Blowing Away the Bura

In this novel, by October 1991 war in western Croatia between Croats and Serbs is daily and deadly. Navenka Berik, a wimpy 25-year-old Serb mother of two has had her Serb parents and her Croat husband make decisions for her. During the next few months:

- Her father is taken and presumed killed,

- Navenka is raped,

- Her husband is arrested and probably is killed,

- Her mother becomes crippled,

- From the rape, another child is born,

- Remaining family members are on the run as internally displaced persons in the dissolving Yugoslavia,

- The hassled Navenka has to step up and lead.

Unwelcome anywhere, the family languishes with temporary protection visas in Germany. In 1996, they are accepted as refugees in Australia. Peace, the English language and Australia’s very multicultural society bring many new problems. Navenka’s ongoing memories of her husband keep her wishing that he might be alive. Thoughts of moving back to Croatia or to Bosnia end when, briefly, Navenka attends the trial of those accused of murdering her father. There, poverty and the old ethnic prejudices live on. Back in Australia, her long “lost” husband finds her. However, after the initial joy wears off, the terms of his demand, at gunpoint, that his family go and live in Croatia with him are unacceptable. Navenka’s daughter Srebrenka, too young to be burdened by bad memories of Yugoslavia, cleverly resolves the impasse.

People react differently to war. Some think. Some “just feel”.

Blue Baby

Where is God when calamity comes? If God is all powerful why does He allow our loved ones to suffer? When wading through hopelessness, these questions overwhelm many of us. This is the account of my own wrestling with similar agonies of the soul when I was told that my child was dying.

Jacob was diagnosed at the age of 1 with a severe congenital heart defect that was so complex it was deemed untreatable. In desperation I reached out to God after previously neglecting my relationship with Him. I had wandered into passivity, but God was waiting to comfort, strengthen and renew my faith.

This book documents Jacob’s journey through years of surgery, defying this prognosis. It also chronicles my struggle through perplexing seasons of pain, learning how a good God uses suffering for our growth, making us mature, fruitful followers. It is in the darkest times I have learnt to fear less and trust more, making me confident in His faithfulness. God did not answer my prayers for instant healing, but what He allowed in my life worked for my good.  I try to capture the way God tenderly ministered to me during those times in order to encourage others to hold fast to Him. I hope to spur on those ready to give up, to overcome and look for the shards of light that can be found in seasons of darkness.

Blue Bell From Greenfield Parade

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a cat and be able to get into, under and beneath cars, houses and especially trees where you would be able to see everything around you? 

Meet Blue Bell, who is a very special cat who lives in Greenfield Parade.  No one owns Blue Bell, but everyone loves her.

Interested and curious in all things living, Blue Bell has great freedom to roam in her neighbourhood and meet many other creatures.

See how Blue Bell is able to discover the Room of Happiness and Song – and how she saves the life of one of its most beautiful residents.

Blue Moon Over Moorea

In Blue Moon over Moorea, an anthology of poems by Australian lawyer and poet Sally Gaunt, the author mines some of her favourite themes to remarkable effect.
Water in all its forms proves a constant inspiration, from ‘Swimming with Seahorses’ to the rapt, almost hallucinatory images of the title poem. Gaunt breathes new life into verse written for the reading community and brings a sharp eye and wry humour to the perennial subjects of love, sex and death.
Many of the poems are boldly imaginative recreations of historical events, typically centred on the sea, while the cycle of feather poems that opens the book considers the concept of manhood versus mayhem in a social setting.

Blue Sky

A baby girl is found by travelling Cheyenne. A brave and his wife bring Blue Sky up, as if she were their own, and she is happy to be one of the people, even after being told she was born of the white man.

While only in her teens she performs a coup which gives her all she had hoped for, full acceptance into the tribe and a forthcoming wedding to the brave she loves. But a jealous rival has other ideas. She arranges Blue Sky’s abduction telling her mother and father that she has run away.

Blue Sky is taken by an unscrupulous trader to a white man’s town. She is abused and enslaved but eventually finds help in the sheriff and school teacher.

Despite the risks, she comes to the aid of the Indian residents of a nearby reservation and, in so doing, encounters a brave who plots their escape from the town and reservation.

Then begins a long, dangerous and fateful journey home.

Blue Water Blue

Why are strangers travelling to St Gilberts and aiming for Rodney Leon? What do they think he knows?

St Gilberts in the Indian Ocean, dubbed; ‘The most beautiful tropical island on the planet’ is home to Rodney Leon who, having lived there for all of his 25 going on 26 years, still feels like an outsider. His heritage, inheritance, physical appearance, and occupation, all mark him out as ‘different’.

A chance find and a casual internet enquiry bring a series of ruthless emissaries to St Gilberts who threaten both Rodney and his small circle of friends. What are they looking for and why do they think Rodney knows where it is?

As Rodney and his friends struggle to work out what is happening while dealing with the escalating threats to their safety, they also find themselves confronting the big questions in life; questions to do with wealth, friendship, loyalty, love, and belonging. How they respond to those questions will irrevocably affect, not only their own lives, but that of the whole island as well.

Bluebell Cottage - Magpie Mishap

Bluebell Cottage just looked like any ordinary rural, village cottage, but it had a hidden secret. It was the home of Seth Speller and his younger sister Maisy. The hidden secret to this house was that at the bottom of the garden there was a fairy village. Seth and Maisy were the only humans to know this magical village existed. Both children had many adventures with the fairies, most of which often involved helping injured wild animals back to full health.

Bobby

Bobby is a young dragon trying to make sense of a very confusing and daunting world and all that life has to throw at him.

Follow him on his journey through all his trials and tribulations as he makes his way through life enjoying the love and encouragement of his parents.

Enjoy his success and happiness as he relishes life and all its challenges.

BoBo Hippo

From the ocean to the trees
the droplets searched with ease,
our family covers the world two-thirds at least.

Bocconcini

Bocconcini, a cornucopia of stories, a horn of plenty: youth, art, love, life, Ireland, Italy, Thailand, the macabre, the forbidden, age, and much else. 150 dives into other worlds, other moments, emotions recollected in tranquillity. Points of departure, reflection, possibly even action. New insights into the familiar, a new friend warranting a place among earlier friends.

Bogga

Who would have thought leftover broccoli from dinner would create such a friendship? After Billy discovers a Pocco, his whole world is opened up to these fantastical creatures who have exceptional powers.

Until now, this Pocco’s shyness of humans has kept them hidden, but Bogga saw that little boy’s kindness which made them brave enough to call out. That’s when Billy first saw those big, wet, eyes.

If you’re scared of dark and dusty places, fear no more, as these are Poccos’ favourite places to hide.

Bonds

Stories intertwine in a world where pirates rule the seven seas and myth-steeped islands with untapped treasure lie on the horizon.

When Luke is unsuspectingly kidnapped into a life of barbarism and piracy he finds himself with a choice: escape from his confines and live a life of freewill, or continue to fight in the gladiatorial arena to ensure the safety of his companions. Growing tension between two powerful pirate lords ensures that this choice might very well be the last he makes.

Alongside this, a young, insignificant man, Art has to try and flee an island filled with indigenous dangers. He is by no means heroic but understands that fleeing might not be his only way out. Should he have the courage, Art could save the island and its inhabitants, but doing so would pose a threat to his own life. Perhaps he’s not even brave enough to save himself.