Judith Clarke Books In Order

Al Capsella Books In Order

  1. The Heroic Life of Al Capsella (1989)
  2. Al Capsella and the Watchdogs (1990)
  3. Al Capsella on Holidays (1992)

Stories of the Supernatural Books In Order

  1. The Torment Of Mr. Gully (1990)

Novels

  1. Riffraff (1992)
  2. Friend of My Heart (1994)
  3. Big Night Out (1995)
  4. The Lost Day (1997)
  5. Night Train (1998)
  6. Angels Passing By (1999)
  7. Starry Nights (2001)
  8. Mother Tough Wrote the Book (2002)
  9. Kalpana’s Dream (2004)
  10. One Whole and Perfect Day (2006)
  11. The Winds of Heaven (2010)
  12. Three Summers (2014)
  13. My Lovely Frankie (2018)

Collections

  1. Panic Stations (1995)
  2. The Moral of the Story (1999)
  3. Wolf On the Fold (2000)
  4. That’s All She Wrote (2007)

Picture Books

  1. Teddy B. Zoot (1990)

Al Capsella Book Covers

Stories of the Supernatural Book Covers

Novels Book Covers

Collections Book Covers

Picture Books Book Covers

Judith Clarke Books Overview

The Heroic Life of Al Capsella

Fourteen year old Al Capsella, desperately trying to be normal and blend in with the rest of the crowd, is constantly embarrassed by his highly unconventional parents.

Night Train

A haunting story that will grab YA readers with its masterful blend of teenage angst and a chillingly plausible story line. Eighteen year old Luke is the only one who hears the Night Train just a lone whistle, far in the distance, that only sounds in the dead of night. No one else hears it or even believes that the train exists. Threatened at school, pressured by his parents, paralyzed by anxiety about his final exams, Luke begins to doubt himself. Is the Night Train real, or is it only in his mind? If it’s real then he’s all right; then, no matter how his problems pile up, he can start all over again. If it’s not real, Luke fears, then everything could come apart. In this gripping novel, Judith Clarke delivers a striking view of a troubled teen whose mental world unravels all too quickly.

Starry Nights

Jess was happy when her family lived by the bay, but something is wrong with their new house. Since her family moved, her sister Vida has become wild and furious and believes in all kinds of strange magic. The children begin to suspect there’s a ghost in the house. Jess’s brother Clem says that he can see her. Too preoccupied and jumpy, he hasn’t even unpacked. Their mother is lying sick in her bedroom upstairs and refuses to talk or come out, which is getting on Jess’s nerves. The ghost is definitely starting to appear to Jess a fast blur in the corner of her eye, the swish of invisible legs keeping step with her own, the skin crawling feeling that someone is watching. Who is this ghost and with whom does she want to communicate?

Kalpana’s Dream

Neema’s and Kate’s first day of Wentworth High begins poorly but gets much worse when they find out that their English teacher, the pale Ms. Dallimore, is notorious for challenging essay assignments. Ms. Dallimore assigns an essay with the topic ‘Who am I?’ and gives class 7B a whole six weeks to think and write. Everyone calls Ms. Dallimore the Bride of Dracula. She wants her students to think, and imagine and ‘learn to fly!’ As time pas*ses the cleverest girl in the class is reduced to tears; football jock Blocky Stevenson discovers the pleasure of self examination for the first time and writes ‘I am a person with feelings’; Kate is sure she is a girl who hates her sister; while school custodian/dictator Mrs. Draynor is sufficiently moved by a student’s discarded attempt at the essay to reflect on her own past. For Neema, the extended stay of her Indian great grandmother, Kalpana, complicated the question. Nani has been dreaming of flying: skimming faster and faster, just above the ground. And now she’s ready to leave her village in India to visit her family in Australia. At first, things are awkward between Neema and Kalpana. Kalpana doesn’t speak English and Neema doesn’t speak Hindi, but when they meet ‘the flying boy’, Gull Oliver, they both find something they’ve been looking for.

One Whole and Perfect Day

Freakish, thought Lily. That was the word for her family. Not freaks exactly, but getting there. Sometimes Lily wishes she weren’t so sensible. If she were less reliable, then perhaps she’d have more fun. As it is, her hardworking but flaky mom and her dreamy older brother count on her to run the house. She wishes things could be different, but how can she change her responsible ways? Perhaps, she thinks, she should fall in love! Meanwhile, her scheming grandmother is planning a family party and, as is typical, Lily worries. Her fears are not entirely unfounded. Her grandfather has recently disowned her brother, and her brother has a new girlfriend who might not fit in. Her mother will probably bring the loony Mrs. Nightingale from the adult day care center where she works. And these are only the predictable complications. Lily is beginning to understand how easily unimaginable things can happen, too. Back to the question of love, what is this new feeling Lily experiences when Daniel Steadman is near? Could it be the cure?

The Winds of Heaven

Clementine thinks her cousin Fan is everything that she could never be: beautiful, imaginative, wild. The girls promise to be best friends and sisters after the summer is over, but Clementine’s life in the city is different from Fan s life in dusty Lake Conapaira. And Fan is looking for something, though neither she nor Clementine understands what it is. Printz Honor Winner Judith Clarke delivers a compassionate, compelling novel with the story of a friendship between two young women, and of the small tragedies that tear them apart from each other, and from themselves.

Wolf On the Fold

Fourteen year old Kenny’s dad has just died, and now Kenny must become the breadwinner. Be careful going through the flatlands, his mother warns him. Don t stop for anyone. But Kenny does stop, and what happens next will define the man he becomes. These stories, which track the lives of Kenny, his family, and his friends over decades, are about the place where adolescence collides with adulthood. The second story involves Kenny s two daughters, who find they must rely on each other despite their differences. The third story is a snapshot of a school bully with a secret; years later, two of her victims meet her in a shop and are forced to reevaluate their feelings about her. In Wolf On the Fold, Judith Clarke paints the lives of her characters with skill and compassion, qualities that have made her one of Australia s leading writers in the young adult genre.

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