Morris Gleitzman 
Gift of the Gab 
from the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2018 and 2019

‘Readers can’t get enough of him.’ The Independent It’s a normal week for Rowena Batts.A car full of stewed apples. A police cell. A struggle to keep Dad off national TV.Then her world turns upside down.Rowena, a girl who can’t speak, sets out to uncover the truth behind her mother’s death, which may be connected to a big family secret her dad is too ashamed to admit … until it ends up on the news.Escaping to France alongside her dad to avoid media attention, Rowena embarks on a quest to find the person responsible. This touching story is filled with humour and emotional depth as Rowena navigates a foreign language and culture, while finding her own voice and inner strength. ——————PRAISE FOR MORRIS GLEITZMAN’A brilliantly funny writer’ Sunday Telegraph’A virtuoso demonstration of how you can make comedy out of the most unlikely subject’ Sunday Times’He is one of the finest examples of a writer who can make humour stem from the things that really matter in life.’ The Guardian