Melissa Merchant

There is something strange happening on Leighton Beach in Western Australia. A little toy zebra has washed up on the shore and Chitty-Chitty, the Willy-wagtail, has heard his child crying for him. With her friends - the forgotten toys in the Museum, Hanneen, Mous and Pauline, and an unexpected arrival, Raggedy Annie - Chitty-Chitty embarks on a journey to save him and return him to his child before the magic fades and the toys must return to their long, deep sleep. The Great Snottygobble, whose powers have summoned them all, has given them a difficult task to perform and they’re not sure they are up to it. For, alarmingly, Mugga, the Tasmanian Tiger, is on the loose, also summoned it seems by the Great Snottygobble. With the magic fading fast, they have to rescue the little zebra … but can they do it in time?

No Names, No Pack Drill is set in the Sydney summer of 1942 and looks at the effect of the so-called “Yankee invasion” during World War II. The story focuses on Kathy, a young married woman who lives in Kings Cross, who wakes up the morning after a party to find a US marine asleep on her couch. He is absent-without-leave, looking for a way back to the US – and what happens next changes the trajectory of both their lives.