Australian authors recommend
We asked Australian creators to share a recent book they have read and loved – and why.
Jasmin McGaughey is a Torres Strait Islander and African American author and editor, and the writer behind Ash Barty’s Little Ash series. Her new young adult novel, Moonlight and Dust (A&U Children’s, 2025), is “an intriguing, fast-paced read full of magic, mystery and thrilling young love” that “honours Islander culture with depth and care”.
McGaughey shares her recommendations:
“I’m currently reading the First Nations Classics out with UQP, and I’ve been loving every book from the series. There are about 16 books published, with 4 more coming in the middle of the year. I’ve particularly loved Heat and Light by Ellen van Neerven and Blood by Tony Birch.”
Zoe Gaetjens is a children’s author and high-school English teacher living and working on Dharug Country. Her young adult novel Drawing Nudes While Making Other Plans is a “tender, thoughtful young adult novel about self-discovery, first love and learning to be brave in unfamiliar spaces,” writes reviewer Andrea Kress.
In recommending an Australian book, Gaetjens said:
“I recently read Catch by Sarah Brill [A&U Children’s]. This is a contemporary coming-of-age YA novel, but it uses magical realism to explore the invisible weight teenagers carry. I read it for its surprising premise, but the sensitivity around the way the characters were drawn kept me hooked.”
Queensland-based author Kay Kerr made her debut with Please Don’t Hug Me (Text, 2020), followed by Social Queue (Text, 2021). Her recent release, Might Cry Later (Macmillan, 2025), marks her first foray into adult fiction. Described as “a messy and tender neurodivergent coming-of-age story”, the novel traces the protagonist’s “journey of self-reclamation”.
Kerr recommends two great titles:
“The last two Australian books I read and loved were Moonlight and Dust by Jasmin McGaughey – for the intrigue and lush, gorgeous writing, and Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley – for the humour and romance realism.”
Widely known for her bestselling The Grandest Bookshop series, Amelia Mellor’s recent middle-grade adventure series, Oceanforged, launches with The Wicked Ship (Affirm, 2025), a “rollicking mix of Treasure Island and The Sword in the Stone with a touch of Emily Rodda”.
Mellor explains her recommendation:
“An in-joke with my sister recently led me to revisit Odo Hirsch’s Bartlett and the Ice Voyage, an audiobook we once listened to on a road trip as kids. The story is refreshingly straightforward: a plucky explorer has to find a way to bring a fast-perishing tropical fruit to an impatient queen. The writing is vivid and gently humorous, and the folktale-like adventure flows seamlessly. It made me wish for more kids’ books like it!”
Category: Think Australian feature
