Dennis J. Butler

Following on from Book Five ('Our Mob') of the Aussie Kids Adventure series, our characters have become teenagers in Book Six along with all the wonky problems associated with pending puberty.Su Lin is allowed to go on holidays by herself to the Gold Coast in Queensland to stay with her aunt while Meg and Andy are invited to the Hamilton cattle property for the holidays. Brad's cousin Alisha is the annoying outsider who threatens to come between the friends while Andy is just happy to be on holidays away from his annoying sisters but terrified of having to learn to ride a horse.Su Lin arrives at the Gold Coast to discover that her aunt is now living with the aunt of a handsome fifteen year old boy with whom she is expected to share her holidays. Gradually she realises that all is not so bad and settles into a holiday full of confusing and sometimes exciting experiences. With boys, bands, sand surf she almost forgets about what's happening at home until an email from Andy confuses her even more.Back at the cattle property Meg begins to experience some of the old feelings when her yowie was around but eventually she realises that she can't fight what is meant to be. This brings all sorts of problems, including dealing with two men who have re-discovered gold in the hills above the old Mission.Meanwhile Caz and Jenna are having their own problems back in Sydney with the old Rapper Gang and relationships all around are wonky.

An alien race has traveled 9,000 light years to reach Earth. They brought with them, a cure for cancer and all infectious diseases as well as advancements in propulsion technology. But is the human race ready to welcome a superior race? Is the human race ready to move beyond the narrow-mindedness of a territorial mentality? Is the human race prepared to trust strangers from a far-away world? When Naos Oriel-Achernar volunteered to be part of the second phase of the study of the human race, he had no preconceived notion of breaking Ranjisan law. But that was before he got to know, admire and even love the human race. Naos was part of the medical discovery team that was tasked with observing human medical conditions and treatments. Phase I of the study of the human race consisted of strictly areal observation. Naos was a part of Phase II. In order to study humans more closely, Ranjisi observers posed as humans and blended into human society. Naos was assigned to work in a hospital in New York City. Rule one of the Ranjisan exploratory bylaws prohibit direct involvement in human medical treatments. Naos was only there to observe and report back, but living among the humans was far different than studying them from the sky. Humans are rough around the edges and sometimes cruel but Naos found them exciting and he grew to love and admire them. He couldn't stand to see them suffer with diseases that were cured on Ranjisan, centuries ago. All disease had been wiped out on Ranjisan. Ranjisi people only died after living long and healthy lives because eventually, the blood vessels deteriorated. But that took about 150 Earth years and in the end, there was no suffering. Ranjisi left their physical bodies with dignity and that is why Naos could not understand why the human race was still opposed to assisted suicide. It really hit Naos when he watched the best friend he had made on Earth suffer for the last months of his life. Naos decided he would never watch another human die a slow and painful death. Naos is still grieving over the death of his good friend Eli when he meets LeAnne. LeAnne is dying of a rare lung disease known as LAMS. Naos gets to know LeAnne while transporting her to and from her treatments and a friendship is born. The friendship between LeAnne and Naos gradually blossoms into much more than a friendship, but LeAnne doesn't know who Naos really is. She knows he holds a deep dark secret, but she could never in her wildest dreams imagine what that secret is. If Naos is willing to become an interplanetary fugitive by helping humans die with dignity, what about the possibility of taking it one step further? If the "end of life" treatments could be smuggled to planet Earth and many Earthly diseases are curable, wouldn't it be possible for Naos to actually cure people? Wouldn't it be possible for Naos to cure someone who has found a permanent place in his heart? Naos is in a battle with his conscience. Should he deny his feelings and obey the laws that he was sent to Earth to live by or should he do what he knows in his heart is right and become an alien fugitive criminal? Excerpts: "Doctor Bockarie watched silently. Her big dark eyes seemed to never blink. She appeared amazed as she leaned in to see the front end of the Zaurak Elakribi application which displayed the computer simulated models. 'It actually is beginning to make sense, ' Doctor Bockarie said. 'The pods will hunt down and destroy the cells with the matching DNA. It's amazing.' " "The nurses were quick to notice that Mesarthim and Doctor Bockarie frequently took breaks together. 'Look at the Doctor's smiles, ' Nurse Abeni remarked. 'Her big dark eyes are smiling too. She seems to have taken a liking to the space doctor, ' Aide Folami agreed."