Secrets lurk in the shadows of a kingdom where the Queen has never shown her face. Raiona once had a democracy, but after an uprising forced the president out of power, a monarchy was formed. The kingdom is home to legends and corruption, and 17-year-old Mavis Caverly finds herself in the midst of a conspiracy. An odd purple question mark tattooed on her wrist has served as proof that she is different. She has spent her whole life looking for answers about the origin and meaning of the mark, and when a mysterious stranger arrives in her city, the truth seems to be on the horizon. Mavis embarks on a journey across the kingdom uncovering the dark history of Raiona, and the crimes that the unseen Queen has committed. Along the way she realizes just how different she is, how important she truly is to the future of her kingdom, and that the Queen will do whatever it takes to find her.

Originally published: Newtown, N.S.W.: Walker Books Australia, 2010.

With her knack for seeing the positive, six-year-old Violet anticipates extraordinary results after getting her tonsils removed, such as making a special new friend and turning her everyday voice into an opera voice.

After the events that occurred at the queen's ball, Mavis has become the symbol of a potential uprising being waged in her name. Raiona has become a kingdom of dark government secrets and political games that she has found herself in the middle of. In an attempt to keep the queen from obtaining the dangerous secrets that the lost president hid within the kingdom before the democracy was destroyed, Mavis races across Raiona, unlocking the president's relics and stitching the jagged pieces of history back together. In a story of thrilling adventure, Mavis must decide if the weapon inside of her is strong enough to break through the corruption to get to the truth, or if she will succumb to the wills of the wicked.

As the youngest in her family, seven-year-old Violet identifies with small creatures in the natural world, but when she tries to help special ladybug, she learns an important lesson about animal habitats.

A pitch-perfect, emotionally riveting novel about the fracturing of a marriage and a family: “A gripping debut” (People) from an award-winning young writer with superb storytelling instincts. Life hasn’t always been perfect for Abe and Cassandra Green, but an afternoon on the San Francisco Bay might be as good as it gets. Abe is a rheumatologist, piloting his coveted new boat. Cassandra is a sculptor, finally gaining modest attention for her art. Their beautiful daughter Elizabeth is heading to Harvard in the fall. Somehow, they’ve made things work. But then, tensions overflow, and they plunge into a terrible fight. In a fit of fury, Abe throws himself off the boat. “A bittersweet tale of breakup and forgiveness” (O, The Oprah Magazine), The Violet Hour follows a modern family through past and present. As Cassandra, Abe, and Elizabeth navigate the passage of time—the expectations of youth, the concessions of middle age, the headiness of desire, the bitterness of loss—they must come to terms with the fragility of their intimacy, the strange legacies they inherit from their parents, and the kind of people they want to be. Exquisitely written, The Violet Hour is “a rewarding family saga reminiscent of Anne Tyler’s novels...Hill’s story unfurls from the kind of sensational marital spat that makes you feel better about your own imperfect union…wonderfully witty and assured” (The Washington Post Book World).