Our Australian Girl

Our Australian Girl - Lina

Series · 4 books · 2013

By Sally Rippin

Books in series

Meet Lina

2013

It's 1956 . . . and Lina dreams of being a writer, but her strict Italian parents have other ideas. Now that she's won a scholarship to an expensive girls school, Lina has other troubles, too. To fit in, she must keep her home life a secret, and even her best friend Mary can't know the truth. But how long can Lina keep her two worlds apart? Meet Lina and join her adventures in the first of four exciting stories about a passionate girl finding a place to belong

Lina's Many Lives

2013

It's 1956 and Lina has won a scholarship to a wonderful girls school. As hard as she tries, fitting into St Brigid's isn't easy - especially when she's the only Italian and the only student from a poor family. When she and her friend Mary have a wonderful idea, everything starts to fall into place - until the class bully gets involved, and Lina's worlds collide. Follow Lina on her adventure in the second of four exciting stories about an imaginative girl with a secret dream, finding her way in a new world.

Lina at the Games

2013

It's 1956 . . . and the Melbourne Olympic Games have finally arrived! The whole city is buzzing with excitement and Lina can't wait to go along as a reporter for the school magazine. Now is her chance to prove to everyone that she's a real writer, and nothing could be more important – until Lina makes a new friend, who changes the way she sees the world . . . Follow Lina on her adventure in the third of four exciting books about a passionate girl finding a place to belong.

A Lesson for Lina

2013

The Olympics are over, and everyone is feeling flat – including Lina. As she reads the newspaper every night with her father, Lina finds out that some of the Hungarian athletes have stayed behind and are hiding in Melbourne so they don't have to face the fighting in their homeland. Lina begins to suspect that one is being hidden by her cranky old neighbour, Mrs Bencszik. She writes an article about it and sends it to her hero, the Age journalist Stella Davis – who wants to meet her and publish the article! But Lina soon realises that Stella wants to steal the story for herself. Lina refuses to share the article, pretending instead that she made the whole thing up. But that doesn't mean that Lina's chance to be a real journalist is lost forever... When she writes down her father's life story of how he fleed Italy for fear of political persecution, her teacher secretly sends it to the newspaper. As Lina and her father settle down to read the paper together one evening, there it is. In this heartwarming conclusion to Lina's story, she comes to grips with her heritage and finally feels true pride in her family – and herself.

Author

Sally Rippin

Author · 91 books

Sally Rippin was born in Darwin, but grew up mainly in South-East Asia. As a young adult she lived in China for three years, studying traditional Chinese painting. Sally has over seventy books published, many of them award-winning, including two novels for young adults. Her most recent work includes the highly acclaimed children’s novel Angel Creek and the popular Billie B Brown books, which became the highest selling series for 6-8 year olds in Australia within the first year of their release. Sally is Australia’s highest selling female author and her Billie B Brown books have sold more than 4.5 million copies in 14 languages. Sally is a popular presenter in schools and at literary festivals both in Australia and overseas and has a regular program on 3RRR interviewing children’s authors and industry professionals. She is a passionate ambassador for the 100 Story Building creative writing centre for marginalized youth and has mentored many emerging writers and illustrators. Recently, she and her partner co-founded Story Peddlers, a hand-made performance tent that packs away into a custom-built bike, with the aim of bringing back the art of the roving storyteller.