What does it take to be a typical farming family in the Mallee? Youngest daughter Marjorie worries about her 'nervy' mother and wants to keep it a family secret but do others have family secrets too? Anne Brinsden's 'Wearing Paper Dresses' is a wonderful read with well developed characters and a horrendous surprise.  In a digital future, old rivalries between city states show how fantastical the world has become and, yet, how familiar everything remains with people battling for control. Scott Westerfeld in his adolescent novel, 'Shatter City', has Frey searching to establish her identity and reassert control over her own future.