CYL may be gone but YA can still thrive through grassroots advocacy
25 March 2020
In her first op-ed as Junior columnist for 2020, Adele Walsh investigates the vacuum left by the shuttering of the Centre for Youth Literature last year, and what can be...
‘Your family is okay’: Bernadette Green on ‘Who’s Your Real Mum?’
6 February 2020
Who's Your Real Mum? (Scribble, illus by Anna Zobel) is the debut picture book from Bernadette Green, inspired by the real-life questions her own children have been asked about their...
Reading ahead: 2018 children’s and YA preview
1 November 2017
2018 sees the release of a new YA series from Jay Kristoff and a middle-grade series from Amie Kaufman; the re-release of a 10-year-old series from Liane Moriarty; and the...
Choose your own adventures: 2017 children’s and YA preview
9 November 2016
Next year will see the launch of Affirm Press’ children’s list, starting with A Walk in the Bush (Gwyn Perkins, March), ‘a joyful story about enjoying nature and seeing the funny side of...
Dead ringer: ‘The Turnkey’ by Allison Rushby
6 October 2016
Allison Rushby’s middle-grade novel The Turnkey is a ‘page-turning mystery’ set in London’s Highgate Cemetery during the Blitz. Reviewer Maria H Alessandrino spoke to the author. Read her review here....
Jane’s addiction: Jane Covernton’s career journey
5 October 2016
‘I had accidentally stumbled upon the job of my life,’ writes Jane Covernton about her entry into children’s publishing. The co-founder of Omnibus Books and more recently, Working Title Press,...
Role reversal: Nova Weetman on ‘Everything is Changed’
31 August 2016
Nova Weetman’s Everything is Changed (UQP) follows the unravelling of a friendship between two boys, told from alternating perspectives in reverse. Reviewer Jordi Kerr spoke to the author. What drove...
Poetry in action: Van T Rudd on ‘The Patchwork Bike’
31 August 2016
The Patchwork Bike (Hachette, November) is the first collaboration between author Maxine Beneba Clarke and artist Van T Rudd, as well as being Rudd’s first picture book. His ‘stark but...
Paper, scissors, glue: Jennifer Higgie on ‘There’s Not One’
3 August 2016
Art critic and editor Jennifer Higgie’s debut picture book There’s Not One (Scribble, October) is a ‘simple story’ that teaches children the unique nature of things in a wider landscape...
Sweet rhymes: Joel Moore on ‘Mulga’s Magical Musical Creatures’
3 August 2016
Joel Moore—known also by his alias Mulga—is a mural artist, designer and poet, who has turned his hand to picture books. Reviewer Suzanne Garcia calls Mulga’s Magical Musical Creatures (Lothian,...
Second act: Richard Roxburgh on ‘Artie and the Grime Wave’
8 July 2016
Artie and the Grime Wave (A&U, October), written and illustrated by Richard Roxburgh, is an ‘action-packed story’ for younger readers with ‘elements of [Roxburgh’s] famous wit’, writes reviewer Angela Crocombe....
Down the garden path: Jessica Miller on ‘Elizabeth and Zenobia’
7 July 2016
Reviewer Dani Solomon calls Jessica Miller’s debut middle-grade adventure story Elizabeth and Zenobia (Text, September), about the timid Elizabeth and the fearless Zenobia, ‘the perfect book for 12-year-old readers (and...
Shelf help: Cath Crowley on ‘Words in Deep Blue’
5 July 2016
A love story set in a second-hand bookshop, Cath Crowley’s latest YA novel Words in Deep Blue is ‘a beautiful examination of grief, love and the power of words’. Reviewer...
Game on: Anita Heiss on ‘Kicking Goals with Goodsey and Magic’
2 June 2016
Anita Heiss’ children’s nonfiction book Kicking Goals with Goodsey and Magic (Piccolo Nero, July) is a collaboration with former football players Adam Goodes and Michael O’Loughlin. Reviewer Louise Pfanner says...
All the rage: Claire Zorn on ‘One Would Think the Deep’
5 May 2016
Claire Zorn’s One Would Think the Deep is an exploration of violence and grief that ‘has all the trademark complexities of her first two novels’, writes reviewer Bec Kavanagh. She...
Race relations: Randa Abdel-Fattah on ‘When Michael Met Mina’
5 May 2016
Randa Abdel-Fattah’s When Michael Met Mina follows the burgeoning relationship between Mina, a ‘scholarship girl’ originally from Afghanistan, and Michael, whose family belongs to a racist political organisation. Reviewer Frances...
Flying high: Jeannie Baker on ‘Circle’
21 March 2016
In her new picture book Circle, Jeannie Baker uses her distinctive mixed-media illustrations to depict the migration of the bar-tailed godwits. Reviewer Margaret Hamilton describes it as a ‘masterpiece’. She...
Cult following: Em Bailey on ‘The Special Ones’
3 March 2016
Em Bailey’s The Special Ones is an ‘edge-of-your-seat’ YA novel that ‘marks the gradual return of the YA thriller’, writes reviewer Bec Kavanagh. She spoke to the author. What was...
Spiral of absurdity: Lee Battersby on ‘Magrit’
4 February 2016
Lee Battersby’s first book for children is set in an abandoned cemetery and has ‘echoes of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline and The Graveyard Book’. Reviewer Tehani Wessely spoke to the author....
