The Painted Sky

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Downstairs Girl, Stacey Lee's debut novel is a powerful story about love, friendship, and sacrifice, perfect for fans of Code Name Verity. “This moving novel will captivate you.”—Buzzfeed.com All Samantha wanted was to move back to New York and pursue her music, which was difficult enough being a Chinese girl in Missouri, 1849. Then her fate takes a turn for the worse after a tragic accident leaves her with nothing and she breaks the law in self-defense. With help from Annamae, a runaway slave she met at the scene of her crime, the two flee town for the unknown frontier. But life on the Oregon Trail is unsafe for two girls. Disguised as Sammy and Andy, two boys heading for the California gold rush, each search for a link to their past and struggle to avoid any unwanted attention. Until they merge paths with a band of cowboys turned allies, and Samantha can’t stop herself from falling for one. But the law is closing in on them and new setbacks come each day, and the girls will quickly learn there are not many places one can hide on the open trail. Winner of the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award An ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults Pick An Amelia Bloomer Book

Alice Campion is the pseudonym for five members of a Sydney book club who challenged themselves to write a ‘21st Century Thorn Birds’. The result is a captivating rural novel, brimming with romance, mystery and suspense. Nina never knew what happened to her father, the celebrated artist Jim Larkin. One minute he was her devoted dad, the next he’d disappeared without trace. Seventeen years later, she’s still haunted by the mystery. Until a call from outback Wandalla changes everything. At first, Nina’s inheritance of a waterless property and a farmhouse stuffed with junk seems more like a burden than a gift. But this was her father’s childhood home – and possibly her last chance to discover the truth. So what is the local solicitor, Harrison Grey, not telling her as he hands over the keys? Why does the area’s wealthiest resident, Hilary Flint, seem to hate her so much? What is the significance of the gold locket with cryptic engravings that Nina always wears? And why, on top of everything, is she inexplicably drawn to her soon-to-be-married neighbour, Heath Blackett?

Leslie and her friend, Oolipika learn about the northern lights.

Growing up in her sleepy Cornish village dreaming of being a writer, sixteen-year-old Lou has always wondered about the grand Cardew house which has stood empty for years. And when the owners arrive for the summer - a handsome, dashing brother and sister - Lou is quite swept off her feet and into a world of moonlit cocktail parties and glamour beyond her wildest dreams. But, as she grows closer to the Cardews, is she abandoning her own ambitions... and is there something darker lurking at the heart of the Cardew family? A gorgeously dreamy coming-of-age romance set against a stunning Gatsby-esque backdrop, this is perfect for fans of 'I Capture the Castle' and Eva Ibbotson.

A “spellbinding” tale of a headstrong young woman, a mysterious hypnotist, and a battle for freedom in early twentieth-century Oregon (School Library Journal). Olivia Mead is a headstrong, independent young suffragist in an age that prefers its girls to be docile. It’s 1900 in Oregon, and Olivia’s father, concerned that she’s headed for trouble, convinces a stage mesmerist to try to hypnotize the rebellion out of her. But the hypnotist, an intriguing man named Henri Reverie, gives her a terrible gift instead: she’s able to see people’s true natures, manifesting as visions of darkness and goodness, while also unable to speak her true thoughts out loud. These supernatural challenges only make Olivia more determined to speak her mind, and so she’s drawn into a dangerous relationship with the hypnotist and his mysterious motives, all while secretly fighting for the rights of women. Cat Winters, award-winning author of The Uninvited, breathes new life into history once again with an atmospheric, vividly real story, including archival photos and art from the period throughout.

Water to Paper, Paint to Sky is the first comprehensive retrospective of America’s oldest living artist Tyrus Wong, whose groundbreaking work on Walt Disney’s classic animation film Bambi influenced a generation of leading animators, including John Lasseter, Pete Docter, and Don Hahn. Tyrus Wong’s ability to evoke powerful feeling in his art with simple gestural compositions continues to inspire each new generation of artists, and his influence can still be seen in movies today. “Tyrus Wong’s sophistication of expression was a gigantic leap forward for the medium. Where other films were literal…Bambi was expressive and emotional. Tyrus painted feelings, not objects.” — John Lasseter, Academy-Award winning director Born in 1910 in Canton, China, Tyrus Wong immigrated as a young boy to the United States, where he has enjoyed a long, distinguished, and diverse artistic career as a prolific painter, illustrator, calligrapher, lithographer, muralist, designer, Hollywood sketch artist, ceramicist, and kitemaker. Tyrus is legendary for his innovative work on Walt Disney Studio’s classic animation film Bambi, in which his singular vision and evocative, impressionistic concept art caught the eye of Walt Disney himself and influenced the movie’s overall visual style.

When a child looks up to find drawings on the ceiling of a cave, she wonders how they were painted. Planets that spin, the birds and the beasts, woman and man--how did the old man in the sky paint it all? Based on the 1879 discovery of ceiling paintings in Spain's Altamira Cave, this imaginative story expresses the awe of contemplating the creation of the world and locating beauty in an unexpected place. Children will revel in this timeless tale with truly breathtaking images.