Showing results by publisher "Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd" in Difficult Situations

When my dad dropped us off at the front gate, the first things I saw were the rose garden spreading out on either side of the main driveway and the enormous sign in iron cursive letters spelling out Laurinda. No "Ladies College" after it, of course; the name was meant to speak for itself. Laurinda is an exclusive school for girls. At its secret core is the Cabinet, a trio of girls who wield power over their classmates - and some of their teachers.

Finn, Kas and Willow have survived the winter of storms. Severe winds and cold have kept the Wilders at bay. Now that spring has come, everything has changed. They're being hunted again, and they won't be safe while Ramage wants their blood. But Finn and Kas made a promise to Rose—to find her baby and bring her back. And finding Hope means finding Ramage.

While Ellie and her friends are away in the bush, the world changes. Suddenly they are in the toughest situations humans can confront, facing life and death decisions. They are thrown into a world where they find courage, initiative, spirit and wisdom, or they die.

Since a deadly virus and the violence that followed wiped out his parents and most of his community, Finn has lived alone on the rugged coast with only his loyal dog, Rowdy, for company. He has stayed alive for two winters—hunting and fishing and trading food, and keeping out of sight of the Wilders, an armed and dangerous gang that controls the north, led by a ruthless man named Ramage. But Finn’s isolation is shattered when a girl runs onto the beach. Rose is a Siley—an asylum seeker—and she has escaped from Ramage, who had enslaved her and her younger sister, Kas.

Francesca is at the beginning of her second term in Year 11 at an all boy's school that has just started accepting girls. She still misses her old friends, and, to make things worse, her mother has had a breakdown and can barely move from her bed.

One bright spring morning in the woods of France, a soldier, blinded by the war, is found by a little girl named Coco, and her older sister Marcelle. In return for their kindness, the soldier tells the sisters marvelous tales, each story connected to the keepsake he carries in his pocket: a perfect, tiny, silver donkey.

Finding yourself in hospital, in a bed full of shattered glass, is traumatic. Coming to terms with multiple fractures and probable long-term difficulties is something else again - slow, painful, full of obstacles and questions with no clear answers. Anna is used to being athletic, popular, 'normal'. Now she feels the layers of her familiar self being peeled away; nothing is normal or easy. Can she pick up the pieces of her life? What part will Hayden and Luke play? And who, now, is Anna Duncan?

Set in 1906, Dreamhunter describes a world very similar to ours, except for a special place, known simply as "The Place", where only a select group of people can go. These people are called Dreamhunters, and they harvest dreams that are then transmitted to the general public for entertainment, therapy - or terror and political coercion. Inside The Place, 15-year-old Laura finds out what happened to her missing father and uncovers a government secret.

A few months ago, Dan had to make a choice. Go to Geneva with his parents for a year, board at school, or move into a house with his 22-year-old bass-playing aunt, Jacq, and her friend, Naomi. He picked Jacq's place.

Now he's doing his last year at school and trying not to spin out, trying to master calculus, and trying to pick up a few skills for surviving in the adult world. Problem is, he falls for Naomi, and things become much more confusing.

'The Wide, Wide Sea' is a Chaos Walking short story. Set before the Spackle War in a small fishing village by the sea, this is a heartbreaking tale of love and loyalty in a divided world. Best listened to immediately after The Ask and the Answer, it features familiar characters such as Mistress Coyle but gives a new perspective on the shocking events in the award-winning trilogy.

Col and Riff led the oppressed Filthies to victory, but now the revolution on their mountain-sized juggernaut is falling apart. A saboteur strikes, and suspicion and paranoia reign. Will Riff deny her love and brand Col a traitor? Can anyone stop the extremists taking over? And can they defeat the Imperialist juggernauts massing for war?

Col lives on the Upper Decks of the juggernaut Worldshaker, a mobile city as big as a mountain. He has been chosen as next Supreme Commander - but then a Filthy escapee from Below - a girl named Riff - appears in his cabin.

Will he hand her over, or will he break all the rules? Col's safe, elite world is about to fall apart.

On remote Rollrock Island, the sea-witch Misskaella discovers she can draw a girl from the heart of a seal. So, for a price, any man might buy himself a bride; an irresistibly enchanting sea-wife. But what cost will be borne by the people of Rollrock? The men, the women, the children? Once Misskaella sets her heart on doing such a thing?Margo Lanagan weaves an extraordinary tale of desire and revenge, of loyalty, heartache and human weakness, and of the unforeseen consequences of all-consuming love.

Lockie Leonard, hot surf-rat, is in love. The human torpedo is barely settled into his new school and already he's got a girl on his mind. And not just any girl: it has to be Vicki Streeton, the smartest, prettiest, richest girl in the class. But what chance have you got when your dad's a cop, your mum's a frighteningly understanding parent, your brother wets the bed and the teachers take an instant dislike to you and then you fall in love at 12-and-three-quarter years old? It can only mean trouble, worry, mega-embarrassment and some wild, wild times.

Izzie is cool, bright and sassy. And when she meets gorgeous Mark, she's on a real high. He's divine. And he likes her! But why doesn't he call when he says he will? Desperate to make sense of things, Izzie spends her time checking her horoscope. And stays at home, just in case he calls. When Izzie loses her perspective and her sense of fun, best friends Lucy and Nesta try to give her a reality check. But there are some things you'd rather not hear.

When Dougy's sister, Gracey, is picked for the state athletics championships, not everybody in their small bush town in pleased. 'Aborigines get special treatment', some of the angry white people say. The championships change everything for Gracey and trigger dramatic events in the town too: Black and white relations reach explosion point. The time is ripe for the mysterious Moodagudda to seek a victim. In the end, it's up to Dougy to save his family - and to prove himself.

Seventeen-year-old Alba is an aspiring comic-book artist, pastry enthusiast and eternal optimist. She thinks life in her tiny town is awesome (if predictable) and she never wants it to change. Unfortunately Alba's just finished Year 12 - so the only thing she can predict is that everything's going to change. Even so, Alba didn't see the end of the world coming. Apart from a questionable television psychic, no one did. And for some reason, the world seems to be taking this guy seriously.

David Piper has always been an outsider. His parents think he's gay. The school bully thinks he's a freak. Only his two best friends know the real truth - David wants to be a girl. On the first day at his new school, Leo Denton has one goal - to be invisible. Attracting the attention of the most beautiful girl in Year 11 is definitely not part of that plan. When Leo stands up for David in a fight, an unlikely friendship forms. But things are about to get messy. Because at Eden Park School secrets have a funny habit of not staying secret for long....

Everything is changing around her, and suddenly she is required to make all sorts of decisions. Everyone else knows who and what they want to be except her. zzy has become friends with the glamorous Nesta and Lucy isn't certain she likes this new threesome. Nesta and Izzy look 16, but Lucy, at 14, can easily pass for a 12-year-old. But then the day Lucy sees the most wonderful boy crossing the street, things start to change – in all areas of her life.

Here is a gripping, chilling, beautifully observed tale of what a teenage girl will do to keep her friends, by one of Australia's finest writers. Growing up during the 1980s in the safe complacency of the Australian suburbs, Plum Coyle should be happy. But on the cusp of her 14th birthday - and on the fringe of her peer group - she lives in terror of the disapproval of her cruel and fickle girlfriends and, most of all, she hates her awkward, changing body with a passion.