1 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

Curtis Brown Australia March 2014

books for children

Curtis Brown (Aust) Pty Ltd | Literary Agents PO Box 19 | Paddington NSW 2021 | Australia T: [61 2] 9361 6161 | F: [61 2] 9360 3935 E: laura@curtisbrown.com.au | W: www.curtisbrown.com.au

books for children

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THE 39-STOREY TREEHOUSE Andy Griffiths, illustrated by Terry Denton Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia Genre: Children’s fiction (8-12 years) Pub Date: September 2013 Format: PB, b&w line drawings Rights Available: Translation Rights sold: Dutch, French, Norwegian, Korean, Russian, Portuguese (Brazil), Film/TV Page Extent: 352 pp Who wouldn’t want to live in a treehouse? Andy and Terry’s amazing treehouse has 13 new levels including a chocolate waterfall, a non-erupting active volcano, an opera house, a baby-dinosaur petting zoo, Andy and Terry’s Believe it or Else! museum, a not-very-merry merry-go-round, a boxing elephant called the Trunkinator, an X-Ray room, a disco with light-up dance floor, the world’s scariest roller-coaster and a top secret 39th level that hasn’t even been finished

yet!

THE 13-STOREY TREEHOUSE (Pan Macmillan Australia 2011) Who wouldn’t want to live in a treehouse? Especially a 13-storey treehouse that has a bowling alley, a see-through swimming pool, a tank full of sharks, a library full of comics, a secret underground laboratory, a games room, self-making beds, vines you can swing on, a vegetable vaporiser and a marshmallow machine that follows you around and automatically shoots your favourite flavoured marshmallows into your mouth whenever it discerns you’re hungry. Well, what are you waiting for? Come on up! **ABIA Book of the Year for Older Children 2012 Rights Available: As above Page Extent: 212 pp THE 26-STOREY TREEHOUSE (Pan Macmillan Australia 2012) Join Andy and Terry in their newly expanded treehouse, which now features 13 brand-new storeys, including a dodgem car rink, a skate ramp, a mud-fighting arena, an anti-gravity chamber, an ice-cream parlour with 78 flavours run by an ice-cream serving robot called Edward Scooperhands and the Maze of Doom – a maze so complicated that nobody who has gone in has ever come out again... well, not yet, anyway. Take a guided tour: http://vimeo.com/46990907

ANDY GRIFFITHS – AUSTRALIA’S NUMBER ONE CHILDREN’S AUTHOR! The TREEHOUSE series: top-ten bestsellers with over 300,000 copies of first two books sold in Australia to date

39-STOREY TREEHOUSE debuted at #1, 25,000 copies sold in first 10 days on sale

13-STOREY TREEHOUSE winner of ABIA Book of the Year for Older Children 2012

High profile author is winner of more than 50 children’s choice awards

Rights sold: ANZ (Pan Macmillan), North America (Jean Fiewel & Friends), UK (Macmillan), Norway (Fontini), Korea (Sigong Junior), Dutch(Lannoo), French (Bayard Editions), Russian (Gayatry), Brazil (Fundamento), Audio (Bolinda)

Watch Andy talk about the books here, take a guided tour here and visit Andy’s website here

The fun keeps coming: THE 52-STOREY TREEHOUSE due September 2014

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Rights Available: As above Page Extent: 348 pp ONCE UPON A SLIME Andy Griffiths, illustrated by Terry Denton Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia Genre: Children’s non-fiction (8-12 years) Pub Date: April 2013 Format: Paperback, b&w line drawings Rights Available: World excl ANZ Page Extent: 360 pp 45 fun ways to get writing – fast! ‘Filled with [their] trademark energetic humour, it’s wildly entertaining in its own right and an obvious choice for budding authors. But it’s also a brilliant resource for teaching creative writing and textual analysis, giving readers the tools and confidence to transform storytelling from a passive

into an active art.’ Australian Bookseller and Publisher Have you ever wondered where ideas come from and how stories are made? Would you like to know the true stories behind some of Andy and Terry's books and characters? Are you looking for simple, practical and inspiring writing activities? Would you like to discover 45 great ways to have fun with words and pictures? If you answered YES to any of these questions, then this is definitely the right book for you! Designed for teachers, students and young aspiring writers, Once Upon a Slime contains 45 fun writing and storytelling activities, such as lists, instructions, cartoons, personal stories, poems and pocket books. Examples from Andy and Terry's books are used throughout to demonstrate techniques and to inspire readers to have as much fun playing with ideas, words and pictures as Andy and Terry do when they get together to create their crazy books. Other books and book series by Andy Griffiths:

About the Author and Illustrator: Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton are a creative partnership that began with Just Tricking! in 1997 and now extends to seven Just books, the award-winning The Bad Book, the off-the-wall success of The Cat On The Mat Is Flat, the bestselling The Very Bad Book, and over 50 children’s choice awards. They have sold over 5 million copies of their books worldwide and are published all over the world including the US where Andy’s Bum books have made the New York

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Times bestseller lists, and are now being developed as an animated series by Scholastic Entertainment. www.andygriffiths.com.au VIOLET MACKEREL Anna Branford Publisher: Walker Books Australia Genre: Children’s Fiction (5+ years) Format: Hardback Rights available: Translation, Film/TV, Audio Rights sold: UK (Walker), US (Simon & Schuster), Turkey (Inkilap), France (Gallimard) Page Extent: 112 pp Introducing the gorgeous Violet Mackerel, a character girls 5 + are going to fall

in love with, and the star of her very own books In Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot (#1, 2010) Violet thinks she would quite like to own the blue china bird at the Saturday markets. This is not just a silly wish. It is instead the start of a very important idea. But what she needs is a plot. (Honour Book for the 2011 CBCA Book of the Year Award – Younger Reader s Category)

Violet Mackerel’s Remarkable Recovery (#2, 2011): Violet has to have her tonsils out. Violet does NOT think this is a good idea. She prefers NOT to have things taken out. But the tonsils have to go. And that’s okay, because maybe Violet will make the most remarkable recovery ever. Violet Mackerel’s Natural Habitat (#3, 2011) Violet Mackerel has a new theory. It is the theory of helping small things. Violet Mackerel quite likes helping. She particularly likes to help small things. So when Violet makes friends with a tiny ladybird called Small Gloria, she

wants to give her a helping hand. But sometimes it’s hard to know the best way to help a small thing especially when it’s not in its natural habitat.

Violet Mackerel’s Personal Space (#4, 2012): Violet Mackerel has some good news and some not-so-good news. The good news is about Mum and Vincent! The not-so-good news is that they have to move house. Violet is trying to be brave, but sometimes leaving your personal space can be tricky. Violet Mackerel’s Possible Friend (#5, Feb 2013): Violet Mackerel has moved into her new house. Violet Mackerel doesn't have any friends near the new house and she would quite like to make one. There is a

girl next door who could be a possible friend. Her name is Rose and she has a pink and white bedroom and a doll s house. Violet hopes that Rose might not be a possible friend for very long. In fact, she would quite like Rose to be a very good friend Violet Mackerel’s Pocket Protest (#6, July 2013): Violet Mackerel loves Clover Park. She especially loves to collect acorns from under the big old oak tree. But the oak tree is going to be cut down. Violet does not think this is a good idea! The oak tree is important. It is worth trying to save. And Violet hopes her pocket protest will be just the thing to save it. About the Author: Anna Branford was born in the Isle of Man and spent her early childhood in Sudan and Papua New Guinea before moving to Australia. Creative writing was her favourite subject at school and she

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wrote stories in all these different countries. Anna is a doll maker and a sociology lecturer at Victoria University.

www.violetmackerel.com TENSY FARLOW AND THE HOME FOR MISLAID CHILDREN Jen Storer Publisher: Penguin Australia Genre: Children’s Fiction, 9-12 Pub date: February 2011 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ Word count: 15,000 per book approx 'deliciously menacing, deliciously funny . . . a glorious read'

Australian Booksellers' Association

Dumped in the River Charon, hunted by an accursed river creature and

betrayed by the wicked Matron Pluckrose, Tensy Farlow is in mortal

danger. She has no parents. Worse still, she has no guardian angel.

When she is thrown into the Home for Mislaid Children – a gloomy orphanage where ravens attack,

Watchers hover over your bed, and even the angels cannot be trusted – it seems that all hope is lost.

Yet could it be that a plucky, flame-haired orphan with a mysterious past is precisely what this dark

world needs?

About the Author: Jen Storer is a talented and prolific writer for children. Her gothic fantasy, Tensy

Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children, was shortlisted for a string of awards – including the Prime

Minister’s Literary Awards (Best Children’s Fiction) and the CBCA Book of the Year Awards 2010. Her

comedy/mystery series, Truly Tan, has been on multiple best-seller lists. Book one, Truly Tan was

shortlisted for a Sisters in Crime Davitt Award 2013. Book two, Truly Tan: Jinxed! has been included in

the 2013 Australian government Get Reading! initiative and listed in the Top 50 Books You Can’t Put

Down. Jen’s homage to Enid Blyton, The Accidental Princess, was Highly Commended in the Prime

Minister’s Literary Awards, 2012 and is set to go into paperback in 2014. Truly Tan: Spooked! is due for

release in late 2013 (HarperCollins Publishers). Quincy Jordan, the first book in her new series for older

readers, The Crystal Bay Girls, is due for release in early 2014 (Penguin Books, Australia).

www.jenstorer.com https://www.facebook.com/JenStorerAuthor?ref=hl

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UNFORGOTTEN Tohby Riddle Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia Genre: Children’s picture book Pub Date: September 2012 Format: Hardback, 225 x 278 mm, full colour throughout Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Rights sold: US (Inklit/Penguin), Spanish (Editorial Oceano), Korea (Daesung), Russian (Gayatri), Germany (tbc) Page extent: 128 pp ‘Reading this book is like being quietly ushered into another dimension by winged strangers, a place beyond the tread of normal earth-bound language. Ephemeral as a feather, timeless as a rock, and as true as both, Unforgotten is a magical experience.’ Shaun Tan

Nobody knows where they come from. But they come. Impossible birds of the big sky and the long night … So begins this timely and timeless story, told in magnificent images and words by master storyteller, Tohby Riddle. A triumph of quiet beauty which, like Shaun Tan’s The Arrival, will move and delight readers of all ages. Stunningly atmospheric, moving and original. ‘A book as impressive, mesmerising and thought-provoking as this deserves to become a classic.’ Bookseller+Publisher ‘There is a quiet beauty and calm about this book which makes it not so much a hymn to life as a hymn to some of the mysteries of life. Unforgotten bids the reader to remember empathy, kindness and compassion but also to remember the mysteries of the life of the mind.’ Judges notes, NSW Premiers Awards About the Author: Tohby Riddle studied both art and architecture before becoming a writer and illustrator. He is the author/illustrator of The Great Escape from City Zoo, The Singing Hat, The Tip at the End of the Street, Fifty Fairies You Ought to Know About and The Royal Guest, among others. Tohby’s cartoons have appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Good Weekend. His illustrations, articles and other writings feature monthly in the NSW School Magazine where he is an editor. He has also had published two collections of his cartoons, What’s the Big Idea and Pink Freud. Picture books Nobody Owns the Moon were published in 2008, and My Uncle’s Donkey in 2010. His newest books include a follow up to the very successful Word Spy written by Ursula Dubosarsky, and Unforgotten.

www.tohby.com

SHORTLISTED – 2013 NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Ethel Turner Prize (Young People's Literature) SHORTLISTED – 2013 Indie Awards (Children's) SHORTLISTED – 2013 Book Design Awards (Children's Picture Book) NOTABLE – 2013 CBCA Book of the Year Awards (Picture Book)

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MORT BOOK 3: MORTIFIED Martin Chatterton Publisher: Random House Australia Genre: Children’s Fiction Pub date: April 2013 Format: Paperback Rights: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 288 pp (approx. 13,000 words) ‘Bloodsucking mutants, evil clones, sabre-tooth tigers, time travel and school. Some days it’s just not worth getting out of bed.’ For 10,000-year-old Mortimer DeVere and his sister, Agnetha, the answer is: a very long way indeed. As far as the DeVere children are concerned, they have eaten their last soggy sandwich, handed in their last piece of

homework and avoided their last bully. But not if Trish Molyneux has anything to do with it. In a desperate bid for freedom, Mort and Agnetha find themselves marooned in ancient Egypt, along with a grumpy Queen Victoria, a nosy writer who believes in fairies, a bloodthirsty crocodile and a tunnel full of zombie-mummies. Suddenly, school isn't looking quite so bad.

The adventure begins… MORT: THE 10,000 YEAR OLD BOY (Random House Australia, 2012) Time flies when you’re having fun... … Even when you're Mortimer DeVere, the 10,000-year-old boy. But when unexpected and unwelcome visitors arrive on Mort's home turf, the spooky Unk Island, he and his sister Agnetha will have their hands full dealing with some of the stranger hobbies they've tried to keep secret from one another and the outside world. Today may just turn out to be one of the most eventful days in Mort's very long life! Page extent: 256pp MORTAL COMBAT (Random House Australia, 2012) Mort's experiments with time-travel have landed him and the rest of humanity in serious trouble this time! When 10,000-year-old Mortimer DeVere and his crew of accidental time-travellers find themselves slap-bang in the middle of World War Two, things start looking pretty dicey. And with evil Adolf Hitler on the scene, the situation becomes positively lethal. But when the gang escape the clutches of the nasty Nazi and his trigger-happy troops they find that, in comparison to where they end up, wartime Berlin is ein walk in the park. As he faces an army of vicious Vikings, demented dinosaurs and nutty nudists, Mort discovers that ripping a great big hole in the fabric of time was probably not one of his better ideas … Page extent: 240pp

About the Author: Martin Chatterton was born and raised in Liverpool, England. He gained his degree in London before embarking on an internationally successful career as an illustrator, graphic designer, commercials director and children’s author. His work has been published in more than a dozen languages and has won and been shortlisted in numerous awards in the UK, US and Australia.

www.worldofchatterton.com

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FAIRYTALES FOR WILDE GIRLS Allyse Near Publisher: Random House Australia Genre: YA/New Adult gothic horror Pub date: June 2013 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Rights sold: Russian (AST) Word count: 432 pp

A girl with anime hair. A boy with a sketchbook. A forest possessed. There's a dead girl in a birdcage in the woods. That's not unusual. Isola Wilde sees a lot of things other people don't. But when the girl appears

at Isola's window, her every word a threat, Isola needs help. Her real-life friends – Grape, James and new boy Edgar – make her forget for a while. And her brother-princes – magical creatures seemingly lifted from the pages of the French fairytales Isola idolises – will protect her with all the fierce love they possess. It may not be enough. Isola needs to uncover the truth behind the dead girl's demise … before the ghost steals Isola's last breath. Praise for FAITRYTALES FOR WILDE GIRLS: ‘Near’s writing is clever and sharp, with just the right amount of reality and whimsy, blended with the dark fantasy of masters such as Gaiman and Angela Carter … There’s nothing predictable about this story, from the style of the writing to the characters to the story itself. It’s a cobbled path leading deep into a forest, where the reader is never quite sure what each stone will bring. This is a brilliant debut that will appeal to both adult and young-adult fantasy lovers.’ Australian Books + Publishing ‘A beguiling crossover novel with a fantastical mix of imaginary and flesh-and-bone characters… Near's debut is a dark concoction: a heady brew of Edgar Allan Poe, the brothers Grimm and Angela Carter.’ The Sydney Morning Herald ‘Fairytales for Wilde Girls is a rare thing in the mass of YA fairytale books – completely unique and unpredictable, with a haunting beauty that will prey on your mind… Fans of Neil Gaiman and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will adore Near’s fantastical world, and those who love the Brothers Grimm will appreciate her own carefully constructed fairytales…. [This] is a treasure of a novel. We just don’t recommend that you read it before bed.’ Marama Whyte, www.hypable.com About the Author: Born in 1989, Allyse Near counts Neil Gaiman, Jeffrey Eugenides, Francesca Lia Block and the Brothers Grimm among her biggest literary influences. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Deakin University, majoring in Professional and Creative Writing, and won Deakin’s inaugural Judith Rodriguez Prize for Fiction for her short story Venus In The Twelfth House. Throughout 2010 she was mentored by multiple-Aurealis Award-winning author Jane Routley, and published short pieces in a number of literary journals, including Verandah, Short and Twisted, and Etchings. Allyse writes deconstructed pulp-fairytales that almost always revolve around women, the wilderness and witchcraft. Her début novel, Fairytales for Wilde Girls, will be published by Random House Australia in 2013. She is currently working on Saturnalia, a YA reimagining of the Snow White mythos-meets-Rosemary’s Baby. She blogs at the-hexorcist.tumblr.com.

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MUCKED UP Danny Katz Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia Genre: YA Fiction Pub date: July 2013 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent : 240 pp Friendships are torn apart and loyalties tested when the Year 12s take over the school in this hilarious depiction of Muck Up Day. There are three reasons why Tom Zurbo-Goldblatt is creeping into school like a scaredy little weed this morning:

1. Today is Muck Up Day and the Year 12s are planning to take down the school in the biggest Quad Raid ever. 2. He is on Yard Duty. So not only will he have to clean up all the Muck Up Day mess, he's also wearing a girly T-shirt with the word 'boy' on it. 3. Bushing. Which is a combination of pushing and bushes, and the reason why Tom wants to avoid the rose garden. Also, the Students Combined Underground Movement is falling apart – Jarrell and Jack S have fallen in love and are being all lovey-dovey vommy, Brisley has decided to join a much cooler gang, Ravo is just miserable, and Tom's only friend is a pig in a nappy. On top of all this, the schoolyard is a warzone of silly string, toilet paper and supa-soakers filled with Vietnamese fish sauce. Tom's determined to survive, but can he choose between his own safety and the future of S.C.U.M.? It's going to be a long and crazy day.

S.C.U.M. (Allen & Unwin, August 2012) Adrian Mole goes to Summer Heights High in this story of hormones, high school and social hierarchy from one of Australia’s funniest writers. It’s just an ordinary day for Tom Zurbo-Goldblatt. The possibility of romance with his dream girl. Powerful friendships to forge. Wrongs to right. The ultimate test of survival against the Badass Ninjas of Stupidity of Death. And his first-ever sighting of a girlpube. Who says you don’t learn anything at school? Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 240 pp

About the Author: Danny Katz is a columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, and writes the Modern Guru column in the Good Weekend magazine. He is also the author of the books Spit the Dummy, Dork Geek Jew and the Little Lunch series for kids.

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GENERAL DOURAKINE The Countess de Segur, translated by Stephanie Smee Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia Genre: Children’s fiction (6-12 years) Pub date: September 2013 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 320 pp The charming children’s stories of the Countess de Segur available for the first time in English In this rollicking tale, the cantankerous but lovable General Dourakine brings his new-found French friends, Jacques and Paul, back to his grand

estate in snowy Russia. Life becomes complicated when the General’s niece, the grasping Madame Papofsky, and her eight unruly children descend on the house. Madame Papofsky is desperate to get her hands on her uncle’s enormous fortune. Find out if the General – with some help from his friends – can extract himself from her greedy clutches in this sequel to A Room at Guardian Angel Inn A ROOM AT THE GUARDIAN ANGEL INN (December 2012) A soldier returning from the Crimean War finds two young, lost boys sleeping under a tree next to the side of the road deep in the French countryside and brings them to the inn of the title which is run by two generous sisters, one of whom has a bit of cheek in her. Happy to have found a home with a loving family, the boys begin a series of adventures, spurred on by the irascible General Dourakine. A Russian aristocrat and sometimes prisoner of war, his stay at the Inn causes mayhem that will delight readers of all ages. Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 320 pp

MONSIEUR CADICHON: MEMOIRS OF A DONKEY (November 2011) Cadichon is a lively and intelligent donkey who wants his readers to know that although he was naughty in his youth and was punished severely, he is now reformed. His main aim is to refute the stereotypical image of donkeys as ignorant and stubborn and reveal, through his stories, the true, gentle and wise nature of donkeys. Cadichon’s antics are guaranteed to make you laugh! Cadichon can also be vengeful when overworked and underfed. His retaliations and plans for revenge will have readers shaking their heads in disapproval but ultimately, as Cadichon encounters love and acceptance through his adventures, we come to admire his bravery and loyalty. Rights available: Translation (US & UK via S&S), film & TV, Audio Page extent: 320 pp

About the Author: Monsieur Cadichon: Memoirs of a Donkey was written in France by Sophie Feodorovna Rostopchine, the Countess de Segur, in the early 1860s after The Fleurville Trilogy and has sold millions of copies. It is still regarded as one of France’s most loved children’s stories. The English version of Cadichon has been lovingly translated by Stephanie Smee, a former lawyer and NAATI translator.

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THE FLEURVILLE TRILOGY The Countess de Segur, translated by Stephanie Smee Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia Genre: Children’s fiction (6-12 years) Pub date: November 2010 (omnibus edition November 2011) Format: PB Rights sold: ANZ Rights Available: World excl ANZ, film & TV, Audio Page Extent: various

The charming children’s stories of the Countess de Segur, available for the first time in English

Book 1: Sophie’s Misfortune

Sophie is a naughty little girl, she delights in disobeying her mother and engaging in mischievous pranks. Sophie unintentionally melts her favourite wax doll and gets into trouble when she stands outside in the rain to make her hair curl. Why can’t she be well behaved like her cousin Paul and her two delightfully sensible friends Camille and Madeleine?

Book 2: Camille and Madeline Camille and Madeleine are perfect little girls, beautifully behaved and very wise. They live with their mother at Chateau Fleurville. When another little girl Margeurite and her widowed mother come to stay and Sophie, who is now orphaned is ‘adopted’ by the family, the four girls become firm friends. Margeurite and Sophie are constantly aspiring to the considerate thoughtful behaviour of Camille and Madeleine but through their adventures all four learn to be responsible for their actions and steadfast loyalty. With gentle humour and engaging characters this story is a delight for girls everywhere

Book 3: The Holiday Camille and Madeleine along with their friends Marguerite and Sophie are waiting excitedly for their cousins to arrive for the Summer holidays. The children fill their days building cabins, having picnics and games of hide and seek but things nearly go wrong when Sophie, hiding in an hollowed out tree trunk but is unable to climb out. But things really get exciting when Sophie’s mother and cousin Paul unexpectedly return, it turns out they had escaped the shipwreck in which they were thought to have drowned and had made their way to a foreign land! The children are enthralled by the Crusoe-like tales of survival and adventure.

About the Author: Stephanie Smee is a translator into English of all things literary and French. Having worked as a lawyer in Sydney and London, Stephanie happily traded in a legal career for a return to her linguistic calling. After several years as a legal translator, she left the world of financing documents behind and made her literary translation début with a new English translation of the Countess de Ségur’s Fleurville Trilogy published in 2010 by Simon & Schuster (Australia). The Trilogy includes the perennially popular Sophie’s Misfortunes, first published in France in 1858 and in print ever since. Stephanie lives with her husband and two children in Sydney, Australia and misses London’s proximity to Paris

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PHYLLIS WONG AND THE RETURN OF THE CONJUROR Geoffrey McSkimming

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia Genre: Middle grade fiction (10-14 years) Pub date: June 2014 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ (North America via A&U),

Film/TV. Audio Rights sold: ANZ

Page extent: 288 pp approx

Phyllis Wong, that keen young magician with a talent for sleuthing and getting to the bottom of the strangest mysteries, is back!

Here, in this astonishing new story, she finds her world turned upside-down as she discovers that there is magic about that is far more amazing than even she could imagine … and villainy the likes of which she has never encountered! This strange new world propels her back to a mystery originating from the time of the world's greatest writer, William Shakespeare … a mystery that is seeping, like a spreading pool of wickedness, into the 21st century! A mystery that only a conjuror like Phyllis Wong can try to solve!

As Phyllis herself says: ‘Fasten your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen … the ride will get bumpy!’

PHYLLIS WONG AND THE FORGOTTEN SECRETS OF MR OKYTO (Allen & Unwin, 2012) Introducing Phyllis Wong. A young magician with more than a few tricks up her sleeve. Conjuring is in Phyllis Wong's veins. It was passed down from her great-grandfather who, before his mysterious disappearance, was one of the world's most brilliant and successful magicians. Now Phyllis lives in what was his grand old home, converted into a number of apartments, in the middle of the city with her father and her loyal

dog Daisy. When a series of incomprehensible robberies takes place in the city, Phyllis realises there is much more to the crimes than meets the eye. It may be baffling her friend Chief Inspector Inglis, but Phyllis is determined to find out more. Who is this thief? What does he want? And how is he achieving the impossible? About the Author: Geoffrey McSkimming is the author of the bestselling Cairo Jim chronicles and Jocelyn Osgood jaunts, and a book of verse, Ogre in a Toga and Other Perverse Verses. He has contributed to magazines and poetry anthologies and also narrates the award-winning Cairo Jim Chronicles Audio books. Geoffrey’s Cairo Jim and Jocelyn Osgood books have been published around the world including UK, Japan, Korea, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia and Hungary. He is currently working on more books about Phyllis Wong. Official Phyllis Website: www.phylliswong.com

COMING SOON!

NOTABLE – Book for Young Readers, 2013 CBCA Awards SHORTLISTED – 2013 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Award (Upper Primary)

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DANNY BEST BOOKS 1-4 Jen Storer Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Australia Genre: Children’s Fiction, ages 5-9 Delivery date: October 2014; March 2015; Oct 2015; March 2016 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Word count: 15,000 per book approx

Danny Best tells lies. Olivia, age 7 Danny Best? He puts Wizz Fizz in his Fanta. Mr Henri, Henri’s Milk Bar I once saw Danny Best. But then I didn’t. Zac, age 8 Danny Best lives near my cousin. Rory, age 9 Danny Best should have his own TV show! Anonymous, age 8 ¾ Danny Best exaggerates Big Time. He is always inventing games and luring the local kids into his plans. He has a vivid imagination. He is bossy, competitive, funny, energetic, fearless and kind. He lives in the suburbs where kids have to ‘make their own fun’. There is a spare block next door to his house, ideal for bike races, ramshackle cubbies, Tough Bloke obstacle courses, even a homebuilt, Best Designs, outdoor bowling alley. Each Danny Best book contains six stories either narrated by Danny or, in some Extra Sensational Bonus cases, actually written by the legend himself. The books are highly illustrated (b&w line art), fast-paced with crazy marginalia and stacks of end matter including quizzes, maps, drawings and interviews with characters – even, Reflections of a Legend (no-one could say that Danny’s not deep). Each book opens with six Best Quotes. The first (tell-tale) quote is always from Olivia, age 7, and forms one of several running gags. Other books by Jen Storer:

(all rights via HarperCollinsPublishers Australia)

About the Author: Jen Storer is a talented and prolific writer for children. Her gothic fantasy, Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children, was shortlisted for a string of awards – including the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards (Best Children’s Fiction) and the CBCA Book of the Year Awards 2010. Her comedy/mystery series, Truly Tan, has been on multiple best-seller lists. Book one, Truly Tan was shortlisted for a Sisters in Crime Davitt Award 2013. Book two, Truly Tan: Jinxed! has been included in the 2013 Australian government Get Reading! initiative and listed in the Top 50 Books You Can’t Put Down. Jen’s homage to Enid Blyton, The Accidental Princess, was Highly Commended in the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, 2012 and is set to go into paperback in 2014. Truly Tan: Spooked! is due for release in late 2013 (HarperCollins Publishers). Quincy Jordan, the first book in her new series for older readers, The Crystal Bay Girls, is due for release in early 2014 (Penguin Books, Australia). www.jenstorer.com https://www.facebook.com/JenStorerAuthor?ref=hl

14 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THE SECRET WAR TRILOGY

Jack Heath Publisher: TBC Genre: YA fiction Pub Date: TBC Format: Paperback Rights available: World Word count: 40,000 words approx each A heart-stopping, provocative thrill-ride from the author of Money Run and Replica THE SECRET WAR # 1: Mia opened her eyes, but there was no light to see by. 'Hello?' she called out.

No-one replied. Mia thought she could hear someone breathing. Mia is attacked on her way to yet another foster home. She wakes in a bizarre prison, surrounded by other misfits. No-one can tell her where they are, or why they've been taken. Mia isn't much of a leader. But she's running out of time to help the other captives escape a terrible fate. Because there's something trapped in here with them – something not quite human... THE SECRET WAR #2: Mia is on the run. Every federal law enforcement agency is chasing her, with instructions to shoot to kill. Because she can't be allowed to tell anyone what she knows. About the alien abductions. The experiments. The secret war. The authorities are closing in, but that's the least of Mia’s worries. Because abduction was only phase one of the alien plan... THE SECRET WAR #3: Mia can't trust anyone. She's surrounded by things that look and sound human, but aren't. Every day they grow in number. Humanity's only hope is a piece of alien weaponry. Something so dangerous that even the invaders never dared to use it. Mia doesn't know exactly how it works, but she knows where to it is – in a crashed spacecraft, at the bottom of the ocean. Retrieving it seems like an impossible task. But Mia has to try, and soon. If she waits too much longer, there might be no-one left to save... About the Author: Jack Heath is the award-winning author of six action-packed books for young adults, which are popular in nine countries. He started writing The Lab when he was 13 and had a publishing contract for it at 18. The book has since been adapted into a screenplay. In the course of his research, Jack has gone scuba diving with sharks, travelled through Texas, Russia, and Cambodia, trained with firearms, toured prisons and interviewed guards, examined body parts at the morgue, read only books by women for a year, been a stunt driver, played bass in a rock band, been a street magician and listed every book he’s ever read. Jack lives in the ACT with his wife, Venetia Major, and their dog, Caesar.

jackheath.com.au

15 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THE DEAD I KNOW by Scot Gardner (Allen & Unwin Australia 2011) ‘I have never read a book more gripping, nor a book more triumphantly alive. I love how it haunts me still.’ John Marsden Aaron Rowe walks in his sleep. He has dreams he can’t explain, and memories he can’t recover. Death

doesn’t scare him – his new job with a funeral director may even be his salvation. But if he doesn’t discover the truth about his hidden past soon, he may fall asleep one night and never wake up. A potent, intense psychodrama set against a backdrop of the funeral industry that will keep readers gripped to the very last page. Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Rights sold: Canada (Penguin), US (Houghton Mifflin) Page extent: 216 pp

FOG A DOX by Bruce Pascoe (Magabala Books 2012) Children’s fiction A charming little book about dogs and foxes, and a little girl and a timber cutter; and how after a nasty accident, a simple act of kindness can change everything … Trapped at home and under strict orders from the doctors, young Maria is forced

to watch the wild world she loves from her window. Albert Cutts is a tree feller. A fella who cuts down trees. Fog is a fox cub raised by a dingo. He’s called a dox because people are suspicious of foxes and Albert Cutts owns the dingo and now the dox. Albert is a bushman and lives a remote life surrounded by animals and birds. All goes well until Albert has an accident ... and a simple act of kindness changes everything. A gentle tale of courage, acceptance and respect, Fog a Dox shows the strength of true friendship Rights available: World excl ANZ (US and UK via Magabala Books), Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 112 pp

AWARD WINNERS AND ONES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

WINNER – CBCA Children’s Book of the Year Award For Older Readers 2012 SHORTLISTED – 2012 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature Young adult fiction award HIGHLY COMMENDED – 2011 FAW Christina Stead Award SHORTLISTED – 2012 WA Premier’s Book Award

WINNER 2013 Prime Minister's Literary Award (Young Adult category) WINNER 2013 Notable Book, CBCA Awards (for Older Readers) SHORTLISTED 2013 WA Premier’s Book Awards (Young Adult category) SHORTLISTED 2013 Deadly Awards (Published Book of the Year category)

16 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THE SHIP KINGS, BOOK ONE: THE COMING OF THE WHIRLPOOL by Andrew McGahan (Allen & Unwin Australia 2011) YA fantasy (15-18 years) A magnificent young adult series about dominion and defiance, set upon the grey seas of a strange and compelling world ... ‘If you go to sea, you will come to the attention of the Ship Kings. And if they discover who you are, they will kill you.’ Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page Extent: 304 pp ‘..an exhilarating read… McGahan lets his adventure build gently, with patient readers rewarded as a detailed, evocative coming-of-age story unfolds’ Sydney Morning Herald ‘this beautifully crafted novel shapes up as a classic seafaring tale. … an epic hero story’ Herald Sun

THE SHIP KINGS, BOOK 2: THE VOYAGE OF THE UNQUIET ICE (Allen & Unwin, Nov 2012) Courage, betrayal, an impossible journey. Dow's quest continues in this second adventure set upon the seas of a strange and compelling world. THE SHIP KINGS, BOOK 3: THE WAR OF THE FOUR ISLES (Allen & Unwin, August 2014) For three years now war has been raging ruinously across the Four Isles world, with mighty fleets battling to and fro for mastery of the Great Ocean. The famous Dow Amber, however, to his frustration, has spent most of those three years patrolling only the languid backwaters of the conflict, far from the major battles. But all that is about to change… As the fleets muster for what is destined to be the war's final and most cataclysmic battle, cruel treacheries will be unearthed and devastating murders revealed, and Dow – and Ignella too – will be brought to the brink of utmost loss and despair, before fate shows them where their last hope of freedom truly lies. About the Author: Andrew McGahan’s adult fiction has won the Miles Franklin Literary Award, the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, The Age Book of the Year, and The Courier Mail Book of the Year Award. The Ship Kings series are his first books for young readers. Official website: shipkings.com.au

SHORTLISTED – 2012 Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Award (Older Readers) SHORTLISTED – 2012 Australian Book Industry Award (Children's category) SHORTLISTED – Indie Awards 2012 (Children's category) FINALIST – 2011 Aurealis Awards (Children's Fiction told primarily through words) LONGLISTED – 2012 Gold Inky (Australian YA Book)

NOTABLE – Book for Older Readers, 2013 CBCA Awards HIGHLY COMMENDED – 2012 Fellowship of Australian Writers National Literary Awards, Christina Stead Award SHORTLISTED – Courier Mail People's Choice Book Award 2013

17 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

CRY BLUE MURDER by Kim Kane and Marion Roberts (UQP 2013) YA Fiction / Thriller ‘Thomas Harris meets John Marsden…’ Books + Publishing 5-star review Will anyone hear you cry? Celia and Alice share everything – their secrets, hopes and the increasing horror that a killer is on the loose and abducting schoolgirls just like them. Three bodies have been found, each shrouded in hand-woven fabric. From within the depths of a police investigation, clues are starting to emerge. But as Alice and Celia discover the truth, danger is closer than anyone knows. Who can you

trust at a time like this? A haunting and poignant psychological thriller that pushes the boundaries of trust and betrayal, life and death, from two exciting new voices in Australian young adult fiction. ‘…enough to make you think twice about who you open the door to in future.’ Books + Publishing Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/ TV, Audio Page extent: 224 pp

SONG IN THE DARK by Christine Howe (Penguin Australia 2013) YA fiction Where do you end up when you have nowhere to go, and no one to turn to? Paul isn’t thinking clearly. He knows his life is falling apart, but he doesn’t know what to do about it. After destroying a series of relationships – with his friends, his flatmates, his mum – he finally hurts the one person he cares about most of all. And then he runs away. An extraordinary and heartrending story of love, betrayal, addiction, loss and hope that will have you on tenterhooks until the very last page. ‘This is a tough book, and so it should be. Howe will challenge young readers as she

explores the spiral of addiction, the complexity of betrayal and the fragility of hope. This is a raw and beautiful book, a stunning literary debut’ ALPHAreader, Goodreads Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 216 pp

SHORTLISTED – 2013 Inside A Dog Inky Awards