A Semi-definitive List of Worst Nightmares (Krystal Sutherland, Penguin)
Wednesday, 5 July 2017
This is a touching, hilarious and relatable book for older teens about depression, anxiety, facing your fears and learning to accept help when you need it most. Seventeen-year-old Esther’s life...
The Missing Ace: The Mysterious World of Cosentino Book One (Cosentino & Jack Heath, illus by James Hart, Scholastic)
Wednesday, 5 July 2017
Cosentino the Grand Illusionist runs the beloved Copperpot Theatre in Coppertown, a place in Magicland where the evil King has banned magic. Cos is working on his latest trick—escaping from...
Once Upon a Small Rhinoceros (Meg McKinlay, illus by Leila Rudge, Walker Books)
Wednesday, 5 July 2017
There are things rhinos can and can’t do. Rhinos can wallow in mud and bathe in the sun, but can they be adventurous? In Once Upon a Small Rhinoceros, one...
Take Three Girls (Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell & Fiona Wood, Pan)
Wednesday, 5 July 2017
Take Three Girls is a novel about friendship, written by friends. The voices of Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell and Fiona Wood blend seamlessly to create a narrative about three girls...
Off-course navigation: Claire Christian on ‘Beautiful Mess’
Wednesday, 5 July 2017
Claire Christian’s 2016 Text Prize winner Beautiful Mess (Text, September) is about two misfits who help each other through the raw pain of adolescence. Reviewer Angela Crocombe spoke to the...
Mr Bambuckle’s Remarkables (Tim Harris, illus by James Hart, Random House)
Wednesday, 5 July 2017
The students of 12B aren’t quite sure what to make of their new teacher, Mr Bambuckle: he rides a unicycle, his cousin is an Icelandic rock star, and he keeps...
Pea Pod Lullaby (Glenda Millard, illus by Stephen Michael King, A&U)
Wednesday, 5 July 2017
I had read this text before, when it was included as a double-page spread in The Hush Treasure Book anthology, also illustrated by King. I loved it then and I...
Opposite Land (Charlotte Rose Hamlyn, Random House)
Wednesday, 5 July 2017
After a terrible first day at her new school and a fight with her mother, Steve storms up to her room and the next thing she knows, she has tumbled...
Ponk! (Edwina Wyatt, illus by Christopher Nielsen, Little Hare)
Wednesday, 5 July 2017
Ponk is a little bird who lives at the top of a very tall tree. From on high, Ponk can see The Hill and the strange beasts dancing and swaying...
The Scared Book (Debra Tidball, illus by Kim Siew, Lothian)
Wednesday, 5 July 2017
The Scared Book is, as its title suggests, about a frightened book that’s been infiltrated by a variety of monsters on its pages and begs for help from the reader...
Little book of horrors: Jack Henseleit on ‘The Vampire Knife’
Thursday, 1 June 2017
Jack Henseleit’s debut junior fiction book The Vampire Knife (Hardie Grant Egmont) ‘will scratch [younger readers’] terror itch without drawing too many concerned looks from their parents’, writes reviewer Holly...
Because of You (Pip Harry, UQP)
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Tiny is homeless. Nola has everything she could ask for. They meet when Nola is forced into volunteer work for the writers’ group at the homeless shelter where Tiny is...
The Dream Walker (Victoria Carless, Hachette)
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
In her debut novel, Victoria Carless explores isolation, hope and grief through the surreal and distortive lens of dreams. Sixteen-year-old Lucy Hart feels lost in the isolated fishing village of...
The Vampire Knife: The Witching Hours Book One (Jack Henseleit, Hardie Grant Egmont)
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
As a bookseller, recommending horror for the middle-grade fiction crowd is a difficult balancing act: not scary enough and the kids will switch off; too scary and the adults will protest. Thankfully the publication of The Vampire...
Musical Markus: Super Moopers Book One (Fiona Harris, illus by Scott Edgar, Five Mile)
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Markus is a Mooper who loves to sing loudly and constantly! Unfortunately, most of the Moopers in Moopertown find this, well, annoying. Poor Markus. Who wouldn’t feel sorry for him...
I Just Ate My Friend (Heidi McKinnon, A&U)
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Making friends can be hard but keeping them can be even harder. Especially if you’ve just eaten your friend, like the nameless monster in Heidi McKinnon’s debut picture book. The...
Feathers (Phil Cummings, illus by Phil Lesnie, Scholastic)
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
If we could all fly around the world like the sandpiper in Phil Cummings and Phil Lesnie’s latest picture book, we would see how many people are experiencing extreme hardships...
Stubborn Stanley (Nathaniel Eckstrom, Scholastic)
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Stanley is a messy-haired, freckly boy in red overalls. Depicted on the cover, he has his arms crossed in a determined stance and his name cleverly spelt out with various...
The Build-up Season (Megan Jacobson, Penguin)
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Megan Jacobson’s The Build-up Season is a confronting but compelling exploration of domestic violence and the legacies of abuse, set against the gathering storm clouds in the ‘build-up’ to Darwin’s...
Sparrow (Scot Gardner, A&U)
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Scot Gardner’s latest YA novel is a story of survival in both the wilderness and the city. Leaping from an exploding boat into crocodile-infested waters, the boy who never speaks...
Exchange of Heart (Darren Groth, Penguin)
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Canadian Munro Maddox is on an exchange program to Brisbane for one reason only—to leave behind the demons he’s been carrying around since the sudden death of his younger sister...
Stitches and Stuffing (Carrie Gallasch, illus by Sara Acton, Little Hare)
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Loving relationships are so important in children’s lives. It doesn’t seem to matter if the relationships are with humans, animals or toys—they are all a vital part of growing up....
Gaolbird (Simon Barnard, Text)
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Simon Barnard’s latest convict story for children presents a boisterous slice of Australian colonial history using lairy illustrations and a persistent and multi-stranded narrative. Unlike his meticulous, information-loaded CBCA Award-winning...
The Traitor and the Thief (Gareth Ward, Walker Books)
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
In a steampunk alternate England, the life of 14-year-old petty thief Sin changes when he is recruited to join a secret school for young spies tasked with preventing an alternate...
Hark It‘s Me, Ruby Lee! (Lisa Shanahan, illus by Binny Talib, Lothian)
Tuesday, 30 May 2017
This light-hearted, lesson-filled picture book from Lisa Shanahan (author of Bear and Chook and Big Pet Day) perfectly matches Binny Talib’s simple-yet-vivid illustrations. Talib uses specific shades of blue, yellow,...
Quiet Magic: Emily Rodda on ‘The Shop at Hoopers Bend’
Thursday, 11 May 2017
Emily Rodda’s latest novel The Shop at Hoopers Bend is a return to the author’s earlier books, where the magic is ‘about following your instincts’ rather than fantasy realms. Fay...
The Undercurrent (Paula Weston, Text)
Tuesday, 9 May 2017
Jules De Marchi just wants to live a normal life—but it’s a bit hard when there is an electrical current running beneath her skin that she can’t entirely control. She...
Gap Year in Ghost Town (Michael Pryor, A&U)
Tuesday, 9 May 2017
Anton is just a regular 18-year-old guy taking a gap year. He’s working at his dad’s second-hand bookshop, spending time with his best friend Bec, and getting some experience in...
In the Dark Spaces (Cally Black, Hardie Grant Egmont)
Tuesday, 9 May 2017
All Tamara wants is a safe space to live with her aunt and baby cousin, a place where she doesn’t have to hide and where they can talk louder than...
The Shop at Hoopers Bend (Emily Rodda, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 9 May 2017
Emily Rodda is a household name in children’s literature. While her younger fans will be familiar with her fantasy realms, her new book has more in common with her earlier...
