100 Books for Teens and Tweens

Girl Next Door by Alyssa Brugman

See, what happened was, our lives were going really well. My mom got a promotion, I enrolled in an A-list school, and then my Dad had this great idea to start an empire. But now he’s “gone to the country.” What does that even when she talks to me at all, which is less and less lately. Hello! Can somebody please tell me what’s going on?

Steal My Sunshine by Emily Gale

During a Melbourne heatwave, Hannah’s family life begins to distort beyond her deepest fears. It’s going to take more than a cool change to fix it, but how can a girl who lives in the shadows take on the task alone? Feeling powerless and invisible, Hannah seeks refuge in the two anarchists of her life: her wild best friend, Chloe, and her eccentric grandmother, Essie, who look like they know how life really works. But Hannah’s loyalty to both is tested, first by her attraction to Chloe’s older brother, and then by Essie’s devastating secret that sheds new light on how the family has lost its way. Even if Hannah doesn’t know what to believe in, she’d better start believing in herself. Combined with Hannah’s contemporary story, at the heart of Steal My Sunshine is the revelation of a shameful aspect of Australia’s history and how it affected thousands of girls and women””the forced adoptions that saw ‘wayward girls’ and single mothers forced to give up their babies by churches and hospitals. The practice endured for decades, and only now are the numbers and the heart-wrenching stories coming to light.

True Face by Siobhan Curham

True Face shows you how to resist the pressure from the ‘perfection police’ and take off the masks you wear to proudly reveal your true self to the world. In chapters dealing with body image, bullying, social media, love, sex and more, Siobhan Curham encourages young women and girls to be honest, dream big, and create lives that are happy and fulfilling. Keep Calm and Carry On is replaced by a new mantra: Forget the Fake and Keep it Real. This book is a breath of fresh air. Perfect for ages 13+ – and for the Girls fan in her 20s/30s too!

Fierce September by Fleur Beale

Juno and the Taris inhabitants must leave their dying island. The young people look forward to a wider life Outside, but Outside too has its problems. It is two-year-old Hera, with her uncanny ability to foresee events, who saves the Taris people from the injury and death prepared for them by an underground group of protesters. The people of Taris, though, have no choice but to try to live in this seemingly hostile place. The young people are entranced despite the hate campaign against them: there are the fashions, the technologies and best of all for Juno, the freedom from extreme control. Only days after the group arrives, a pandemic hits the country – this has drastic consequences for Juno and her people.

Divine Clementine by Hayley S-Kirk

When 16-and-a-half-year-old Clementine Footner witnesses the tragic death of her eccentric aunt Stella, she feels as thought her world will never be the same again. Clementine idolised her aunt, and their intimate bond was something she treasured deeply. But after finding and reading Stella’s diaries, she learns about a very different woman – an unstable, erratic Stella. This Stella suffered from Bipolar . . . and the whole family knew about it. Feeling betrayed and angry, with her life spiralling even further out of control, Clementine trudges through grief, despair, and the middle of nowhere to discover what truly matters.

Razorhurst by Justine Larbalestier

The setting: Razorhurst, 1932. The fragile peace between two competing mob bosses””Gloriana Nelson and Mr Davidson””is crumbling. Loyalties are shifting. Betrayals threaten. Kelpie knows the dangers of the Sydney streets. Ghosts have kept her alive, steering her to food and safety, but they are also her torment. Dymphna is Gloriana Nelson’s ‘best girl’, experienced in surviving the criminal world, but she doesn’t know what this day has in store for her. When Dymphna meets Kelpie over the corpse of Jimmy Palmer, Dymphna’s latest boyfriend, she pronounces herself Kelpie’s new protector. But Dymphna’s life is in danger too, and she needs an ally. And while Jimmy’s ghost wants to help, the dead cannot protect the living

Hunter’s Moon by Sophie Masson

Bianca and her glamorous model stepmother are preparing for Bianca’s Presentation Ball. Bianca is so looking forward to it. She only wishes her father could be here with her, instead of away on business. When she hears after the ball that her father is ill, she doesn’t notice that newspaper The Mirror has summed up the ball guests with this fatal sentence: “Lepmest has a new Fairest Lady, and her name is””Bianca.” But though Bianca doesn’t notice, her stepmother certainly does. And very soon Bianca will learn the true nature of the woman whom she trusted and who she thought loved her and her father. Plunged into a terrifying world that will turn her from a daughter of privilege to a hunted creature in fear of her life, Bianca must find allies if she is to survive.

Faking It by Gabrielle Tozer

Things are looking up for Josie Browning. Her boyfriend, James, is crazy about her, and she’s scored a writing job at indi. Now the pressure is on for Josie to prove she’s got what it takes to help plan indi’s launch. Plus, she’s battling with flatmates, frenemies and confusing feelings for travel writer Alex. High on the perks at indi, Josie’s doing a pretty good job of faking her way in the industry – even though she still hasn’t mastered her hair straightener. But when Josie is invited to a media junket, she accidentally sets off a string of lies that threaten to ruin her reputation, love life and career forever.

The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney

Freak. That’s what her classmates call seventeen-year-old Donna Underwood. When she was seven, a horrific fey attack killed her father and drove her mother mad. Donna’s own nearly fatal injuries from the assault were fixed by magic””the iron tattoos branding her hands and arms. The child of alchemists, Donna feels cursed by the magical heritage that destroyed her parents and any chance she had for a normal life. The only thing that keeps her sane and grounded is her relationship with her best friend, Navin Sharma. When the darkest outcasts of Faerie””the vicious wood elves””abduct Navin, Donna finally has to accept her role in the centuries old war between the humans and the fey. Assisted by Xan, a gorgeous half-fey drop-out with secrets of his own, Donna races to save her friend””even if it means betraying everything her parents and the alchemist community fought to the death to protect.

Arena 13 by Joseph Delaney

The first book in the exhilarating new fantasy sequence from Joseph Delaney, the multi-million-selling author of The Spook’s Apprentice – the inspiration for the movie SEVENTH SON. Welcome to Arena 13. Here warriors fight. Death is never far away. Leif has one ambition: to become the best fighter in the notorious Arena 13. Here, punters place wagers on which fighter will draw first blood. And in grudge matches, they bet on which fighter will die. But the country is terrorized by the creature Hob, an evil being who delights in torturing its people, displaying his devastating power by challenging an Arena 13 combatant in a fight to the death whenever he chooses. And this is exactly what Leif wants. For he knows Hob’s crimes well. and at the heart of his ambition burns the desire for vengeance. Leif is going to take on the monster who destroyed his family. Even if it kills him.