Rocky and Louie

Rocky and Louie
Author: Raewyn Caisley
Publisher: Random House Australia
Total Pages: 34
Release: 2020
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0143786520

Louie's big brother, Rocky, has big dreams and wants to chase them. But Louie doesn't want him to forget where he belongs . . . A heartfelt story about the bond between two brothers and their special connection to country. Illustrated by CBCA award-winning picture-book creator Dub Leffler, and written by acclaimed singer/storyteller Phil Walleystack and award-winning children's author Raewyn Caisley.

Hello from Nowhere

Hello from Nowhere
Author: Raewyn Caisley
Publisher: Random House Australia
Total Pages: 34
Release: 2020-06
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1760897736

Eve thought that living in the middle of nowhere was better than living anywhere else in the world . . . Only one thing made Eve sad. She hadn't seen Nan since they left the city long ago. Eve lives in a roadhouse in the middle of the Nullarbor and when her Nan visits one day, Eve shows her all the things that are special about where she lives. A moving celebration of the Australian outback and the special connection between grandparent and grandchild.

Firefly Lane

Firefly Lane
Author: Kristin Hannah
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Total Pages: 532
Release: 2008-02-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1429927844

From the New York Times bestselling author Kristin Hannah comes a powerful novel of love, loss, and the magic of friendship. . . . now a #1 Netflix series! In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the "coolest girl in the world" moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all—beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn. Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret that is destroying her. They make a pact to be best friends forever; by summer's end they've become TullyandKate. Inseparable. So begins Kristin Hannah's magnificent new novel. Spanning more than three decades and playing out across the ever-changing face of the Pacific Northwest, Firefly Lane is the poignant, powerful story of two women and the friendship that becomes the bulkhead of their lives. From the beginning, Tully is desperate to prove her worth to the world. Abandoned by her mother at an early age, she longs to be loved unconditionally. In the glittering, big-hair era of the eighties, she looks to men to fill the void in her soul. But in the buttoned-down nineties, it is television news that captivates her. She will follow her own blind ambition to New York and around the globe, finding fame and success . . . and loneliness. Kate knows early on that her life will be nothing special. Throughout college, she pretends to be driven by a need for success, but all she really wants is to fall in love and have children and live an ordinary life. In her own quiet way, Kate is as driven as Tully. What she doesn't know is how being a wife and mother will change her . . . how she'll lose sight of who she once was, and what she once wanted. And how much she'll envy her famous best friend. . . . For thirty years, Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship—jealousy, anger, hurt, resentment. They think they've survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart . . . and puts their courage and friendship to the ultimate test. Firefly Lane is for anyone who ever drank Boone's Farm apple wine while listening to Abba or Fleetwood Mac. More than a coming-of-age novel, it's the story of a generation of women who were both blessed and cursed by choices. It's about promises and secrets and betrayals. And ultimately, about the one person who really, truly knows you—and knows what has the power to hurt you . . . and heal you. Firefly Lane is a story you'll never forget . . . one you'll want to pass on to your best friend.

Unbroken

Unbroken
Author: Laura Hillenbrand
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Total Pages: 530
Release: 2014-07-29
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0812974492

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE • Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more. In boyhood, Louis Zamperini was an incorrigible delinquent. As a teenager, he channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics. But when World War II began, the athlete became an airman, embarking on a journey that led to a doomed flight on a May afternoon in 1943. When his Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean, against all odds, Zamperini survived, adrift on a foundering life raft. Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will. Appearing in paperback for the first time—with twenty arresting new photos and an extensive Q&A with the author—Unbroken is an unforgettable testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit, brought vividly to life by Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand. Hailed as the top nonfiction book of the year by Time magazine • Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for biography and the Indies Choice Adult Nonfiction Book of the Year award “Extraordinarily moving . . . a powerfully drawn survival epic.”—The Wall Street Journal “[A] one-in-a-billion story . . . designed to wrench from self-respecting critics all the blurby adjectives we normally try to avoid: It is amazing, unforgettable, gripping, harrowing, chilling, and inspiring.”—New York “Staggering . . . mesmerizing . . . Hillenbrand’s writing is so ferociously cinematic, the events she describes so incredible, you don’t dare take your eyes off the page.”—People “A meticulous, soaring and beautifully written account of an extraordinary life.”—The Washington Post “Ambitious and powerful . . . a startling narrative and an inspirational book.”—The New York Times Book Review “Magnificent . . . incredible . . . [Hillenbrand] has crafted another masterful blend of sports, history and overcoming terrific odds; this is biography taken to the nth degree, a chronicle of a remarkable life lived through extraordinary times.”—The Dallas Morning News “An astonishing testament to the superhuman power of tenacity.”—Entertainment Weekly “A tale of triumph and redemption . . . astonishingly detailed.”—O: The Oprah Magazine “[A] masterfully told true story . . . nothing less than a marvel.”—Washingtonian “[Hillenbrand tells this] story with cool elegance but at a thrilling sprinter’s pace.”—Time “Hillenbrand [is] one of our best writers of narrative history. You don’t have to be a sports fan or a war-history buff to devour this book—you just have to love great storytelling.”—Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Silver Compass

The Silver Compass
Author: Holly Kennedy
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 439
Release: 2008-04-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1101211555

Ellis Williams was seventeen, pregnant, abandoned by her own father, and scared to death when she jumped off a bridge in Barrow, Montana, one rainy Sunday morning. Then along came Louie Johnson, who pulled her from the river and saved her from shame with a beautiful lie. His selfless act changed several lives that day...and led Ellis to rediscover the treasured silver compass that has been her touchstone and inspiration ever since. That was fifteen years ago. And a lot has changed. Recently widowed, with a troubled teenage daughter of her own, Ellis returns to Barrow where life still catches her by surprise. First, the town eccentric is none other than Louie Johnson, estranged from his own grown daughter and keeping things hopping down at the nursing home where Ellis gets a job. Then Ellis’s father suddenly reappears after almost two decades, and Ellis is torn between bitter resentment and a profound yearning to reconnect with her past. Amidst the confusion of these tangled lives, Ellis begins to learn that forgiveness and second chances often go hand-in-hand, and that life’s most wonderful gifts can come in an instant, pointing us in new directions.

Sorry Day

Sorry Day
Author: Coral Vass
Publisher: National Library of Australia
Total Pages: 42
Release: 2018
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0642279039

There was a hum of excitement. Flags flickered in the breeze as Maggie's heart danced with delight. 'This is a very special day!' her mother said. Maggie holds tight to her mother as they await the long anticipated apology to show a willingness to reconcile the past for future generations. In the excitement of the crowd Maggie loses touch of her mother's hand as is lost. In a time 'long ago and not so long ago' children were taken from their parents, their 'sorrow echoing across the land'. As the Prime Minister's speech unfolds Maggie is reunited with her mother. But the faces and memories of the stolen generation are all around them. Two stories entwine in this captivating retelling of the momentous day when the then Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, acknowledged the sorrows of past and said 'Sorry' to the generation of children who were taken from their homes. The book includes a foreword from Lee Joachim; Chair of Rumbalara Aboriginal Cooperative and Director of Research and Development for Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation.

Louie, Take a Look at This!

Louie, Take a Look at This!
Author: Luis Fuerte
Publisher: Prospect Park Books
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2017-03-13
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1945551038

Huell Howser, the exuberant, hugely popular host of California Gold and other California public-television shows, was always exclaiming to the camera, "Louie, take a look at this!" Now, three years after Howser's death, Louie—aka Luis Fuerte, a 5-time-Emmy-winning cameraman—shares all the great stories of their adventures exploring California, making great television, and showcasing Howser's infectious love for the Golden State.

Louis Armstrong, Master of Modernism

Louis Armstrong, Master of Modernism
Author: Thomas David Brothers
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 608
Release: 2014-02-03
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0393065820

The definitive account of Louis Armstrong—his life and legacy—during the most creative period of his career. Nearly 100 years after bursting onto Chicago’s music scene under the tutelage of Joe "King" Oliver, Louis Armstrong is recognized as one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. A trumpet virtuoso, seductive crooner, and consummate entertainer, Armstrong laid the foundation for the future of jazz with his stylistic innovations, but his story would be incomplete without examining how he struggled in a society seething with brutally racist ideologies, laws, and practices. Thomas Brothers picks up where he left off with the acclaimed Louis Armstrong's New Orleans, following the story of the great jazz musician into his most creatively fertile years in the 1920s and early 1930s, when Armstrong created not one but two modern musical styles. Brothers wields his own tremendous skill in making the connections between history and music accessible to everyone as Armstrong shucks and jives across the page. Through Brothers's expert ears and eyes we meet an Armstrong whose quickness and sureness, so evident in his performances, served him well in his encounters with racism while his music soared across the airwaves into homes all over America. Louis Armstrong, Master of Modernism blends cultural history, musical scholarship, and personal accounts from Armstrong's contemporaries to reveal his enduring contributions to jazz and popular music at a time when he and his bandmates couldn’t count on food or even a friendly face on their travels across the country. Thomas Brothers combines an intimate knowledge of Armstrong's life with the boldness to examine his place in such a racially charged landscape. In vivid prose and with vibrant photographs, Brothers illuminates the life and work of the man many consider to be the greatest American musician of the twentieth century.

The Haunted Mesa

The Haunted Mesa
Author: Louis L'Amour
Publisher: Bantam
Total Pages: 361
Release: 2004-08-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0553899198

The Navajo called them the Anasazi, the “ancient enemy,” and their abandoned cities haunt the canyons and plateaus of the Southwest. For centuries the sudden disappearance of these people baffled historians. Summoned to a dark desert plateau by a desperate letter from an old friend, renowned investigator Mike Raglan is drawn into a world of mystery, violence, and explosive revelations. Crossing a border beyond the laws of man and nature, he will learn of the astonishing world of the Anasazi and discover the most extraordinary frontier ever encountered.

Aussie Kids: Meet Eve in the Outback

Aussie Kids: Meet Eve in the Outback
Author: Raewyn Caisley
Publisher: Random House Australia
Total Pages: 65
Release: 2020
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1760894109

Hi! I'm Eve. I live at a roadhouse in the Nullarbor. We don't get many visitors. But today my cousin Will is coming. We'll have so much fun!