Murphy Parker is going to be a songwriter – if she can ever find the courage to let anyone hear her music. When Murphy dares to play one of her songs in a music class, she’s shocked by how much her classmates love it. And her. That is, until the next day, when they hear a suspiciously similar tune and accuse Murphy of stealing.

The chief creative officer of Sony Music presents a candid assessment of his life and the past half-century of popular music from an insider's perspective, tracing his work with a wide array of stars and personalities.

From the beloved host and creator of NPR’s All Songs Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts comes an essential oral history of modern music, told in the voices of iconic and up-and-coming musicians, including Dave Grohl, Jimmy Page, Michael Stipe, Carrie Brownstein, Smokey Robinson, and Jeff Tweedy, among others—published in association with NPR Music. Is there a unforgettable song that changed your life? NPR’s renowned music authority Bob Boilen posed this question to some of today’s best-loved musical legends and rising stars. In Your Song Changed My Life, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), St. Vincent, Jónsi (Sigur Rós), Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Cat Power, David Byrne (Talking Heads), Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), Jenny Lewis, Carrie Brownstein (Portlandia, Sleater-Kinney), Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), Colin Meloy (The Decemberists), Trey Anastasio (Phish), Jackson Browne, Valerie June, Philip Glass, James Blake, and other artists reflect on pivotal moments that inspired their work. For Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, it was discovering his sister’s 45 of The Byrds’ “Turn, Turn, Turn.” A young St. Vincent’s life changed the day a box of CDs literally fell off a delivery truck in front of her house. Cat Stevens was transformed when he heard John Lennon cover “Twist and Shout.” These are the momentous yet unmarked events that have shaped these and many other musical talents, and ultimately the sound of modern music. A diverse collection of personal experiences, both ordinary and extraordinary, Your Song Changed My Life illustrates the ways in which music is revived, restored, and revolutionized. It is also a testament to the power of music in our lives, and an inspiration for future artists and music lovers. Amazing contributors include: Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney, Portlandia, Wild Flag), Smokey Robinson, David Byrne (Talking Heads), St. Vincent, Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), James Blake, Colin Meloy (The Decemberists), Trey Anastasio (Phish), Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley), Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), Sturgill Simpson, Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Cat Power, Jackson Browne, Michael Stipe (R.E.M.), Philip Glass, Jónsi (Sigur Rós), Hozier, Regina Carter, Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes, and others), Courtney Barnett, Chris Thile (Nickel Creek, Punch Brothers), Leon Bridges, Sharon Van Etten, and many more.

Twelve days. Five kids. Many special effects. One giant mystery. Hayley Whelan has spent her whole life dreaming of making a horror movie - and not just the type of movie that kids make on their dodgy second-hand iPhones. When her grandma passes away, she inherits the money for a proper, grown-up camera. But before Hayley even calls 'Action!', strange things start happening . . .Someone is sabotaging Hayley's movie - but who? Why? And can Hayley finish her movie in time for the premiere? From Australia's brightest new middle-grade talent comes this love song to movies, friendship and the summer holidays.

“Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand.” —Stevie Wonder, “Sir Duke” In 2003, young professor Ferentz LaFargue traveled to Paris, where his fiancée, Tricia, declared she wasn’t happy with their relationship, ending what he thought was a wonderful engagement. After days of “craying”—“that sorrow-laden blend of crying and praying delivered in perfect pitch by those in mourning”—Ferentz happened upon Stevie Wonder’s 1976 classic double album Songs in the Key of Life. Listening to it anew was a healing, spiritual trip down memory lane, helping him to come to terms with his breakup and reflect on how songs in general have been linked to his life. In this book, Ferentz invites us to get cozy and listen as he hits PLAY on meaningful tracks from Wonder and others, including Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, LL Cool J, Beenie Man, Sheryl Crow, Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway, and Black Sabbath. He recalls: How the fusion of rock and rap in the breakthrough Run-D.M.C./Aerosmith video “Walk This Way” helped to change an adolescent Ferentz from outcast to authority figure How Michael Jackson’s Thriller brought back a traumatic childhood experience How Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks” speaks to the tension between his Christian beliefs and his need to rip it up in clubs as a hip-hop head In the tradition of Nick Hornby’s Songbook¸ these words paint a portrait of a life framed by sounds, allowing all of us to think about what songs have been key in our own lives.

The launch of a funny new series about three 12-year-old best friends who start a babysitting club in their small California town. No parents. Unlimited snacks. And, okay, occasionally watching other people's children. What could possibly go wrong?

How do we get students to "ache with caring" about their writing instead of mechanically stringing words together? We spend a lot of time teaching the craft of writing but we also need to devote time to helping students write with purpose and meaning. For decades, Georgia Heard has guided students into more authentic writing experiences by using heart maps to explore what we all hold inside: feelings, passions, vulnerabilities, and wonderings. In Heart Maps, Georgia shares 20 unique, multi-genre heart maps to help your students write from the heart, such as the First Time Heart Map, Family Quilt Heart Map, and People I Admire Heart Map. You'll also find extensive support for using heart maps, including: tips for getting started with heart maps writing ideas to jumpstart student writing in multiple genres from heart maps suggested mentor texts to provide additional inspiration. Filled with full-color student heart maps, examples of the resulting writing, along with online access to 20 different uniquely designed reproducible heart map templates, Heart Maps will be a practical tool for awakening new writing possibilities and engaging and motivating your students' writing throughout the year.

Learn about music and emotion in this beautifully produced anthology Do you remember the first time you discovered an artist you really loved? Have you listened to them over and over again at different points throughout your life? This book harnesses that feeling, by collecting together 80 of music's finest artists to guide young people through the good, bad and sad times. Whatever the feeling, these artists have been there and sung about it. Organised by mood, young ones can dip into the library to discover new artists from decades past to present day. Fall in love with Mariah Carey, shout about it with Nirvana, love yourself with Lizzo, or cry it out with Adele. With 80 artists, bands, and composers from all genres (including classical) there's something for every family member to love and recommend to the next generation. Each entry contains biographical information on each artist, lists must-hear songs, and has accessible musical analysis from author and journalist Myles Tanzer. Every artist is captured in full-colour, rocking art by Ali Mac. With information at the front on how to soundtrack your mood, and information at the back on how to listen to and make your own music. A pitch-perfect first introduction to music for tweens.

Neil Peart decided to drive his BMW Z-8 automobile from L.A. to Big Bend National Park, in Southwest Texas. As he sped along “between the gas-gulping SUVs and asthmatic Japanese compacts clumping in the left lane, and the roaring, straining semis in the right,” he acted as his own DJ, lining up the CDs chronologically and according to his possible moods. “Not only did the music I listened to accompany my journey, but it also took me on sidetrips, through memory and fractals of associations, threads reaching back through my whole life in ways I had forgotten, or had never suspected…. Sifting through those decades and those memories, I realized that I wasn’t interested in recounting the facts of my life in purely autobiographical terms, but rather … in trying to unweave the fabric of my life and times. As one who was never much interested in looking back, because always too busy moving forward, I found that once I opened those doors to the past, I became fascinated with the times and their effect on me. The songs and the stories I had taken for granted suddenly had a resonance that had clearly echoed down the corridors of my entire life, and I felt a thrill of recognition, and the sense of a kind of adventure. A travel story, but not so much about places, but about music and memories.”

"Australian author Tristan Bancks has created a fictional but thoroughly researched, fast paced, suspenseful and ultimately hopeful story." - Better Reading Sima and her family are pressed to the rough, cold ground among fifty others. They lie next to the tall fence designed to keep them in. The wires are cut one by one. When they make their escape, a guard raises the alarm. Shouting, smoke bombs, people tackled to the ground. In the chaos Sima loses her parents. Dad told her to run, so she does, hiding in a school and triggering a lockdown. A boy, Dan, finds her hiding in the toilet block. What should he do? Help her? Dob her in? She's breaking the law, but is it right to lock kids up? And if he helps, should Sima trust him? Or run? THIS MOMENT, THESE DECISIONS, WILL CHANGE THE COURSE OF THEIR LIVES. *CBCA Book of the Year Awards - Notable Book 2020* *NSW Premier's Literary Awards - Shortlisted 2020* *ABIA Book of the Year for Older Children - Shortlisted 2020* *YABBA Children's Choice Awards Fiction for Years 7-9 - Shortlisted 2020* *Queensland Literary Awards Griffith University Children's Book Award - Shortlisted 2020* ________________________________ "A raw and authentic exploration of human connection ... gripping, insightful and compassionate." Megan Daley, Children's Books Daily "This is a little book that packs a big punch!" Bronwyn Eley, Booktopia "As a piece of literature, this is exceptional. As a narrative about the hearts and minds of Australians in 2019, it is a masterpiece." Others Magazine ________________________________ Also by Tristan Bancks: Scar Town Two Wolves The Fall Detention Cop and Robber Ginger Meggs Nit Boy Mac Slater 1: Coolhunter Mac Slater 2: Imaginator Tom Weekly 1: My Life and Other Stuff I Made Up Tom Weekly 2: My Life and Other Stuff That Went Wrong Tom Weekly 3: My Life and Other Massive Mistakes Tom Weekly 4: My Life and Other Exploding Chickens Tom Weekly 5: My Life and Other Weaponised Muffins Tom Weekly 6: My Life and Other Failed Experiments