Meg Rosoff

YF ROS

To get away from her pregnant stepmother in New York City, fifteen-year-old Daisy goes to England to stay with her aunt and cousins, with whom she instantly bonds, but soon war breaks out and rips apart the family while devastating the land.

Vikas Swarup

F SWA

When an illiterate waiter takes the top prize on 'Who Will Win a Billion', becoming the biggest quiz show winner in Indian history, is anyone surprised that he is arrested for cheating? But who was to know that 18 years of street-life has equipped him with enough crucial wisdom to send him sailing through with not a single pass?

Markus Zusak

F ZUS

Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbours.

Markus Zusak

YF ZUS

Ed Kennedy is pretty useless he has a deadbeat job as a part-time taxi driver, is hopelessly in love with Audrey, a fellow taxi driver, spends his spare time playing cards with his buddies, and does nothing without his 17 year old dog, The Doorman. His life changes one day when he accidentally stops a bank robbery, and soon finds his first message in the mail the Ace of Diamonds with three addresses. After he works out what message to send the three people, he gets another card, and so on until he finally completes his objective.

William Taylor

JF z TAY

When his father and brother are trapped in their car at the bottom of a cliff after an accident, Poddy, a Down syndrome child, struggles to recall what he has learned in first aid, then fights to overcome his fear of strangers in order to ask for help.

Sharon Dogar

YF DOG

For 15-year-old Hal Ditton & his family, summer has always meant six glorious weeks by the sea. But this year is different - Hal's sister, is lying in a coma. When the troubled family makes the difficult decision to return to their holiday home without her, Hal finds it harder than anyone to shake off his sister's presence.

Maurice Gee

NZ YF GEE

Set in Auckland, New Zealand during the 1951 waterfront strike, some strange things are happening in Orchard Street. Ossie's Dad is doing something illegal under the house, everyone is talking about the waterfront strike and adults are behaving in odd ways towards each other. Meanwhile Ossie is falling in love, as he moves out of the safety zone of childhood, Ossie begins to understand that life will never be the same again. Suggested level: secondary.

David Hill

NZ YF HIL

Ryan is driving on a restricted licence when he knocks over Tara. Tara ends up in hospital suffering from a head injury, while Ryan must come to terms with his fears and concerns. Keen to make amends Ryan becomes involved with Tara's physiotherapy and gets to know her friends. Suggested level: secondary.

Khaled Hosseini

F HOS

Winter, 1975: Afghanistan, a country on the verge of an internal coup. Twelve year old Amir is desperate to win the approval of his father, one of the richest merchants in Kabul. He's failed to do so through academia or brawn but the one area they connect is the annual kite fighting tournament.

Elizabeth Kostova

F KOS

Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters addressed ominously to 'My dear and unfortunate successor'. Her discovery plunges her into a world she never dreamed of - a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an evil hidden in the depths of history. In those few quiet moments, she unwittingly assumes a quest she will discover is her birthright - a hunt for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the Dracula myth. Deciphering obscure signs and hidden texts, reading codes worked into the fabric of medieval monastic traditions, and evading terrifying adversaries, one woman comes ever closer to the secret of her own past and a confrontation with the very definition of evil.

Scott Westerfeld

YF WES

Tally's transformation to perfect and popular including her totally hot boyfriend is everything she always wanted. But beneath the fun and freedom something is wrong and now Tally has to fight for her life because what she knows has put her in danger with the authorities.

Stephenie Meyer

YF MEY

When seventeen-year-old Isabella Swan moves to Forks, Washington to live with her father she expects that her new life will be as dull as the town itself. In spite of her awkward manner and low expectations, she finds that her new classmates are drawn to this pale, dark-haired new girl in town. But not, it seems, the Cullen family. These five adopted brothers and sisters obviously prefer their own company and will make no exception for Bella. Bella is convinced that Edward Cullen in particular hates her, but she feels a strange attraction to him, although his hostility makes her feel almost physically ill. He seems determined to push her away - until, that is, he saves her life from an out of control car. Bella will soon discover that there is a very good reason for Edward's coldness. He, and his family, are vampires - and he knows how dangerous it is for others to get too close.

John Marsden

YF MAR

Seven Australian teenagers return from a camping trip in the bush to discover that their country has been invaded and they must hide to stay alive.

Lloyd Jones

NZ F JON

Mister Pip is a love story, a story about the meaning of names and the power of words. It is about growing up, survival and the search for clues to make sense of life. Thirteen year old Matilda lives with her mother on the Pacific island of Bougainville, which suddenly becomes a violent place: Rebels want the copper mine, which is poisoning their island, to close. They are trying to drive the redskin army, enemies from neighbouring Papua New Guinea, into the sea. The abandoned schoolhouse is overgrown with jungle. In this troubled world, Mr Watts decides he will open the school once more, and read 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens aloud to his students, a chapter a day. Stories flourish on the island. While the lives of Pip and Magwitch and other characters from 'Great Expectations' are transformed in their new tropical setting, the locals come to the schoolhouse to tell their own tales, about the meaning of the colour blue, about broken dreams, black birds, devil women and a dozen other subjects. In Matilda's eyes, Pip is as real as any living person. He has become her friend. She writes his name in the sand and decorates it with shells. That's where the redskin soldiers see it, and decide they must track this stranger down. Who is this Mr Pip? The search to find him will have devastating consequences for Matilda, Mr Watts and the entire village. Matilda may never stop looking for him.