The Misfits by James Howe

At once hilarious and poignant, this novel is about four unpopular 7th graders who decide to band together to run for student council. One is overweight, one is tall and opinionated, one is slow, and one is gay. Together they make a formidable quartet as they confront their classmates about their name-calling and stereotyping.

This novel is suitable for years 5-8 students to try and teach them valuable lessons about stereotypes and labelling others. 



Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

When 8th grader Steven's younger brother, Jeffrey, is diagnosed with leukemia, Steven becomes the forgotten son. He reacts by throwing himself into his drumming, quits doing his homework, and tries to keep his friends from finding out about Jeffrey's illness. A refreshingly witty story of about regrouping, solidarity, love, and hope.

This book is suitable for students aged 12+ it is a valuable novel for students to read as most children at this age group are not aware of what things life could bring and don't understand that there are horrible illnesses that could unfortunately be encountered. 

Memorial

Memorial is a story about a tree planted beside a war memorial monument, in a small country town by returned servicemen. Years on, the tree has grown to be huge and unruly, dislodging the statue next to it and creating a traffic hazard in what is now a much larger, busier town. A decision is made by a local council to cut the tree down.

Memorial won an Honour Book award in the 2000 CBCA awards, won an APA Design Award for best designed children’s book and was short-listed for the Queensland Premier’s Book Awards. 

Chloe