I'm beginning to realise that things don't turn our the way you want them to. And sometimes when they don't, they can turn out just a little bit better.
Every so often, there comes a story so brilliant and lively and moving that it cannot be left in the past. Rediscover the magic of our country's most memorable children's books in the Penguin Australia Children's Classics series of stories too precious to leave behind.

Melina Marchetta is an internationally bestselling and award-winning author in more than twenty countries and eighteen languages. Her eighteen books range from beloved young adult fiction and fantasy through to contemporary and crime fiction, and works for younger readers. Her much-loved Australian classic Looking for Alibrandi swept the pool of literary awards when it was published, and was also released as a film, adapted by Marchetta, winning an AFI Award and an Independent Film Award for best screenplay, as well as the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award and the Film Critics Circle of Australia Award. In 2009 Marchetta won the prestigious Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association. Her most recent novel is The Place on Dalhousie. She lives in Sydney.