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Wasted?
IS IT WASTED? OR A NEW OPPORTUNITY?
Faced with visa challenges, the asylum seekers prove to be innovators, not victims. Drawing on their resources, they repurpose, recycle and re-create a new state trading bio-fuel via the mid-ocean garbage patches. Teenage Kit illustrates how you can draw a new future as activists turn to science. But what happens in this new world order?
About the
Although known for There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake series, Hazel Edwards writes across genres and has an OAM for literature. Topical issues novels include Fake ID, which was screen optioned and translated into Tamil. Her Australian Antarctic expeditioner experience was relevant for the Wasted? #Clific setting and also the earlier Antarctica’s Frozen Chosen. Her scientific contacts suggested plot twists and checked the manuscript.
Faced with visa challenges, the asylum seekers prove to be innovators, not victims. Drawing on their resources, they repurpose, recycle and re-create a new state trading bio-fuel via the mid-ocean garbage patches. Teenage Kit illustrates how you can draw a new future as activists turn to science. But what happens in this new world order?
About the
Although known for There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake series, Hazel Edwards writes across genres and has an OAM for literature. Topical issues novels include Fake ID, which was screen optioned and translated into Tamil. Her Australian Antarctic expeditioner experience was relevant for the Wasted? #Clific setting and also the earlier Antarctica’s Frozen Chosen. Her scientific contacts suggested plot twists and checked the manuscript.
250 pages, Paperback
Published August 26, 2024
7 people want to read
About the author
Hazel Edwards
173 books95 followersHazel is a readaholic, author and Reading Ambassador.
She’s best known for the children’s classic ‘There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake’ which inspired ' Hippo! Hippo! the, Musical'' produced by Garry Ginivan which toured nationally.
Dec 2025 , The Guardian newspaper listed 'There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake' in the top 50 Australian picture books. In January 2026 voting in the Guardian poll will close for the top picture book.
2026 will celebrate the 46th year of this picture book.
Her unconventional memoir 'Not Just a Piece of Cake-Being an Author' (AUDIBLE and from www.ligatu _re as part of UnTapped project of historical Australian literature. ).
'Wasted?' a YA/adult cross over #Clific novel is her latest, set around the Garbage Patches, mid ocean where Asylum Seekers trade bio fuel to form a new State and gain visas. In dsylexi font from ReadHowYouWant and being adapted for screen.
Adult murder mystery 'Celebrant Sleuth: I do...or die' with asexual sleuth Quinn is currently on AUDIBLE ,read by the author from print & e versions. 'Wed,Then Dead on The Ghan' is a mini-sequel , commissioned by ABC audio and currently being adapted as a screenplay.
Hazel mentors her 'Hazelnuts' and helps people craft their ancestry in her popular workshops ‘Writing a Non- Boring Family History’, and 'Complete Your Book in a Year'.
'Fake I.D.' a family history mystery YA novel was translated into Tamil by Cre-A in Chennai.
Hazel’s 2001 Antarctic expedition inspired the young adult eco-thriller 'Antarctica's Frozen Chosen', picture book ‘Antarctic Dad’ (reprinted by Kipas) and the memoir, ‘Antarctic Writer on Ice’. Reading about Antarctica is a hobby.
Recently AmbaPress.com.au re-issued updated script collections of Hazel's class plays including 'Grief and Loss in Schools' , 'Issues' and 'Workplays' as well as 'Kaleidoscope of Ideas for Gifted students'. Authorpreneurship' and 'Writing for Young People' have been popular.
Hazel writes a new story for each of her four grandsons each birthday. 'Go Go Gecko' is latest and is being translated.
She’s best known for the children’s classic ‘There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake’ which inspired ' Hippo! Hippo! the, Musical'' produced by Garry Ginivan which toured nationally.
Dec 2025 , The Guardian newspaper listed 'There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake' in the top 50 Australian picture books. In January 2026 voting in the Guardian poll will close for the top picture book.
2026 will celebrate the 46th year of this picture book.
Her unconventional memoir 'Not Just a Piece of Cake-Being an Author' (AUDIBLE and from www.ligatu _re as part of UnTapped project of historical Australian literature. ).
'Wasted?' a YA/adult cross over #Clific novel is her latest, set around the Garbage Patches, mid ocean where Asylum Seekers trade bio fuel to form a new State and gain visas. In dsylexi font from ReadHowYouWant and being adapted for screen.
Adult murder mystery 'Celebrant Sleuth: I do...or die' with asexual sleuth Quinn is currently on AUDIBLE ,read by the author from print & e versions. 'Wed,Then Dead on The Ghan' is a mini-sequel , commissioned by ABC audio and currently being adapted as a screenplay.
Hazel mentors her 'Hazelnuts' and helps people craft their ancestry in her popular workshops ‘Writing a Non- Boring Family History’, and 'Complete Your Book in a Year'.
'Fake I.D.' a family history mystery YA novel was translated into Tamil by Cre-A in Chennai.
Hazel’s 2001 Antarctic expedition inspired the young adult eco-thriller 'Antarctica's Frozen Chosen', picture book ‘Antarctic Dad’ (reprinted by Kipas) and the memoir, ‘Antarctic Writer on Ice’. Reading about Antarctica is a hobby.
Recently AmbaPress.com.au re-issued updated script collections of Hazel's class plays including 'Grief and Loss in Schools' , 'Issues' and 'Workplays' as well as 'Kaleidoscope of Ideas for Gifted students'. Authorpreneurship' and 'Writing for Young People' have been popular.
Hazel writes a new story for each of her four grandsons each birthday. 'Go Go Gecko' is latest and is being translated.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 27, 2024
What a very interesting world this story has. The creation of a garbage recycling centre in the middle of the ocean allowing refugees and asylum seekers work that can lead towards gaining visas and keep them from the camps.
A boy goes to join his mother who lives there, leaving from where he and his father had lived.
I found the build up to the end was well paced and I think the book would be a good one to help trigger thought on issues to do with consequences of war, of scientific developments and how to assess risk, of greed, and the different ways people think.
A boy goes to join his mother who lives there, leaving from where he and his father had lived.
I found the build up to the end was well paced and I think the book would be a good one to help trigger thought on issues to do with consequences of war, of scientific developments and how to assess risk, of greed, and the different ways people think.
October 24, 2024
What a fantastic concept. I have heard of the "island" out in the Pacific ocean, a literal island of plastic waste that grows bigger by the day. What could you do with it? You could live on it! Hazel Edwards has explored an exciting new idea, with a feisty main character. How would YOU live on an island of plastic, or a boat attached to it?
December 9, 2024
Wasted? tackles one of the most pressing environmental crises of our time: specifically the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world; a massive floating island of debris known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
My Christmas holiday task is to search for new books suitable for older primary students/YA that tackle the causes, consequences, and potential solutions for current environmental issues that could be recommended to teachers seeking texts that support inquiry-based learning. This book certainly presents problems that require critical and creative thinking by the characters.
I was delighted to discover that up-to-date research unpins the narrative. Explanations of current scientific research are deftly woven into the text and don't detract from the plot.
Students learn, understand, and remember so much more when they think actively about the text and Wasted? certainly encourages students to do this.
A 12 year old relative who I loaned my copy to said, "I really liked this book because gave me some ideas but I still have heaps of questions about what we can do!"
My Christmas holiday task is to search for new books suitable for older primary students/YA that tackle the causes, consequences, and potential solutions for current environmental issues that could be recommended to teachers seeking texts that support inquiry-based learning. This book certainly presents problems that require critical and creative thinking by the characters.
I was delighted to discover that up-to-date research unpins the narrative. Explanations of current scientific research are deftly woven into the text and don't detract from the plot.
Students learn, understand, and remember so much more when they think actively about the text and Wasted? certainly encourages students to do this.
A 12 year old relative who I loaned my copy to said, "I really liked this book because gave me some ideas but I still have heaps of questions about what we can do!"
October 26, 2024
Wasted is a unique, divergent approach to refugees and environmental issues. It is set in a new state, the garbage patch, and is backed by research into oceans, calcification, diatoms and much more. I learnt so much from it, but it’s not a book of facts, it’s a story. A teenage boy, clever scientists, refugees looking for a place to belong, and a cat, with a possible murder to solve. The book gives hope for a different future for refugees, as their gifts come together in a mind-blowing way. The author doesn’t provide answers; the point is that we can work together in new ways to find solutions.
Recommended for readers of 11+, who like thinking differently and learning about the world., and teachers who want to pick up some of these themes.
Recommended for readers of 11+, who like thinking differently and learning about the world., and teachers who want to pick up some of these themes.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews