Margins
Secret Histories book cover 1
Secret Histories book cover 2
Secret Histories book cover 3
Secret Histories
Series · 4 books · 2015-2019

Books in series

Birrung the Secret Friend book cover
#1

Birrung the Secret Friend

2015

Barney Bean has secrets; so secret they have not been spoken about for over two hundred years. What is his secret about Birrung, the Indigenous girl who was adopted by the colony's first clergyman, Richard Johnson? First book of the Secret History series.
Barney and the Secret of the Whales book cover
#2

Barney and the Secret of the Whales

2016

The second book in a series that explores little-known history about Australia's fascinating past. Barney Bean is keen to make his fortune and he hears a secret; a sailor's secret about the treasure of the colony. But how can chasing whales make you rich? Is adventure at sea worth leaving everything he loves? Written by award-winning author Jackie French and superbly illustrated by Mark Wilson, this second book in The Secret Histories series explores how the early colony survived with the wealth from whaling, a little-known secret from Australia's past.
Barney and the Secret of the French Spies book cover
#4

Barney and the Secret of the French Spies

2018

The new title in the critically acclaimed series that explores Australia's early Colonial secret history In 1798 orphaned Barney Bean now has a flourishing farm in the New South Wales colony and everything he ever dreamed of ... except his childhood friend Elsie. But when Elsie falls ill and Barney rushes to be by her side, he finally learns the deadly secret she has been hiding. Who is this strange and beautiful girl who will not speak? And could France ever attack the isolated colony? Written by award-winning author Jackie French and superbly illustrated by Mark Wilson, this fourth book in The Secret Histories series explores extraordinary and untold stories from Australia's past, including the female French botanist who could only work disguised as a man, French and English spies, and wars between two empires that threatened even a far-off colony.
The Secret of the Youngest Rebel book cover
#5

The Secret of the Youngest Rebel

2019

The whisper in the darkness is: rebellion! (Or: death or liberty!) Frog is an orphan, a pickpocket, starving on the streets of Parramatta in 1804. But when the tall, commanding Irish rebel Mr Cunningham talks of freedom from tyranny and the lash, Frog creeps out to join the rebels, the 10,000 convicts who will take over the colony and proclaim the Republic of New Ireland. Will farmers like Barney and Elsie Bean join the battle against the corrupt New South Wales Corps? For the fate of the colony - and Australia - will be decided at Castle Hill. Based on eyewitness accounts, this fifth title in The Secret Histories series uncovers the secrets that the colonial government hid for over 200 years.

Author

Jackie French
Jackie French
Author · 157 books
Jackie is an award-winning writer, wombat negotiator and the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2014-2015. She is regarded as one of Australia’s most popular children’s authors, and writes across all genres - from picture books, history, fantasy, ecology and sci-fi to her much loved historical fiction. In her capacity as Australian Children’s Laureate, ‘Share a Story’ will be the primary philosophy behind Jackie’s two-year term.
548 Market St PMB 65688, San Francisco California 94104-5401 USA
© 2025 Paratext Inc. All rights reserved
Secret Histories