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YOUNG ADULT
The Simple Gift
Steven Herrick
UQP, A$19.95

 Encouraging some young adults to read can be tricky, so breaking the narrative into verse form, as it is here, may assist digestion. Rereleased after 13 years, The Simple Gift has lost none of its poignancy. It's the story of 16-year-old Billy who escapes his violent father and travels to a small town. Friendships with a local girl and a homeless man make him appreciate small acts of compassion.


<p></p>SOCIAL SCIENCES
Farmageddon - The True Cost of Cheap Meat
Philip Lymbery (with Isabel Oakeshott)
Bloomsbury, A$29.99

 This is a comprehensive worldwide look at some of the intensive practices where industrial agricultural policies (large concentration of factory farming in megalots, widespread use of antibiotics) have resulted in animal cruelty; a devastated landscape and wildlife; and wasteful, inefficient means of producing food.
<p></p>BIOGRAPHY

 Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products
Leander Kahney
Penguin, A$29.99

 Everyone's heard of Steve Jobs, but what about Jony Ive? His full title at Apple is ''senior vice-president of industrial design''. Leander Kahney is certainly a fan; within the first page he's already calling him ''the world's most celebrated designer''. This straightforward biography emphasises Ive's passion for his job, his team-player spirit and shy but focused personality.
THE BOOK THAT CHANGED ME
T.M. Clark


 Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
I remember this being read to me, and my heart beating at the trials and tribulations ofthis magnificent horse. This book made me a kinder person towards all animals. It put me inside their heads and I saw from Black's point of view just how much they could endure. What also probably helped was the smack I got with a riding crop to see how it felt for them. Seriously, those things should be banned.

Tina Marie Clark grew up in Africa. Her debut novel, My Brother-But-One (Harlequin Mira), explores the violence and traditions of rural Africa.