Books published by Text Publishing

At least thirty-seven per cent of male convicts and fifteen per cent of female convicts were tattooed by the time they arrived in the penal colonies, making Australians quite possibly the world''s most heavily tattooed English-speaking people of the nineteenth century. Each convict''s details, including their tattoos, were recorded when they disembarked, providing an extensive physical account of Australia''s convict men and women. Simon Barnard has meticulously combed through those records to reveal a rich pictorial history.

World War II continues, and Ada and her brother Jamie are living with their loving legal guardian, Susan, in a borrowed cottage on the estate of the formidable Lady Thorton - now along with Lady Thorton herself and her daughter Maggie. Life in the crowded cottage is tense enough, and then, quite suddenly, Ruth, a Jewish girl from Germany, moves in. A German? The occupants of the house are horrified. But other impacts of war are far more intrusive and frightening. As death creeps closer to their door, life and morality during wartime grow more complex.

A hilarious snapshot of the immigrant experience, by a writer with a brilliant ear for the Australian way with words.

Nine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room flat. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada''s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn''t waste a minute - she sneaks out to join him. So begins a new adventure of Ada, and for Miss Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take in the two children. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan - and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie.