Danielle Binks – författare

Wolf Hollow meets The Thing About Jellyfish in Danielle Binks’s debut middle grade novel set in 1999, where a twelve-year-old girl grapples with the meaning of home and family amidst a refugee crisis that has divided her town.

""Timeless and beautiful, and it deserves to be read by people of all ages."" —Printz Award-winning author Melina Marchetta

If you asked eleven-year-old Fred to draw a map of her family, it would be a bit confusing. Her birth father was never in the picture, her mom died years ago, and her stepfather, Luca, is now expecting a baby with his new girlfriend. According to Fred’s teacher, maps don’t always give the full picture of our history, but more and more it feels like Fred’s family is redrawing the line of their story . . . and Fred is feeling left off the map.

Soon after learning about the baby, Fred hears that the town will be taking in hundreds of refugees seeking safety from a war-torn Kosovo. Some people in town, like Luca, think it’s great and want to help. Others, however, feel differently, causing friction within the community.

Fred, who has been trying to navigate her own feelings of displacement, ends up befriending a few refugees. But what starts as a few friendly words in Albanian will soon change their lives forever, not to mention completely redrawing Fred’s personal map of friends, family, and home, and community.

''A gorgeous book ... it''s timeless and beautiful and it deserves to be read by people of all ages.'' MELINA MARCHETTAShortlisted for the Prime Minister''s Literary Awards 2021A CBCA Notable Book for Younger Readers 2021Shortlisted for the Readings Children''s Book Prize 2021Longlisted for the ABIA Book of the Year Award for Young Children 2021Longlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2021One extraordinary year will change them all...Sorrento, Victoria, 1999. Fred''s family is a mess. Her mother died when she was six and she''s been raised by her Pop and adoptive father, Luca, ever since. But now Pop''s had to go away, and Luca''s girlfriend Anika and her son have moved in. More and more it feels like a land-grab for family and Fred is the one being left off the map.Even as things feel like they''re spinning out of control for Fred, a crisis from the other side of the world comes crashing in. When a group of Kosovar-Albanian refugees are brought to a government ''safe haven'' not far from Sorrento, their fate becomes intertwined with the lives of Fred and her family in ways that no one could have expected.A middle-grade coming-of-age story inspired by true events about the bonds of family, the weight of grief and the power of compassion for fans of THE BONE SPARROW, WOLF HOLLOW and THE THING ABOUT JELLYFISH.''A brilliant gem that will make you see the world - and your place in it - in a new way.'' EMILY GALE''This timely and beautiful story reveals the invisible lines of kindness and empathy that connect us all.'' SALLY RIPPIN

A CBCA NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR YOUNGER READERS 2025Alytash and Leopold - Tash and Leo - are neighbours who used to be best friends, but aren''t anymore, for reasons that Leo doesn''t entirely understand. But now it''s the last week of Year Six and Tash is standing in Leo''s front yard with a misdelivered letter - and a favour to ask.It''s a request that will set off a chain of events in their little crescent in Noble Park, a suburb that is changing, and fast. As they solve an unfolding neighbourhood mystery and help Ms Shepparson, a reclusive neighbour with a tragic past, Tash and Leo each has to confront fault lines in their own recent histories and families. They will discover that friendships can grow and change, that bravery takes many forms, and that, most of all - whatever the future holds - friends and family are what matter.Six Summers of Tash and Leopold is for fans of Katherine Paterson''s Bridge to Terabithia and Nova Weetman''s The Secrets We Keep, as well as Danielle Binks'' previous bestseller, The Year the Maps Changed - and for anyone who enjoys a big, hopeful, coming-of-age middle-grade book that features complicated families and life-changing summers.''Friendship, family and finding your way. This book perfectly captures the complex world of being twelve. I loved it.'' NOVA WEETMAN''Middle-grade readers who enjoyed A L Tait''s The First Summer of Callie McGee and Nova Weetman''s The Edge of Thirteen will delight in this compelling coming-of-age story . . . Equal parts plot- and character-driven, the narrative moves along at a gentle albeit page-turning pace'' BOOKS+PUBLISHINGPraise for The Year the Maps Changed''A gorgeous book . . . it''s timeless and beautiful and it deserves to be read by people of all ages'' MELINA MARCHETTA''A brilliant gem that will make you see the world - and your place in it - in a new way'' EMILY GALE