Author Jaclyn Moriarty’s first novel is a #1 bestseller in its native Australia and a Book Sense 76 Pick, and has been nominated Best Book of the Year by the ALA. Told entirely through sticky notes from her mother, messages to “a Complete and Utter Stranger,” and letters from fictitious companies, listeners get a peek into the complex life of teenager Elizabeth Clarry. “Highs and lows alternate as dizzily as adolescent hormone levels in this engaging Australian debut . adolescence, zits and all, described with wit and empathy.”-Kirkus Reviews

The adult debut from bestselling, award-winning young adult author Jaclyn Moriarty–a frequently hilarious, brilliantly observed novel in the spirit of Maria Semple, Rainbow Rowell, and Gail Honeyman–that follows a single mother’s heartfelt search for greater truths about the universe, her family and herself.

Twenty years ago, Abigail Sorenson’s brother Robert went missing one day before her sixteenth birthday, never to be seen again. That same year, she began receiving scattered chapters in the mail of a self-help manual, the Guidebook, whose anonymous author promised to make her life soar to heights beyond her wildest dreams.

The Guidebook’s missives have remained a constant in Abi’s life–a befuddling yet oddly comforting voice through her family’s grief over her brother’s disappearance, a move across continents, the devastating dissolution of her marriage, and the new beginning as a single mother and cafe owner in Sydney.

Now, two decades after receiving those first pages, Abi is invited to an all-expenses paid weekend retreat to learn “the truth” about the Guidebook. It’s an opportunity too intriguing to refuse. If Everything is Connected, then surely the twin mysteries of the Guidebook and a missing brother must be linked?

What follows is completely the opposite of what Abi expected–but it will lead her on a journey of discovery that will change her life–and enchant listeners. Gravity Is the Thing is a smart, unusual, wickedly funny novel about the search for happiness that will break your heart into a million pieces and put it back together, bigger and better than before.

During a sleepover, a letter comes to five children begging for the urgent assistance of Esther Mettlestone-Staranise, the newly-realized Rain Weaver; she must arrive before 10am on Monday to save an entire town of elves. When they
arrive, the children find two incredibly odd things: first, the town of elves, buried under layers of silver; and second, a regular-size boy who, soon after seeing the children, dies.

Oscar is that boy who skipped school in our world on Monday to skate, and found himself in the city of the elves at just the wrong moment: He fled as fast as he could, but not fast enough because the silver wave struck him and he fell down dead.

And that’s just the beginning!

At breakneck pace the cousins and friends (and a six-year-old stowaway elf named Gruffudd, who’s a troublemaker) try to stop the clock and rewind the tragedy. Can they do it?

The pleasure is all in the adventure, as only Jaclyn Moriarty can tell it. Hers is a unique blend of humor, suspense, and magic, unfolding through the instantly recognizable rivalries, affections and foibles of her characters.

Bronte Mettlestone is ten years old when her parents are killed by pirates. This does not bother her particularly: her parents ran away to have adventures when she was a baby. She has been raised by her Aunt Isabelle, with assistance from the Butler, and has spent a pleasant childhood of afternoon teas and riding lessons. Now, however, her parents have left detailed instructions for Bronte in their will. (Instructions that, annoyingly, have been reinforced with faery cross-stitch, which means that if she doesn’t complete them, terrible things could happen!) She travels the kingdoms, perfectly alone, delivering gifts to ten other aunts: a farmer aunt who owns an orange orchard, a veterinarian aunt who specializes in dragon care, a pair of aunts who captain a cruise ship, and a former rock star aunt who is now the reigning monarch of a small kingdom. But as she travels from aunt to aunt, Bronte suspects there might be more to this journey than the simple delivery of treasure.

Best-selling novelist Jaclyn Moriarty has garnered critical acclaim for brilliantly interweaving letters, journal entries, blog postings, and homework assignments into contemporary tales brimming with mystery. Amelia and Riley have transferred to Ashbury for their senior year. In love since they were 14, they dance their nights away and sleepwalk their way through school. Their fellow students long to be drawn into their cool, self-contained world. But when Riley fears he’s losing Amelia to the past and asks his peers for help, things take an ominous turn.

Best-selling author Jaclyn Moriarty follows her critically acclaimed novels The Ghosts of Ashbury High and The Year of Secret Assignments with this fun tale. Told imaginatively through school assignments and diary entries, The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie is sure to appeal to young listeners who love a good mystery. Some people find Bindy Mackenzie’s perfectionist personality a bit irritating, but would anyone really want her dead? “Bindy’s unforgettable, earnest, hilariously high-strung voice . will capture and hold eager readers.”-Booklist

Esther is a middle child, in her own mind a pale reflection of siblings who are bright, shining stars. Her mother doesn’t show the slightest bit of interest, no matter what Esther does. Still, she’s content to go back to school, do her best,
hang out with her friends, and let others take care of things.

But her best friends aren’t AT school when she gets there. Why didn’t they tell her they wouldn’t be coming back? Why were they silent all summer? But stuff like that happens. And it’s bad luck that her new teacher makes Esther the butt of
all kinds of jokes. Mrs. Pollock is rumored to be an ogre–and maybe she IS one. Could be.

Then things go from unfortunate to outright dangerous. The mountains surrounding the school–usually sparkling with glaciers and lakes, alive with Faeries, and sheltering a quaint town with really great bakeries–are now
crowded with Shadow Mages, casting a noticeable pall, and clearly–to Esther– signifying something very dark and threatening. As the people she might have depended on to help are either strangely absent or in hiding, it’s left to ordinary,
middle-child Esther (“just Esther”) to act. But she’ll have to burst out of the box of mediocrity she’s been put in, and do something absolutely extraordinary.

From the award-winning Jaclyn Moriarty comes a spellbinding tale of unlikely friendship, unexpected magic and competitive athletics. The town of Spindrift is frequented by all kinds of Shadow Mages and charlatans. It’s also home to the Orphanage School, where Finlay lives with Glim, Taya, and Eli. Just outside town is the painfully posh Brathelthwaite Boarding School, home to Honey Bee, Hamish, and Victor, Duke of Ainsley. When the two schools compete at the Spindrift Tournament, the stakes are high, tensions are higher, and some people are out to win at any cost. Before long, the orphans and the boarding school kids are at each other’s throats. And then the Whispering Wars break out, and Spindrift is thrust onto the front lines. Children are being stolen; witches, sirens, and a deadly magical flu invade the town; and all attempts to fight back are met with defeat. Finlay, Honey Bee, and their friends must join forces to outwit the encroaching forces of darkness, rescue the stolen children, and turn the tide of the war. But how can one bickering troupe outwit the insidious power of the Whisperers?

This Booklist Editor’s Choice interweaves the writings of six Australian highschoolers. When an English assignment forces “snobby” Ashbury students Lydia, Emily, and Cassie to exchange letters with “low-life” Brookfield guys, Lydia and Emily are surprised to find their Brookfield pen pals so kind and civilized. But after Cassie’s cross-town correspondent threatens her, the friends plan a series of madcap missions designed to teach this malevolent male a lesson he won’t forget.