Lost Soul: A Child's Perspective

How could an astute 11-year-old child called Susie manage to pull off the impossible by escaping from the grips of her abusive and dominant father? She knew in her mind that there would have to be a trade-off which she would have had to come to terms with, and possibly regret for the rest of her life.

Finding herself thrust into the care of the local authority, she is taken aback and shaken to the core by the contrast in the family that she has left behind and the new ‘family’ that she has now inherited.

She finds herself in a ‘no-man’s land,’ where she can either wait and see where life takes her, or admit defeat and return home to her abusive and dominating father, who she feels will have the upper hand over her, not only physically, but also psychologically.

Susie’s resolve is stronger than it has ever been, and although she is faced with feelings of despair and helplessness of being let down by the system that she thought was supposed to be there to protect her when she needed it most, she pushes through into what seems to be an uncertain future. She has a steely determination to face life head on, and is resolute in her mind to keep on going, pushing forwards to see where life takes her.

Lost and Found

Growing up we all feel overwhelmed, even suffocated by our thoughts and worries of everything new and scary to us. We have heads full of questions that bleed into our chests with the strain of never getting an answer.

But what if they were to be answered? What if there was a way to the ending everyone around you says you will find eventually? If someone could tell you these things, would you listen? Would you go with them on their journeys and struggles for some small hope of validation? Or even just a glimpse of something new, if so then read on.

Follow that curiosity, let these characters show you their paths and how they stumbled upon them, and see how even they, with so much life behind them, have no idea where it will lead them. Here you may find something familiar, something comforting, or even something you’ve been burying deep down for a while now. Or you may find nothing at all because you’re a perfectly stable and put-together human being and always have been, who will simply enjoy these little stories.

Last Hong Kong Summer

Set in suburban To Kwa Wan, Kowloon, Hong Kong, in the summer of the political riots, John, Paul, George, and Richard – the four Beatles, as they are known – find themselves caught up in the murder of a family member of a friend, plus a suicide and domestic violence. They begin to learn that schoolyard practical jokes have unforeseen and unpleasant consequences in the adult world outside of the classroom. They also encounter an unlikely middle-aged adversary, their old school’s psychologist, Mr Zhao. As the allegations and counter-allegations of violence threaten to spiral out of everyone’s control, how will the four get out of trouble?

Kim's War

Kim was only seven years old when he watched soldiers burn his home down.

He never saw his family again after he drifted into the jungle on his own.

Thankfully, he remembered their instructions on how to survive and did so for three years, until he found sanctuary.

He took revenge before settling down into a new good life. But he always remembered to listen carefully to his elders.

Juniper's Odyssey

When you guide the boy in your care to the battlefield in Afghanistan; when that boy is fourteen-year-old Jarvis Juniper and you are his guardian angel, there are questions to answer. Ankarra returns home to her own guardian in a bid to save Jarvis. High in the tree houses of another dimension, Jacinda’s shrouds are lit and the fool’s journey revealed.

With his dad missing in action, Jarvis becomes a vulnerable outsider. Trapped by his grief and uncertainty, he finds escape in graffiti. His creativity unwittingly opens new doors to old realities. Is it a dream or just the fumes from his paint tin? Stepping in to one of his own art works, Jarvis meets Percy on a path in an ancient wood; little does he suspect that path will lead him all the way to Camelot.

In My Mind‘s Eye

The trials and tribulations of a young girl trying to find her own path in life when her family breaks down, leads to a traumatic and turbulent experience for all involved.

Friendships come and go and the real meaning of life becomes apparent along the way after several close encounters with death. One young person’s choices have great consequences on those around her, trampling on their feelings and destroying yet more lives. How many families can one young person shatter?

I'm Just Me

Meet Alex. Alex is a boy who doesn’t believe being a boy or a girl should determine how you think; he is just Alex. 

He lives near Midtown and travels over the bus network having adventures in some very unusual surrounding towns with his dog Blink, whose main aim in life is to sniff everything in the world and who dreams of being RocketDog. 

At the ends of the bus lines, they meet people who live in closed towns, they are either all black or white, gay or straight, religious or atheist, rich or poor, old or young, or very differently able. 

Alex can’t understand why they should live like this. He tries to get them to travel to Midtown, where they might be surprised by how people of all kinds can live together equally. Blink thinks they are all equally sniffable. If Alex is just Alex, perhaps they might realise they can just be themselves too, just equal individuals, with equally important mixtures of properties. 

I’m Just Me looks at how we all tend to label people, to place them in boxes, usually because of one main property: colour, gender, sexuality, mental or physical ability, wealth, religion, politics, class or age. BUT each property is a line and we are all a dot on every one of those lines somewhere. Where all the lines cross for us, we find our own point of individuality. 

If each point is equal, then WE MUST ALL BE EQUAL.

Holding Strong

Forced to leave school and her foster home, Abigail is a 16-year-old girl who would like nothing more than to be normal or maybe extraordinary. She has big dreams that may just start with returning to school. But will she make it? If Abigail can change her world maybe so can we.

Hocker Alley

A footballing prodigy with the opportunity of a lifetime. A devoted single mother succumbing to addiction. A fatherly coach trying to do the right thing. Together they created something beautiful: their relationship. 

Life sometimes kicks you when you’re down. Hocker Alley reminds us to kick back.

Golden Flower

Imagine a flower. A flower which could turn the ocean into gold and lead you through the gates of heaven. Legend has it, when you drop the flower under the moonlight in the Caspian Sea, it will light up the path to the biggest booty of them all.

This is exactly what Captain Bruno and his crew are searching for, to bring the golden pirate age back. Captain Bruno sails across the land together with his crew to search for treasure, determined to beat the rival ship Black Galley for the first time in history.

It all takes a turn when Captain Bruno suddenly falls ill, his daughter is determined to figure out her past, Black Galley seems to keep a track on them and the golden flower isn’t exactly what they thought it would be.

Finding the Wind

This is a novel for young people of any age who believe that thinking matters, quite literally, and that it can make an exciting difference to everyday lives.

Thandi has lost both her parents and her focus in life. Through a quest of self-discovery she learns to be compassionate towards herself and others. Her journey spans learning from brick and mortar schools, an indigenous healer, the bush, the ocean, the mountain, and the great saints of both past and present.

The story addresses the question: How should we live our lives? It explores how we can make our world better or worse by being kind or unkind to ourselves, others and our environment. Our choices matter quite literally as they shape our world.

This is the magic of quantum theory – our thoughts write the landscape of our lives. We are participants in the universe, not passive observers.

Escape from the Shades

Brother and sister, Tom and Bobby, are orphans growing up rough, with their dog Tag, in the Victorian East End of London. Helped by Dr Barnardo, they have begun to make progress when Bobby is attacked in the notorious Rookeries. Tom comes to the rescue but finds himself arrested, in a cell, and then before the Beak. His trial is at the Old Bailey where he is not allowed to speak in his defence. Then Tag comes to his rescue!