a lifetime of hurt and family betrayal. Elizabeth is surrounded by men who give her advice and compliments but may be hiding daggers and poison behind their backs. Elizabeth must use her head and ignore her heart to be the queen her people need. But, this may lead her to betray a fellow queen.

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen of England reflects on her 40-year rule. The unwanted daughter of an executed Queen, Elizabeth is a survivor. She is not just a Queen, but as the title suggests she is a woman of flesh and blood. As her life draws to an end, is her reflection one of regret?

Set in post-war Britain in 1949, fourteen year old Henry has no friends and misses his war-hero father. He resents his stepfather and stepsister, and escapes by going to the cinema, his passion. When Henry develops an old camera film, he uncovers a mystery and events spiral until Henry's life resembles the drama of the big screen.

Thirteen-year-old Aidan can't breathe in his crowded family home. Running is his only respite from four loud sisters and involved, touchy-feely parents. Then his mum makes an announcement: she's having another baby. Only, this time it's not for her; she will be a surrogate for gay couple Justin and Atif. Aidan is incensed. As if his family wasn't embarrassing - or big - enough already. But he's also scared. Aidan thinks he might be gay, and he's really struggling to accept this possibility. He's definitely not ready to come out, but what if being around Justin and Atif exposes him as gay? If only he was just like everyone else.

Stories of ordinary Australians doing extraordinary things during the Great War, 1914-1918. In 1914, Australia had a population of fewer than 5 million, yet 300,000 from all walks of life volunteered to fight. Through these stories, based on fact, the author has endeavoured to capture the essence of those who served Australia. As in life, not all were heroes.