Honour Book in the 2019 CBCAs for Book of the Year: Younger ReadersShortlisted for the 2019 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards in the Eight to 10 Years categoryBlack Cockatoo is a vignette that follows Mia, a young Aboriginal girl as she explores the fragile connections of family and culture.Mia is a 13-year-old girl from a remote community in the Kimberley. She is saddened by the loss of her brother as he distances himself from the family. She feels powerless to change the things she sees around her... until one day she rescues her totem animal, the  dirran black cockatoo, and soon discovers her own inner strength.Black Cockatoo is a wonderful small tale on the power of standing up for yourself, culture and ever-present family ties.Teachers' notes available here

Age range 12+'There must be payback.''There must, you are right,' Grandfather agrees.'What can you offer in exchange?'Grandfather holds up his arms, open, offering himself as a sacrifice. 'I am old.'Deklan 'Dek' Archer and his mates arrive at school to a tense atmosphere. 'Old Mate', Mr Henry, who has lived in town for a long time, has been found murdered. He had been selling grog on the black market for years. To add to these worries, the Year 12s, who were on camp, are now missing. The police think there is a link between the missing students and the murder.Dek and his friends are torn. Dek and Willum, his best mate, have an important football match that evening – professional recruiters are in town. Neither wants to let their coach down but they feel they must search for their friends.Deklan's grandfather, a renowned tracker with certain otherworld gifts turns up, and expects him to go bush. This choice will change Dek's life and family forever. A...

Age range 10+Mia could hear the squarks of her Jarriny before she saw them. Her eye's had flicked to the sky in search of the passing dirrarn but soon realized the noise was from the bird just beyond the gate.We first met Mia in Black Cockatoo, as she navigated her way through culture, Country and familial ties. Dirrarn follows Mia as she finds herself at boarding school and the challenges of living thousands of kilometres away from home, family, and the big sky country she loves. Mia along with her best friend, Naya, negotiate new friends, new ways of thinking and new ways of being in a different world. As Mia wrestles with all that is unfamilar, she soon must learn to stand in her truth when confronted with unending challenges.The dirrarn (black cockatoo) is Mia's totem animal. It provides her with the strength and freedom to stay connected to her world, even when she is a long way from home. It is this totem she draws upon. Dirrarn is a sensitive story on the power...