Take My Word for It (14 page)

John Marsden

The Great Gatenby

Maybe deep down every kid knows his parents want him to be the Pride of the School, the Captain of the Cricket and Tennis and Rowing and Darts and Knitting and anything else that's going down.

They don't want to know that you've had more detentions than any other new student in the history of the school, that you're going out with a girl who doesn't wear a bra to PE, and that the Head Swimming Coach is some kind of Nazi whose last job was training the shark in
Jaws
.

Erle Gatenby has been sent to boarding school to straighten out, but there's about as much chance of that happening as there is of his giving up smoking . . . or drinking . . . or falling through the Art Room roof.

Erle's a full tank of petrol and wild, sexy Melanie Tozer is about to light the match.

John Marsden

For Weddings and a Funeral

Do not stand at my grave and weep
,

I am not there, I do not sleep
.

I am the thousand winds that blow
,

I am the diamond glints on snow
,

I am the sunlight and the ripened grain
,

I am the gentle Autumn rain
.

When you awake in the morning hush
,

I am the swift upflinging rush

of quiet birds in circling flight
.

I am the soft star shine at night
.

Do not stand at my grave and cry
,

I am not there, I did not die
.

(‘Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep' by Anonymous)

John Marsden has collected 100 very special poems. Poems to entertain, inspire and move you to tears.

A book to take with you, wherever you go in your life.

John Marsden

Checkers

She has parents, a brother, friends and a dog.

Sometimes the dog seems like the only one she can trust.

Her life is about to fall apart.

The dog is Checkers.

The book is unforgettable.

Praise for
Checkers
:

‘ . . . a terribly moving book . . . a subject that hasn't been written about much in children's literature . . . for anyone from ages fourteen to eighty-five'

BOOKSHOW

‘ . . . shattering . . .'

WEST AUSTRALIAN

‘ . . . intense . . .'

SUNDAY AGE

‘ . . . a wonderful story teller . . .'

GOLD COAST BULLETIN

‘ . . . heart-wrenching . . .'

HERALD SUN

John Marsden

Dear Miffy

‘You can squeeze my lemon, baby, juice runs down my legs.'

Sex, I can't stop thinking about it but. It's like the best sweetest torture ever invented. It tears you apart but you wouldn't want it any other way. It's the drug you never try to give up
. . .

Tony writes letters.

To Miffy.

And breaks your heart.

Is there something wrong when your main ambition in life is to be dead?

John Marsden

The
Tomorrow
Series

‘The feeling of reality you bring into your work is extraordinary. It makes you feel as if you are running along the dangerous streets with Ellie, tense and alert, about to blow up a bridge, or a couple of houses, or waiting quietly inside a container in the bottom of a ship, about to do the biggest thing of your life.'

KIM, MOUNT GAMBIER

‘We have bags under our eyes thanks to your books, because we can't put them down long enough to sleep!'

COURTNEY & DIANNA, YORKETOWN

Readers across Australia are unanimous: this is the greatest series ever published in this country.

Seven books charged with high emotion, drama, action and even a dash of romance.

When you open the first page of
Tomorrow, When the War Began
you'll enter a world that'll change you forever.

A world of danger, risks, challenge and self-discovery.

A world that will stay with you, through all the years of your life.

Tomorrow, When the War Began
is the first of the
Tomorrow
Series, and is followed by
The Dead of the Night, The Third Day, the Frost, Darkness, Be My Friend, Burning for Revenge
and
The Night is for Hunting
. The final in the
Tomorrow
Series will be published in October 1999.

PRAISE FOR THE
TOMORROW
SERIES:

‘ . . . compulsively readable'

NEW YORK TIMES

‘ . . . without a doubt the best series for younger readers that an Australian writer has ever produced'

DAILY ADVERTISER

‘ . . . makes for reading as exciting, disturbing, provocative, as we have had for many years'

JUNIOR BOOKSHELF (UK)

‘Like ancient myths, the stories confront the purpose of life, death, betrayal, killing, love, hate, revenge, selflessness, sacrifice and, in the most recent book, faith'

THE AGE