The ghost's child by Sonya Hartnett

Winner of the Children's Book Council of Australia's award for Book of the Year for Older Readers

Sonya Hartnett has created a beautiful, tragic, mythical and completely tangible world in The Ghost's Child. Her characters, drawn with such complexity - striking an odd yet natural balance with the fairytale-like prose - are both ethereal and earthy, existing in a timeless age. As with all fairytales, the story comes with a moral - but it's found in gentle undertones - strong, but gentle, and it sits with you long after you've put the book down. Love hard without fear, live life filled with hope, and see the beauty in all things.

Welcome to the blog

So you're bored already. School holidays only started two days ago and you're already absurdly dreaming about maths homework. Your mum won't give you a cent to go the the movies. Your best mate is living it up in Queensland for the week. And you can't face another episode of Dr. Phil. Here's an idea - read a book. Sound boring? Maybe. But it beats just sitting there. And when you're done, add a post* to this blog and let someone else know whether it was a good read or not.

*To add posts you will need to register first, by emailing your name, age and email address to mrlyablog@gmail.com – you will be invited you to join, and then you can blog away til your heart’s content.