Isobelle Carmody

SHORTLISTED: 2025 CBCA Book of the Year, Older Readers SHORTLISTED: 2025 John Marsden Book of the Year for Older Children, Australian Book Industry AwardsSHORTLISTED: 2025 Indie Young Adult Book AwardsWill slipped on the left glove and twitched a finger to establish a link to the kite tronics. A shiver of electric energy ran through his hands as they synched to his nerves through the gloves. Will lives with his father in a future domed Canberra where citizens are safe from extreme weather events, dangerous solar radiation and civil unrest. He does not question his carefully controlled existence until the recurrence of an old nightmare propels him on a dangerous quest. Gradually Will discovers his dreams hold cryptic clues that lead him into a shadowy alternate dimension. Here he must grapple with dark forces that operate in both worlds, with the help of his best friend Ender, her brilliant but difficult twin sister Magda, and a mysterious gift from his uncle. Comes the Night is a thrilling new novel from the internationally bestselling author of the Obernewtyn Chronicles.'The queen of YA fantasy has done it again. Delicious twists and deceptions fill this high stakes tale where dreams will entice you. You won't be able to sleep until you hit the last page.' - C.S. Pacat, New York Times bestselling author of DARK RISE

Alyzon Whitestarr doesnt take after her musically talented father or her nocturnal, artistic mother. In fact, shes the most normal member of a very eccentric family until the day that an accident leaves her more unique than she ever could have dreamed. When she wakes from a coma after an accident suddenly colors are more vibrant. Her memory is flawless; but strangest of all is Alyzons sense of smell. She can smell peoples feelings, view flashes of their lives and perceive their essences. Her best friend smells of a comforting sea breeze. She registers her fathers contentment as the sweet scent of caramelised sugar. With Alyzons extrasensory perception comes intrigue and danger, as she discovers the dark secrets and hidden ambitions that threaten her family. In the end, being different might be less of a blessing than a curse.

Some things are worth the risk, the William voice said urgently. Merlin wakes to a world that is utterly changed. She has no memory aside from a name whispered to her by one of the strange voices in her mind, and the knowledge that she is being hunted. She is determined to learn what happened to her and to her world but the way forward is full of pitfalls and she is swept up by the renegade Scatterlings and drawn into their rebellion against the all- powerful Citizen Gods. But as she strives to separate herself from the telepathic clanfolk, she discovers the path to knowledge and way to the freedom the Scatterlings seek, lead to the same place the forbidden domed city of the Citizen Gods.

A haunting fable from the acclaimed author of The Gathering and Green Monkey Dreams. After a long, long moment, the sound faded, though the air seemed still to throb with the awful anguish of it. What was that? he whispered. One wakeful night in the aftermath of his mothers death, Jack enters a land devoid of colour or scent. Here he meets the tragic laughing beast and Alice, a strange girl with a secret. Will Jack escape before the terrifying wolvers find him? Or is he destined to be trapped in the Greylands forever? Only the cats know ...

In this companion to The Wilful Eye, six much-loved writers - Catherine Bateson, Victor Kelleher, Cate Kennedy, Maureen McCarthy, Nan McNab and Kate Thompson - give fresh voice to age-old stories of abandonment, desire and entrapment.Praise for Volume One:'The writers in The Wilful Eye imbue all of their characters, including the villains, with a deep sense of psychological realism, producing often tender, engaging, and insightful results. Unnamed soldiers and hideous beasts are given a voice, even if that voice is at times unsettling, and wolves are still wolves, however they disguise themselves.' Australian Book Review'sublime, with each tale landing a punch squarely between the old and the new, bewitching and terrifying.' Australian Bookseller & Publisher

Six writers - Margo Lanagan, Rosie Borella, Isobelle Carmody, Richard Harland, Margaret Mahy and Martine Murray - have taken inspiration from stories that have shaped us all, tales like 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'The Steadfast Tin Soldier' and 'The Snow Queen'. This collection carries universal themes of envy and desire, deception and abandonment, courage and sacrifice.Characters are enchanted, they transgress, they yearn, they hunger, they hate and, sometimes, they kill.Some of the stories inhabit a traditional fairytale world, while others are set in the distant future. Some are set in the present and some in an alternative present. The stories offer no prescription for living or moral advice and none belong in a nursery.Open the covers and submit to their enchantment.