5 Enthralling Extracts for Australian Reading Hour

Peacock Detectives by Carly Nugent – Read an extract

The last time William Shakespeare and Virginia went missing Cassie found them sitting on a coiled hose behind the fire station, and Dad called her ‘Cassie Andersen, Peacock Detective’. So this time she knows what to do—she’ll look for clues and track them down. But the clues lead her in an unexpected direction and Cassie finds herself investigating a confusing mystery about her family. The Peacock Detectives is a warm and engaging story for middle-grade readers about dealing with change and finding out who you are

Amal Unbound by Aisha Saed – Read an extract

Twelve-year-old Amal loves learning and dreams of becoming a teacher. Then something unimaginable happens—after an accidental run-in with the son of her village’s corrupt landlord, she is forced to work as his family’s servant to pay off her own family’s debt.

At the opulent and corrupt Khan estate, Amal realises she will have to find a way to work with others in order to bring about change, and to achieve her dreams.

Bob by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass – Read an extract

Livy can’t remember her first visit to her grandmother’s house in Australia, but she does seem to recall a ‘wrong chicken’ and bumping down the stairs.

She definitely doesn’t remember the strange little creature she finds in the wardrobe. His name is Bob and he doesn’t know what he’s doing there, but he’s been waiting for Livy to come back for more than five years. That’s a very long time to sit in the dark.

Clue by clue, Livy and Bob unravel the mystery of where Bob comes from and what Livy has forgotten in this magical story about friendship and loyalty and the power of imagination.

Sweet Adversity by Sheryl Gwyther – Read an extract

There’s never a good time to be orphaned – or abandoned … especially when you are twelve years old, and it’s the Great Depression.

In 1928, Shakespearean actors, the McAllisters, are forced to leave their daughter Adversity at the Emu Swamp Children’s Home.

They fully intend to return, but things don’t go according to plan.

Then, to make matters worse, Scrimshaw, a villainous theatrical agent, hears the talented Addie sing. He plots to use her in his next money-making venture, but when he turns up at Emu Swamp to collect his prize, Scrimshaw finds she’s run away.

Together with Macbeth, her Shakespeare-quoting cockatiel, Addie is about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

Kensy and Max: Breaking News by Jacqueline Harvey – Read an extract

What would you do if you woke up in a strange place? If your whole life changed in the blink of an eye and you had no idea what was going on?

Twins Kensy and Max Grey’s lives are turned upside down when they are whisked off to London, and discover their parents are missing. As the situation unfolds, so many things don’t add up: their strange new school, the bizarre grannies on their street, the coded messages they keep finding and the feeling that, all around them, adults are keeping secrets . . .

Things can never go back to the way they were, but the twins are determined to uncover the truth!