Books
Waking Romeo
What if Juliet Capulet met someone who made her doubt true love? What if Wuthering Heights was a message to a time traveller? A cosmic reimagining of Romeo and Juliet and homage to two literary classics in a compelling novel about fate, love and time travel from an award-winning author.
It's the end of the world. Literally. Time travel is possible, but only forwards. And only a handful of families choose to remain in the 'now', living off the scraps that were left behind. Among these are eighteen-year-old Juliet and the love of her life, Romeo. But things are far from rosy for Jules. Romeo is in a coma and she's estranged from her friends and family, dealing with the very real fallout of their wild romance. Then a handsome time traveller, Ellis, arrives with an important mission that makes Jules question everything she knows about life and love. Can Jules wake Romeo and rewrite her future?
A highly original mashup that delights as it disorients ... and asks what would have happened if two great literary love stories were somehow intertwined?
‘Waking Romeo is a stunning reimagining of the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet - meets Wutheirng Heights,
meets epic time-travelling extravaganza.’
Books+Publishing
‘Original, ambitious, powerful... Barker’s ability to challenge the boundaries of genre and find light in the darkness is a gift.’
Melina Marchetta
‘A genre-bending masterpiece... I freaking loved every minute.’
Lili Wilkinson
‘The most beautiful, moving and rigorously plotted time travel novel I have ever read.’
Justine Larbalestier
In the Skin of a Monster
What if your identical twin sister was a murderer? Does that make you a monster too?
A profound, intense, heartbreaking fantasy that tackles issues of fate versus free will, and whether you can ever truly know someone.
Three years ago, Alice's identical twin sister took a gun to school and killed seven innocent kids; now Alice wears the same face as a monster. She's struggling with her identity, and with life in the small Australian town where everyone was touched by the tragedy. Just as Alice thinks things can't get much worse, she encounters her sister on a deserted highway. But all is not what it seems, and Alice soon discovers that she has stepped into a different reality, a dream world, where she's trapped with the nightmares of everyone in the community. Alice is forced to confront the true impact of everything that happened the day her twin sister took a gun to school and to reveal her own secret to the boy who hates her most.
WINNER: 2015 Aurealis Award, Best Young Adult Novel
'One of the most original novels I've read for a long while. Great voices. Complex relationships. Just what I love to read.'
Melina Marchetta