Alphabetika Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 My brother lives in Australia (we're American) and wants to send Christmas gifts to my dd's. I suggested books by Australian writers, but I need to be more specific. For my 15yo dd, I'm going to suggest the Miles Franklin books (My Brilliant Career, etc) because I know she'd like them. But I need help for my 11yo dd. She reads at a higher level than her age, if that helps, and she likes to read about history, geography, science - fiction or non-fiction. Can you help me with some uniquely Australian book suggestions? PMing me is fine, too. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorien Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Norah of Billabong would be a fun series for a younger girl. It follows Norah from her school days through to adulthood, but from what I remember it is written for a younger audience. I don't know if they're still in print, or not. Two other Aussie books that your older daughter might enjoy as well (both are out of print) are The Broken Melody and First In The Field. Both are books that I really enjoyed reading when I was a teenager. They might be hard to come by though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 There is an author called Jackie French who is a proliferant writer and she writes wonderful books for a wide age group, but a good lot for around your daughter's age group- both fiction and non fiction. Her website is jackiefrench.com and you can see if there are any that appeal to you. My daughter loves her books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 As a child, I loved books by M (Mary) E Patchett -- wonderful animal stories. My favorite, Ajax the Warrior, is listed on Abebooks for $349, but many of her other books are a dollar or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphabetika Posted November 30, 2009 Author Share Posted November 30, 2009 Thank you for these great suggestions. I think Jackie French may be just the thing. I am going to investigate the out-of-print books, too. Makes me wish I'd grown up in Australia! Thank you!:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 (edited) I highly recommend 'A Fortunate Life' by A.B.Facy. it is a biography about growing up in the Aussie bush at the beginning of last century . you really get a feel for the bush while reading it. Edited December 1, 2009 by melissaL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
min Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 This may not be what you're after, but there is a prolific Australian author called Emily Rodda. She has tonnes of kids books for various ages. She seems to have mainly fantasy stuff, which my kids have enjoyed. In third grade my DS devoured "Deltora Quest" - really three sets of books. At a similar age my DD is loving "The Key to Rondo" which is another set of three. One caveat is that I haven't personally read them - my kids are such voracious readers that I can't keep up with their reading material. :( However, the Deltora Quest books were very highly recommended by our public librarian ("You must read Deltora Quest, I absolutely insist!"). The school library has Key to Rondo so they deem it to be suitable. Maybe not what you're after, as they're not "Australian" books, rather they're books by an Australian author. Min Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 Actually my mother bought me some of the Australian classics when I was that age. I loved "Robbery Under Arms," "For the Term of his Natural Life" and a collection of Henry Lawson's short stories and poems. I also loved "So Far From Skye" and "Walking the Boundaries," which is one of Jackie French's. The sequel to that isn't so good, so buy the original. Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneC Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 You might like Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 We've been reading this: Marjorie's Magic Mook Mook and it's fantastic, apart from some outdated slang :) Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maplinmum Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Tomorrow when the war began by John Marsden is the first of a series which I found very thought provoking, It is aimed at teenagers and is about a group of teenagers who are bush camping when Australia gets invaded and it looks at how far would you go to protect your community and country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphabetika Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 Oh my goodness - these are all such excellent suggestions. Thank you! I feel I could use them to further my own education about Australia. I recently read The Secret River by Kate Grenville, about the settling of NSW, where my brother lives. When my kids were little, my brother's former wife sent us Aussie books like The Gum Nut Babies and The Magic Pudding, which we greatly enjoyed. This is also how I learned about Bananas in Pajamas.:) I will check these out and have an education doing so. Thank you so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsabelC Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 The official webpage http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/childrensbooks/ has quite a good summary of Aussie kids lit and relevant links to peruse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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