Leaf Letters (Lorena Carrington, Christmas Press)
Tuesday, 7 May 2024
Nine-year-old Hazel Bird loves to explore her local area and collect little treasures. When her baby sister is born, she can no longer bring home ‘choke-ables’ and is gifted an...
Return to Sender (Lauren Draper, Macmillan)
Tuesday, 7 May 2024
A historical letter-writing mystery and searching for the missing ‘Adder Stone’ are two of the many compelling story arcs in this highly engaging, fast-paced contemporary YA novel. Brodie McKellon (‘The...
A Language of Limbs (Dylin Hardcastle, Picador)
Tuesday, 7 May 2024
Dylin Hardcastle’s tender and steamy third novel, A Language of Limbs, follows two sapphic young women (Limb One and Limb Two) on different paths through the febrile 1970s and beyond...
Raymaŋgirrbuy dhäwu, When I was a little girl (Kylie Gatjawarrawuy Mununggurr, Magabala)
Tuesday, 7 May 2024
This beautiful book is written in dual languages: Dhuwal, also known as Djambarrpuyŋu (widely understood in north-east Arnhem Land), and English. The artworks/illustrations by author Kylie Gatjawarrawuy Mununggurr depict family...
Jade and Emerald (Michelle See-Tho, Vintage)
Tuesday, 7 May 2024
Winner of the 2023 Penguin Literary Prize, Jade and Emerald is a portrait of what it means to grow up caught between two cultures. Lei Ling Wen is an Australian-born...
Outrider (Mark Wales, Macmillan)
Tuesday, 30 April 2024
In Mark Wales’s debut novel, Outrider, China invades Australia, and the state of Victoria is now in the hands of enemy forces. With many fight-hungry locals turned traitors, The Hill—the once...
Wild About Book Week (Sarah Speedie, illus Kruti Desai, Larrikin House)
Tuesday, 30 April 2024
Wild About Book Week is a meta-tale of sorts, which celebrates what has become an annual tradition for many families: dressing up for Book Week. The protagonist, a pigtailed child,...
Spiro (Anna McGregor, Scribble)
Tuesday, 30 April 2024
Spiro is a humorous new picture book by Anna McGregor, the multi-award-winning creator of Anemone Is Not the Enemy. The protagonist is Spiro, a determined little spider on a mission to catch...
Always Was, Always Will Be (Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson, Magabala)
Tuesday, 30 April 2024
Always Was, Always Will Be is set to be an indispensable resource for young people looking to understand First Nations resistance in Australia. Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson, whose collaboration began...
Milk (Matthew Evans, Murdoch)
Tuesday, 30 April 2024
Dairy milk is an odd battleground for political polarisation, yet it always seems to be one. Milk is an attempt to make the case for that long-loved standard—cows’ milk—in the face of...
Animal Activism On and Off Screen (ed by Claire Parkinson & Lara Herring, SUP)
Tuesday, 30 April 2024
Animal activists have been at the forefront of using the media to get their message out—and in turn, the media has played a role in shaping the direction of activists’...
Blossom: Practical and creative ways to find wonder in the floral world (Adriana Picker, Hardie Grant Books)
Tuesday, 23 April 2024
Blossom goes beyond merely showcasing the beauty of flowers, offering wonderful and practical ideas for using flowers through the seasons. In her latest book, botanical illustrator Adriana Picker shares her...
Freddie Spector, Fact Collector: Space Cadet (Ashleigh Barton, illus Peter Cheong, Lothian)
Tuesday, 23 April 2024
Freddie Spector, Fact Collector: Space Cadet is the first instalment in this funny, fact-filled junior fiction series, ideal for ages 7 to 10. Freddie is a wacky, confident eight-year-old boy who...
Everything Is Water (Simon Cleary, UQP)
Tuesday, 23 April 2024
Like the river at its heart, Everything Is Water takes readers on a meandering journey full of unexpected delights, surprises and challenges at every turn. Novelist and hiker Simon Cleary (The...
Father of the Lost Boys: The Mecak Ajang Alaak story (Yuot A Alaak, Fremantle)
Tuesday, 23 April 2024
In Father of the Lost Boys, former child refugee Yuot A Alaak immortalises the hero who rescued 20,000 boys from the brink of death—his father, Mecak Ajang Alaak. Affectionately embraced as...
Liar’s Test (Ambelin Kwaymullina, Text)
Tuesday, 23 April 2024
The latest YA novel from Palyku author Ambelin Kwaymullina is a high-action, thematically rich fantasy with a gutsy, intuitive protagonist who must become a good liar to survive in the...
The Skeleton House (Katherine Allum, Fremantle)
Tuesday, 23 April 2024
The Skeleton House is a powerful and riveting literary debut, delving into themes of motherhood, coercive control, and life within a remote and rigid society. Meg’s life, like that of...
Hide & Seek Beautiful (Nicki Esler Gill, illus Jedda Robaard, Scholastic)
Tuesday, 23 April 2024
Hide & Seek Beautiful by Nicki Esler Gill explores a tender and heart-warming story of friendship and the little things in life. Best friends since birth, Annie and Boo find...
Things I Need You to Know (Mark Lamprell, Text)
Tuesday, 23 April 2024
Birdie’s world is torn asunder when Ned, her husband and the father of their five daughters, dies unceremoniously of stomach cancer. In a reversal of stereotypical gender roles, Birdie was...
The Real Cowgirl (Isabelle Duff, illus Susannah Crispe, EK Books)
Tuesday, 16 April 2024
The Real Cowgirl tells the story of young Sal, who wants to be a ‘real’ cowgirl, ‘with boots and a hat just like Dad’s’, but doesn’t yet have confidence in...
Fragile Creatures (Khin Myint, Black Inc.)
Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Debut author Khin Myin’s Fragile Creatures is a remarkable memoir in many ways. Myin’s writing is gracious and honest; at its core, his life story is devastatingly sad. The opening chapter reveals...
The Very Polite Knight (Ian Smith, Affirm)
Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Finn is not like other knights in the kingdom. While Boris, Ethel and Walter are busy with scaring, fighting and stealing, Finn prefers gardening and reading. He is quiet, kind...
Looking for Eden (Caroline Overington, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 16 April 2024
The latest offering from award-winning journalist and bestselling author Caroline Overington is a lopsided thriller. The novel opens as finance hotshot Clare returns to small-town WA following the suicide of...
Good Hair (Yvonne Sewankambo, illus Freda Chiu, Walker)
Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Good Hair is a sweet picture book all about celebrating diversity—through hair. When Birungi is reluctant to go to school after struggling to do her hair, she declares she hates...
My Father’s Suitcase (Mary Garden, Justitia Books)
Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Mary Garden’s My Father’s Suitcase, with its no-holds-barred tone, embodies the Anne Lamott epigraph, ‘If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better’. Readers of...
Shadows of Winter Robins (Louise Wolhuter, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Louise Wolhuter’s second novel, Shadows of Winter Robins, is cinematic and engrossing from the get-go, spiked with suspense and twists aplenty. Wolhuter is clearly a writer in command of her...
The Little Clothes (Deborah Callaghan, Viking)
Tuesday, 9 April 2024
At 38 years old, Sydney lawyer Audrey—single, childless, unseen and undervalued—is the protagonist of Deborah Callaghan’s debut novel, The Little Clothes. As we follow her struggles at work and in...
Lights Out, Little Dragon (Debra Tidball, illus Rae Tan, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 9 April 2024
Lights Out, Little Dragon is an interactive bedtime book for toddlers aged 3+ and their caregivers, with a cute and relatable character that is just too busy to go to...
My Efficient Electric Home Handbook (Tim Forcey, Murdoch)
Tuesday, 9 April 2024
Energy plays a big part in our lives today, especially as the world faces a climate crisis. Electrification emerges as a solution, but managing our home’s energy can feel complicated...
What’s Murder Between Friends (Meg Gatland-Veness, Pantera)
Tuesday, 9 April 2024
Hallie has always dreamed of being an actor. Thanks to her drama teacher, Ms Lovelace, the school is finally putting on its first show. When Hallie’s class stumbles upon Ms...
