August 2020 New Release

ISBN: 9780063074767
Title: APOCALYPSE NEVER : Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All
Author: SHELLENBERGER MICHAEL
Format: TRADE PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

Climate change is real but it's not the end of the world. It is not even our most serious environmental problem.

Michael Shellenberger has been fighting for a greener planet for decades. He helped save the world's last unprotected redwoods. He co-created the predecessor to today's Green New Deal. And he led a successful effort by climate scientists and activists to keep nuclear plants operating, preventing a spike of emissions.

But in 2019, as some claimed "billions of people are going to die," contributing to rising anxiety, including among adolescents, Shellenberger decided that, as a lifelong environmental activist, leading energy expert, and father of a teenage daughter, he needed to speak out to separate science from fiction.

Despite decades of news media attention, many remain ignorant of basic facts. Carbon emissions peaked and have been declining in most developed nations for over a decade. Deaths from extreme weather, even in poor nations, declined 80 percent over the last four decades. And the risk of Earth warming to very high temperatures is increasingly unlikely thanks to slowing population growth and abundant natural gas.

Curiously, the people who are the most alarmist about the problems also tend to oppose the obvious solutions.

What's really behind the rise of apocalyptic environmentalism There are powerful financial interests. There are desires for status and power. But most of all there is a desire among supposedly secular people for transcendence. This spiritual impulse can be natural and healthy. But in preaching fear without love, and guilt without redemption, the new religion is failing to satisfy our deepest psychological and existential needs.

Imprint: Harper Collins
RRP: $34.99

ISBN: 9780711246874
Title: ARETHA FRANKLIN (Little People, Big Dreams)
Author: VEGARA MARIA ISABEL SANCHEZ
Format: HARD COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

In this book from the critically acclaimed Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Aretha Franklin, The Queen of Soul.

The fourth of five children, Aretha was born in Tennessee and took the stage at an early age in her fathers church choir. She went on to become the bestselling rhythm and blues singer of all time, and the first woman to be installed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

This moving book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the broadcasters life.Little People, BIG DREAMS is a bestselling series of books and educational games that explore the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream.

This empowering series offers inspiring messages to children of all ages, in a range of formats. The board books are told in simple sentences, perfect for reading aloud to babies and toddlers. The hardback versions present expanded stories for beginning readers. Boxed gift sets allow you to collect a selection of the books by theme. Paper dolls, learning cards, matching games and other fun learning tools provide even more ways to make the lives of these role models accessible to children.Inspire the next generation of outstanding people who will change the world with Little People, BIG DREAMS!

Imprint: FRANCES LINCOLN
RRP: $19.99

ISBN: 9781419742439
Title: ASIAN WATERS : The Struggle Over the Indo-Pacific and the Challenge to American Power
Author: HAWKSLEY HUMPHREY
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

In the sphere of future global politics, no region will be as hotly contested as the Asia-Pacific, where great power interests collide amid the mistrust of unresolved conflicts and disputed territory. This is where authoritarian China is trying to rewrite international law and challenge the democratic values of the United States and its allies. The lightning rods of conflict are remote reefs and islands from which China has created military bases in the 1.5-million-square-mile expanse of the South China Sea, a crucial world trading route that this rising world power now claims as its own. No other Asian country can take on China alone. They look for protection from the United States, although it, too, may be ill-equipped for the job at hand. If China does get away with seizing and militarizing waters here, what will it do elsewhere in the world, and who will be able to stop it?In Asian Waters, award-winning foreign correspondent Humphrey Hawksley breaks down the politics-and tensions-that he has followed through this region for years. Reporting on decades of political developments, he has witnessed China's rise to become one of the world's most wealthy and militarized countries, and delivers in Asian Waters the compelling narrative of this most volatile region. Can the United States and China handle the changing balance of power peacefully? Do Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and Taiwan share enough common purpose to create a NATO-esque multilateral alliance? Does China think it can even become a superpower while making an enemy of America? If so, how does it plan to achieve it? Asian Waters delves into these topics and more as Hawksley presents the most comprehensive and accessible analysis ever of this region.

Imprint: ABRAMS
RRP: $24.99

ISBN: 9781509842971
Title: BRENDA IS A SHEEP
Author: HOOD MORAG
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

Brenda Is A Sheep is a massively mischievous and heart-warming story about being accepted, from Morag Hood – the creator of The Steves, I Am Bat, Aalfred and Aalbert, and author of Sophie Johnson: Unicorn Expert.

Brenda says she is a sheep, but why does she look so different from her fluffy friends? All the sheep adore Brenda. With her sharp pointy teeth and cool grey fur, she's the snazziest sheep around. But Brenda is also very hungry, and doesn't much like the taste of grass . . . she soon begins plotting the most delicious feast of all. But will the sheep notice that Brenda isn’t quite the same as them? A hilarious twist on the classic wolf-in-sheep's-clothing fable.

Imprint: MACMILLAN
RRP: $14.99

ISBN: 9781913183547
Title: CHASING THE LIGHT
Author: STONE OLIVER
Format: TRADE PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

In this powerful and evocative memoir, Oscar-winning director and screenwriter, Oliver Stone, takes us right to the heart of what it's like to make movies on the edge.

In Chasing The Light he writes about his rarefied New York childhood, volunteering for combat, and his struggles and triumphs making such films as Platoon, Midnight Express, and Scarface.

Before the international success of Platoon in 1986, Oliver Stone had been wounded as an infantryman in Vietnam, and spent years writing unproduced scripts while taking miscellaneous jobs and driving taxis in New York, finally venturing westward to Los Angeles and a new life.

Stone, now 73, recounts those formative years with vivid details of the high and low moments: we sit at the table in meetings with Al Pacino over Stone's scripts for Scarface, Platoon, and Born on the Fourth of July; relive the harrowing demon of cocaine addiction following the failure of his first feature, The Hand (starring Michael Caine); experience his risky on-the-ground research of Miami drug cartels for Scarface; and see his stormy relationship with The Deer Hunter director Michael Cimino. We also learn of the breathless hustles to finance the acclaimed and divisive Salvador; and witness tensions behind the scenes of his first Academy Award-winning film, Midnight Express.

The culmination of the book is the extraordinarily vivid recreation of filming Platoon in the depths of the Philippine jungle with Kevin Dillon, Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, Johnny Depp et al, pushing himself, the crew and the young cast almost beyond breaking point.

Written fearlessly, with intense detail and colour, Chasing the Light is a true insider's story of Hollywood's years of upheaval in the 1970s and '80s, and Stone brings this period alive as only someone at the centre of the action truly can.

Imprint: Hachette Publishers
RRP: $35.00

ISBN: 9781788736312
Title: DISOBEY ! : The Philosophy of Resistance
Author: GROS FREDERIC
Format: HARD COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

The world is out of joint, so much so that disobeying should be an urgent act for everyone. In this provocative essay, Frederic Gros explores the roots of political obedience, social conformity, economic subjection, respect for authorities, constitutional consensus. Examining the various styles of obedience provides tools to study, invent and induce new forms of civic disobedience and lyrical protest. Nothing can be taken for granted- neither supposed certainties nor social conventions, economic injustice or moral conviction. Thinking philosophically requires us to never accept truths and generalities that seem obvious it restores a sense of political responsibility. At a time when the decisions of experts are presented as the result of icy statistics and anonymous calculations, disobeying becomes an assertion of humanity. To philosophise is to disobey. This book is a call for critical democracy and ethical resistance.

Imprint: VERSO
RRP: $29.99

ISBN: 9781108484060
Title: FEEDING THE PEOPLE : The Politics of the Potato
Author: EARLE REBECCA
Format: HARD COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

Potatoes are the world's fourth most important food crop, yet they were unknown to most of humanity before 1500. Feeding the People traces the global journey of this popular foodstuff from the Andes to everywhere. The potato's global history reveals the ways in which our ideas about eating are entangled with the emergence of capitalism and its celebration of the free market. It also reminds us that ordinary people make history in ways that continue to shape our lives.

Feeding the People tells the story of how eating became part of statecraft, and provides a new account of the global spread of one of the world's most successful foods.

Imprint: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
RRP: $32.99

ISBN: 9781785302473
Title: FIN AND RYE AND FIREFLIES
Author: COOK HARRY
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

Age range 14+

A gloriously upbeat LGBTQI+ novel of love, hope and friendship - showing that although it's not always rainbows and fireflies, life's too short to be anyone but yourself...

It started with a kiss...as love stories often do. Jesse Andrews had the arms of a Greek god and he was on the track team. The night of our kiss fell on a Friday.

Then, only a few days later, Fin's world is turned upside down - and not in a good head-over-heels-in-love way - when Jesse cruelly outs him. An event which ultimately leads to his family leaving town.

But a fresh start isn't going to change the truth of who Fin is. And it's not going to stop his sexuality causing everyone all sorts of problems. Everyone, that is, apart from his new best friend Poppy, her girlfriend-in-waiting June, and his latest crush Rye...So, while Fin and Rye are enjoying some seriously intimate moonlit moments together, Fin's parents decide to pack him off to the local ReSouled 'therapy camp'.

It's a nightmare - and there's no easy way out. Can Fin's squad hatch a plan outrageous enough to spring him before the 'conversion' acolytes force him onto the straight and narrow?



'The LGBT experience isn't always as fluffy, carefree and smooth as we would want it to be. Harry's story of fighting his demons is one we need to hear.' - Matthew Todd, bestselling author of Straight Jacket on Pink Ink

'The timely story of Finn and Rye tackles some difficult but truly important themes for young readers. This tale will be an important addition to any young adult's library. Cook's heart to give young people a book that doesn't shy away from the issues that affect them clearly comes through in this unique and heartfelt book. This is a novel which, whilst fictional, also tackles timely and relevant social issues. A love story that I wish I could have read as a kid.' - Chris Csabs, co-founder of SOGICE Survivors

'Fin & Rye & Fireflies is a big-hearted queer romance that balances a beautiful optimism with a frank look at the challenges still facing queer youth. I was swept up in the love story and adventures of Fin and Rye, and I know they will be bringing smiles and fireflies to many a reader.' - Abdi Nazemian, author of Stonewall Honor Book Like a Love Story

Imprint: Newsouth Books
RRP: $17.99

ISBN: 9781760980535
Title: FLYAWAY
Author: JENNINGS KATHLEEN
Format: TRADE PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

'A superbly told tale of folklore-infused fantasy, full of rising dread, set in a sharply observed Australian outback town.' Garth Nix

Strange what chooses to flourish here. Which plants. Which stories.

Bettina Scott lives a tidy, quiet life in Runagate, tending to her delicate mother and their well-kept garden after her father and brothers disappear - until a note arrives that sends Bettina into the scrublands beyond, searching for answers about what really happened to this town, and to her family.

For this is a land where superstitions hunt and folk tales dream - and power is there for the taking, for those willing to look.

Imprint: Picador
RRP: $24.99

ISBN: 9781473693401
Title: GALLOWS ROCK
Author: SIGURDARDOTTIR YRSA
Format: TRADE PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

On a jagged, bleak lava field just outside Reykjavik stands the Gallows Rock. Once a place of execution, it is now a tourist attraction. Until this morning, when a man was found hanging from it...

The nail embedded in his chest proves it wasn't suicide. But when the police go to his flat, a further puzzle awaits: a four-year-old boy has been left there. He doesn't seem to have any link with the victim, his parents cannot be found, and his drawings show he witnessed something terrible.

As detective Huldar hunts the killer, and child psychologist Freyja looks for the boy's parents, the mystery unfolds: a story of violence, entitlement, and revenge.

Praise for Yrsa Sigurdardottir

'Iceland's outstanding crime novelist' Daily Express

'A magnificent writer' Karin Slaughter

'The undisputed queen of Icelandic Noir' Simon Kernick

'Believe all the hype - this is crime at its best.' Heat

Imprint: Hodder and Stoughton
RRP: $32.99

ISBN: 9781784709914
Title: GARDEN JUNGLE : or Gardening to Save the Planet
Author: GOULSON DAVE
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

The Garden Jungle is a wonderful introduction to the hundreds of small creatures with whom we live cheek-by-jowl, ranging from earwigs to worms to moths to hoverflies - and bees, of course -and of the myriad ways that we can encourage them to thrive.

The Garden Jungle is about the wildlife that lives right under our noses, in our gardens and parks, between the gaps in the pavement, and in the soil beneath our feet. Wherever you are right now, the chances are that there are worms, woodlice, centipedes, flies, silverfish, wasps, beetles, mice, shrews and much, much more, quietly living within just a few paces of you.

Dave Goulson gives us an insight into the fascinating and sometimes weird lives of these creatures, taking us burrowing into the compost heap, digging under the lawn and diving into the garden pond. He explains how our lives and ultimately the fate of humankind are inextricably intertwined with that of earwigs, bees, lacewings and hoverflies, unappreciated heroes of the natural world.

The Garden Jungle is at times an immensely serious book, exploring the environmental harm inadvertently done by gardeners who buy intensively reared plants in disposable plastic pots, sprayed with pesticides and grown in peat cut from the ground. Goulson argues that gardens could become places where we can reconnect with nature and rediscover where food comes from. With just a few small changes, our gardens could become a vast network of tiny nature reserves, where humans and wildlife can thrive together in harmony rather than conflict.

For anyone who has a garden, and cares about our planet, this book is essential reading.

Imprint: Vintage
RRP: $19.99

ISBN: 9781925700879
Title: GLIMPSES OF UTOPIA : Real Ideas for a Fairer World
Author: SCULLY JESS
Format: TRADE PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

It's hard to be excited about the future right now. Climate change is accelerating; inequality is growing; politics is polarised; institutions designed to protect us are strained; technology is disrupting the world of work. We need to upgrade the operating systems of our society. Jess Scully asks, What can we do? The answer is- plenty! All over the world, people are refusing the business-as-usual mindset and putting humans back into the civic equation, reimagining work and care, finance and government, urban planning and communication, to make them better and fairer for all.
Meet the care workers reclaiming control in India and Lebanon, the people turning slums into safe havens in Kenya and Bangladesh, and champions of people-powered digital democracy in Iceland and Taiwan. There are radical bankers funding renewable energy in the USA and architects redesigning real estate in Australia, new payment systems in Italy and the Philippines that keep money in local communities, and innovators redesigning taxation to cut pollution and incentivise creative solutions.
Glimpses of Utopia is a call for optimism. Humans everywhere are rising up to confront our challenges with creativity, resilience and compassion. Harnessing technology and imagination, we can reshape our world to be fair and sustainable. This book shows us how.

Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing
RRP: $32.99