Rhiza Shorts – serie

Tarni can’t wait for her Senior Prom and iscounting down the days. She has a checklist for everything—the shoes, themakeup, the friends, the photos, and most importantly, the dress. But Tarni’sperfect dress is a whopping $950 and she has to work extra shifts at her job topay for it. While she slowly marks off her checklist, the elusive dress remainstoo expensive. Beside the dance, she still has to pay for her driver’s licenseand driving lessons. Add on the pressure of trying to decide what she’s goingto do once school is over, and Tarni is becoming a nervous wreck.  Then the worst happens, by the time shesaves enough for the dress, it’s sold out. How can she find her perfectdress—and in the right size in time? And will she ever get a clue on what to doafter school? She will have to rely on her fashion sense and courage to makeher dreams come true.

In Ways to Die Right, Joel's life issteeped in loss, with his mom’s battle with cancer not the first time hisfamily has faced death. When he discovers the environmental harm of traditionalburials, he decides to champion 'green burials' through a science presentation.Joel’s mom is diagnosed with cancer, again,sending him into a spiral. He is already feeling the burden of caring for hissister’s grave, how could he possibly care for his mom’s grave as well? Then,at the cemetery, his most sacred space, he is confronted by his arch-nemesis,Trent. While Joel is striving to understand how family members can ‘forget’their loved one by abandoning their graves, Trent wants everyone to know thatgraves are an important part of our human community. When Joel is given the opportunity,he champions green burials in a science presentation. The public oppositionfrom Trent is almost more than he can take. Joel is forced to fight for himselfand his beliefs, while trying to hide his biggest secret. New and old friendssupport him in his quest to protect the environment and find peace, while hisparents see his struggles and make changes to support him.

After being expelled, Joey is sent to the country to help an old man. Will it turn his life around or will his past follow him?   Joey is sent to the country where his phone won’t work, he’ll be far away from his buddies, and has to live with his great-aunt. His mother must be nuts if she thinks he’ll go.  But there isn’t any choice. This is the third school he’s been asked to leave. For fighting. Which is stupid because he doesn’t fight. It’s an unfortunate case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sure, he disrupts every class he attends—a skill he’s proud of. Or at least he pretends to be proud of. He has to disrupt them to keep everyone from realizing he can’t read.  But it turns out that Auntie Belle is not so old and not so bad, and when she asks him to help out a neighbor who’s recovering from a bad accident, Joey finds a world he can understand.  Young Harry has horses and dogs and a bull. And he has a garden that produces more food than Joey  has seen in the city supermarket. It looks like Young Harry will become his new best friend—better  than the ones he hung out with on the streets in the city.  Young Harry is eighty-five years old. He doesn’t have a phone either—or anything else from the  21st century. But even without electricity and the internet, Joey has never felt more at home. He likes the trust Harry has in him, hopes to join the local football team and he enjoys going for rides with Emily, the girl who looks after Harry’s horses. But that’s until the break-ins start. Robbie, who thinks Emily is his girl, points the finger of blame at Joey and the locals turn against him. And when one of his friends from the city is revealed as the culprit, he wants to recruit Joey in his break and enters.   After all, he can’t change who he is, can he? And the locals will never accept him as one of them.  Or will they? And will Joey betray Young Harry?  Last Chance Joey is a great read for every kid who struggles to find acceptance and their place in the world. Joey finds not only somewhere that he belongs, but also the courage to stand up for what’s important to him and the people he cares about.

Ray Johnston and his best friend Tom, nearing the end of their first year in high school in Melbourne's vibrant inner-western suburbs, develop a fascination with Melbourne's new West Gate Bridge. After school, they regularly go to the bustling construction site to talk to the workers and collect mementos from the debris. To Ray and the community, the bridge symbolizes more than a mere transportation link from the western suburbs to Melbourne's central business district. It represents progress, superiority, and power, filling Ray with immense pride as his father, Doug Johnston, serves as the lead rigger, and his neighbor, George Demetriou, works as an ironworker.  One fateful day, Ray stumbles upon a conversation between a bridge engineer and a foreman. They express serious concern about a buckle in the bridge and discuss plans to loosen the bridge’s bolts the following day. Tormented by this secret, Ray confides in Tom and ultimately decides to share his fears with his father. But his father tells him to keep quiet about it. Although Ray fears for his father’s and George’s safety, he agrees.  The next day, shortly before noon, Ray is in his class at school when he hears piercing sirens wailing. He sprints toward the bridge, only to find a scene of utter devastation and chaos. Driven by desperation, he joins the courageous team of workers, relentlessly searching for his father amidst the wreckage—fighting against time to save lives.  Hours pass like an eternity as Ray, with his torn and dirt-streaked shirt, abandons his identity as a schoolboy. And then, a glimmer of hope—the unimaginable happens—Ray finds his father alive and well. As months pass, Ray is haunted by the bridge as it hooks his fragmented heart, and he refuses to pass it on his way to Tom’s house. Although he feels somewhat older since the accident, it’s not until Ray learns the biggest lesson of all—to forgive himself—that he is finally free.  And just like the weathered, stressed and damaged pieces of glass he loves to collect, Ray begins to notice they too can be reshaped and strengthened into something new, ultimately reflecting a new perspective and a new way of looking at the world.   On the cusp of adulthood, the two young friends face their own individual rites of passage as they wrestle with tragedy, justice, and a loss of innocence, which will not only define them but change their lives forever.  Reading age of 12+, Interest age 14+ Rhiza Shorts are teen novellas for reluctant readers.

Flip is a contemporary Australian young adult drama that explores big issues with soul and sensitivity. Its high-low content and feel-good finale make it a perfect read for both lovers of the genre and non-confident readers.Issues and themes flowing through Flip are timely and relevant, including a housing crisis, bullying, loss and grief, finding yourself and a sense of belonging, friendship and family dynamics, starting over in a new town and school, and the impacts of cancer and dementia. Denim Davies wishes he could flip his life, just like the vintage items and clothing he finds at garage sales and thrift stores and sells online. With the worsening housing crisis, Denim and his dad have spent a year moving from town to town in search of sustainable work and a home they can call their own. Every move means starting over in a new school. Denim feels he’s drifting through life without an anchor.When Denim and his dad arrive in the coastal town of Driftwood Heights, Denim knows things are only going to get worse. The only accommodation is in the trailer park, he’s just started Year 10, and in this small town where everyone knows each other he feels more of a misfit than ever. Besides, what’s the point of getting close to anyone if you’re just going to move away again?When Denim befriends Mina, a quirky girl with a carefree attitude, Driftwood Heights starts to look a little brighter. But then a vintage find that seems too good to be true goes horribly wrong, and he has a tough decision to make—one that could ruin his friendship forever.  What do you do when flipping your life has too high a price? Reading age of 10 +, Interest age 14+. Rhiza Shorts are teen novellas for reluctant readers.

Public speaking phenom, Lexie, is on herway to represent her school at the Speech state finals, with dreams of reachingnationals. But that is before a freckle on her cheek turns out to be a rareform of melanoma, skin cancer, that requires surgery. Now, with a large scar onher face, her world changes and she no longer recognizes herself. Her confidence has vanished, herfriendships are changing and the very thing she has always loved—publicspeaking—now strikes terror into her heart. When a chance encounter turns intoan unexpected friendship, Lexie's feelings about her scar, and herself, arechallenged. Can she find a way to explore her ordeal with her ambitions forwinning the state Speech competition?A relatable and easy read for teenagers andyoung adults about overcoming obstacles, navigating friendships and finding outthat our worth is far more than just skin deep.

This book was written to represent homeschoolers and the lesser known sport of campdrafting, aswell as to encourage teenagers who feel insecure socially that it is worth making the effort to breakout of their comfort zone. It provides an authentic look at a homeschooled male teen who needs tolearn to challenge himself, in sports, in life, and in his social skills.Nick is a fifteen-year-old boy whose best friend is his little sister, and tends to be a bit of a loner.While Nick is the older brother Nick finds that his little sister does better in the sport of campdraftingthan he does. He tends to get nervous, makes hasty decisions and stuffs up. He feels awkward aroundthe other competitors. But Nick decides to join a local swim squad, he wants to challenge himself tomake some friends. Along the way he discovers he’s a competitive breaststroker, and works out howto fit in with a mixed group of teens, growing more independent in the process. The other 4 teens havea variety of personalities - a super friendly guy, super self-confident guy, and two girls, one whobecomes very interested in campdrafting and later asks Nick for riding lessons. He becomes goodfriends with one of the guys and goes to his place to ride motorbikes. The new mates come to see himcompete at a campdraft. He is more relaxed with the other competitors this time, and is moresuccessful in the competition.This book is unlike most others on the market, and will appeal because of its unique nature. Manyteens may have wondered about homeschooling. Campdrafting is a unique Australian sport that manymay not have heard of. Actual homeschoolers will feel validated to see themselves representedpositively in literature.