31. Tales of the Blue Jade Book 1: The Ghost of Ping Ling by Peter Cooper

Tales of the Blue Jade Book 1: The Ghost of Ping Ling by Peter Cooper

Published February 2012 Scholastic

From the publisher:

A fire in a temple, an orphan running for his life. But is Dillen running away from, or towards, his destiny? A mysterious Easterner has sent Dillen on a simple quest: find the sorcerer Hallegat and serve him well. But for Dillen, things will never be simple again.
Sometimes the best reading experiences come from books about which you have no expectation.  This is one of those books.  It arrived on the shelf last week, and I knew nothing about it except that the author was from South Australia, and this was his first book. I took it home, and I couldn't put it down, and for someone who doesn't read fantasy, that is saying something!

30. Chicken Big by Keith Graves

Chicken Big by KeithGraves
Published February 2012 Scholastic


From the publisher:
The farm is tiny. The coop is itsy-bitsy. The chickens are very small. But the egg is humungous, and so is the huge yellow fellow who pops out! This feathered giant is so big, the flock is sure he's no chicken. The big guy has an equally big heart, however, and longs to be accepted as one of the chickens. Little by little, his kindness and brave rescue of the flock's eggs prove to the silly chickens that he is really one of them.

For me, the best books, amd the ones I remember, are the ones that make me laugh, cry or 'feel something'.  This book made me laugh out loud.  If you have been reading this blog, then you will know I have a leaning towards the slightly ridiculous when it comes to picture books, and this one is just that.

29. My Australian Story: Sydney Harbour Bridge by Vashti Farrer

My Australian Story: Sydney Harbour Bridge by Vashti Ferrer
Published February 2012 Scholastic

From the publisher:

'I said to Mum that the sky-workers must have really good heads for heights, but she said, Either that, or they have a family to feed and will do anything for a job that pays.' It is 1932 and Sydney has hit hard times but the construction of a bridge that will reach across the harbour is setting spirits soaring. Both Alice and Billy tell the story of building the spectacular Harbour Bridge which will link the north shore to the working class suburbs of the south and unify a separated city.

The My Australian Story series of books (the series was originally called My Story) look back on Australia's history from the point of view of a child or children writing diaries about what they see going on around them.

This book is set during the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge with work starting in 1923, with the demolition of houses and businesses to make way for the northern approach to it's opening 1932.  During this time the world is hit by the Depression, so the book is just as much about the hardships faced for families at this time, as it is about the building of the bridge.

28. Raven Lucas Book 1: Missing by Christine Harris

Raven Lucas Book 1: Missing by Christine Harris
Published February 2012 Scholastic

From the publisher:

Raven Lucas appears to have everything. But something is missing from her life: her father. He has disappeared, suddenly, mysteriously, with no words of goodbye. Has he simply left his family and didn't have the courage to explain why? Is he dead, either by his own hand or another's? Has he been kidnapped? But why has there been no ransom demand? Raven is determined to find out what happened to him. Even if it kills her. And it just might.     

 Again, I am happy to see another mystery/thriller on the bookshelves.  The book starts of running, as Raven is following a strange man into a clothing store, for a reason that has yet to be explained, only to find it isn't the person she thought it was.  Her father, who has been missing for 3 days. 

27. Animal Rescue Book 1: Elephant Alert by Jackie French

Animal Rescue Book 1: Elephant Alert by Jackie French
Published February 2012 Scholastic

From the publisher:
 Leo thinks he's an ordinary kid, but he isn't-he can talk to animals and his best friend's a guinea pig! Mozz knows she's anything but ordinary. She's cool and clever, lives in a mansion with her mad scientist grandmother, and she soars through the sky in a rocket-the SkyTiger-saving wild animals around the world! Together, with the SkyTiger ready to take off, Leo and Mozz make an unstoppable animal rescue force. When Mozz convinces Leo to help her save the Puloa Gajah (Elephant Island) elephants from an incoming tsunami, she knows they're in with a fighting chance. But when the elephants won't listen to Leo's warnings, Leo and the animals find they're all in danger!

I was really looking forward to reading this book, the first in a new series, because it seemed like something really different for Jackie French to write. 

26. My Rhinoceros by Jon Agee

My Rhinoceros by Jon Agee
Published Feb 2012 Scholastic

From the publisher:
If you should ever get a rhinoceros for a pet, you're in for a surprise. It won't chase a ball. Or a stick. Or a frisbee. In fact, according to the experts, a rhinoceros does only two things: pop balloons and poke holes in kites. But don't be discouraged. As you'll discover in Jon Agee's hilarious picture book, rhinoceroses can do more-so much more-than that!

25. Ashtown Burials Book 1: Dragon's Tooth by N.D Wilson

Ashtown Burials Book 1: Dragon's Tooth by N.D Wilson
Published February 2012 Random House

From the publisher:
For two years, Cyrus and Antigone Smith have run a sagging roadside motel with their older brother, Daniel. Nothing ever seems to happen. Then a strange old man with bone tattoos arrives, demanding a specific room.Less than 24 hours later, the old man is dead. The motel has burned, and Daniel is missing. And Cyrus and Antigone are kneeling in a crowded hall, swearing an oath to an order of explorers who have long served as caretakers of the world's secrets, keepers of powerful relics from lost civilizations, and jailers to unkillable criminals who have terrorized the world for millennia.
This is a book that moves quickly. We meet Cyrus and Antigone at the Archer motel, where surprisingly someone actually wants a room.  William Skelton is the man who checks-in, and William Skelton is the man who changes their lives. Next thing we know, he has handed Cyrus a set of keys, bad  men show up, William is killed, Dan (their older brother) has gone missing and the motel burns down.  Now they are being taken to a place called Ashtown by a lawyer named Horace who tells them this is where their Father was from.