A Tiny Light (Alison Lester, UQP)
Tuesday, 23 August 2022
It’s always a delight when Alison Lester, one of Australia’s most well loved picture-book creators, releases a new story. A Tiny Light is her latest offering, a charming narrative in...
Willowman (Inga Simpson, Hachette)
Tuesday, 23 August 2022
In Inga Simpson’s heartfelt new novel Willowman, a gifted young cricketer and a dedicated batmaker live their lives in parallel to one another, their love of the game binding them...
Berani (Michelle Kadarusman, A&U)
Saturday, 20 August 2022
Berani is a powerful middle-grade story about animal activism set in Indonesia, by the Indonesian-Australian author of Music for Tigers. Weaving in two interconnected stories and three voices, including that...
Diary of a Rescued Wombat (Jackie French, illus by Bruce Whatley, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 16 August 2022
Who says prequels are only for YA epics and fantasy novel franchises? Jackie French and Bruce Whatley have decided it’s time for us to learn the backstory of the protagonist...
Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here (Heather Rose, A&U)
Tuesday, 16 August 2022
At the age of six, Heather Rose stood under a eucalyptus tree and pledged herself to a higher power: ‘I’m ready. Tell me what to do.’ Throughout her childhood in...
The Reindeer and the Submarine (Beverley McWilliams, Pantera)
Tuesday, 16 August 2022
Having previously been awarded a notable CBCA commendation for her picture book on aviator Captain Harry Butler, Beverley McWilliams now makes a quirky and charming foray into middle-grade fiction. The...
The Soulmate (Sally Hepworth, Macmillan)
Tuesday, 16 August 2022
Sally Hepworth delivers another brilliant, page-turning domestic thriller with her eighth novel The Soulmate. Set in the idyllic coastal town of Portsea, sheltered from the hustle of city life, the...
To Greenland! (Pip Smith, illus by Beau Wylie, Scholastic)
Tuesday, 9 August 2022
To Greenland! is the joyous new picture book from Pip Smith and Beau Wylie, who last collaborated on Theodore the Unsure. This new adventure follows Ellie the elephant, who resides...
The Glass House (Brooke Dunnell, Fremantle Press)
Tuesday, 9 August 2022
When Julia’s elderly father, Don, finally agrees to move out of the family home and into an aged-care facility, Julia knows she has a lot of work ahead of her....
Boundary Crossers (Meg Foster, NewSouth)
Tuesday, 9 August 2022
In her new book Boundary Crossers, historian Meg Foster combs archives and family histories to explore questions surrounding the lesser known bushrangers of Australian history. Is there more to the story...
The Lovers (Yumna Kassab, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 9 August 2022
Yumna Kassab’s The Lovers is the folkloric tale of Jamila and Amir’s love. We don’t know many details of their relationship or what their love was like at its crescendo;...
The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding (Holly Ringland, Fourth Estate)
Tuesday, 26 July 2022
Esther Wilding grows up in the shadow of her older sister Aura. When the once-sparkling Aura returns from Copenhagen hollowed out by life, and walks into the sea to her...
The Branded (Jo Riccioni, Pantera Press)
Tuesday, 26 July 2022
Twins Nara and Osha are Pure—unmarked by the plague that ravaged their continent. Behind the walls of the isolated citadel of Isfalk, the course of their lives is clearly prescribed:...
The Dangerous Business of Being Trilby Moffat (Kate Temple, Lothian)
Tuesday, 26 July 2022
Kate Temple—one half of the powerhouse duo that brought us such gems as Bin Chicken, Yours Truly, Alice Toolie, and the Underdogs series—breaks out on her own for The Dangerous...
Runt (Craig Silvey, illus by Sara Acton, A&U)
Tuesday, 26 July 2022
• Craig Silvey was charged with various child exploitation offences in early 2026 Nobody knows where Runt came from, but everybody knows he’ll only listen to Annie. Annie’s instinct is...
A Kind of Magic (Anna Spargo-Ryan, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 19 July 2022
It’s still quite something to read a book that speaks the truth about mental health. A Kind of Magic is Anna Spargo-Ryan’s epic, relentlessly honest autobiography of a life lived...
Limberlost (Robbie Arnott, Text)
Tuesday, 19 July 2022
Fifteen-year-old Ned helps his father and sister on the family orchard while his brothers are away at war. Seeking escape from his sister’s worry and his father’s silence, Ned traps...
The Grizzled Grist Does Not Exist (Juliette MacIver, illus by Sarah Davis, Gecko Press)
Tuesday, 19 July 2022
Following the international success of That’s Not a Hippopotamus, linguist Juliette MacIver returns with The Grizzled Grist Does Not Exist, an irresistible, rhyming rollick through the wilderness. While Ms Whisk...
Moon Sugar (Angela Meyer, Transit Lounge)
Tuesday, 19 July 2022
Mila—40, single, childless—is used to attending to the needs and wants of others. Her own wants, particularly her sexual desires, have always come second. Kyle, a tentative man in his...
All That’s Left Unsaid (Tracey Lien, HQ Fiction)
Tuesday, 12 July 2022
Brutally murdered inside a restaurant on the night of his high-school graduation, Ky Tran’s brother, Denny, has suffered a ‘bad death’. It is 1996, and when Ky (pronounced ‘key’) travels...
11 Words for Love (Randa Abdel-Fattah, illus by Maxine Beneba Clarke, Lothian)
Tuesday, 12 July 2022
Multi–award winning author Randa Abdel-Fattah and highly acclaimed author–illustrator Maxine Beneba Clarke unite with 11 Words for Love, a beautifully rendered, timely picture book created with heart. Appealing to children...
The Upwelling (Lystra Rose, Lothian)
Tuesday, 12 July 2022
Kirra doesn’t understand how or why, but her dreams come true. And no one believes her, not even Nan, who told Kirra to never mention her ‘power’. One night, she...
The Jammer (Nova Weetman, UQP)
Tuesday, 12 July 2022
Fred has roller derby in her blood. As soon as she could walk, her mum had her skating. It was their thing—and a place where Fred always knew she belonged—until...
Bon and Lesley (Shaun Prescott, Giramondo)
Tuesday, 28 June 2022
Shaun Prescott continues his existential explorations of modern life in his second novel, which follows his 2017 debut The Town. In the opening pages of Bon and Lesley we meet...
Paper Cage (Tom Baragwanath, Text)
Tuesday, 28 June 2022
Paper Cage is a thrilling whodunnit and the winner of the 2021 Michael Gifkins Prize. The story centres on Lorraine, a records clerk at a small-town police department. She’s bright...
Dancing Barefoot (Alice Boyle, Text)
Tuesday, 21 June 2022
Dancing Barefoot brings a warm and uplifting queer contemporary romance to the #LoveOzYA, #AusQueerYA and #OwnVoices scenes. Winner of the 2021 Text Prize, Alice Boyle’s debut novel follows Patti ‘Patch’...
