Making connections: Cath Moore on ‘Metal Fish, Falling Snow’
Wednesday, 13 May 2020
Cath Moore's debut YA novel Metal Fish, Falling Snow (Text, July) is an 'astonishingly original, heartfelt and funny' exploration of self-acceptance, identity and belonging, says reviewer Jacqui Davies. She spoke to...
Welcome to the new Junior newsletter
Thursday, 2 April 2020
Mid-pandemic feels like a strange time to be revamping our Junior newsletter, but it also feels more vital than ever to spotlight our children's book creators and continue reporting the...
The End of the World is Bigger Than Love (Davina Bell, Text)
Thursday, 2 April 2020
Davina Bell’s first young adult novel is unlike anything else written for the target audience. This becomes clear almost immediately upon beginning the book, when the identical twin protagonists, Summer...
Henry Turnip (Chloe Jasmine Harris, Walker Books)
Thursday, 2 April 2020
Henry Turnip is a panda who likes strawberry jam sandwiches with the crusts cut off, reading about the ocean, and his seven sets of blue-striped overalls. He dislikes mess, too...
The Dark Tide (Alicia Jasinska, Penguin)
Thursday, 2 April 2020
The island city of Caldella is sinking, and the only way to hold back the tide is through an annual ritual sacrifice performed by the cold, distant Witch Queen. When...
Eloise and the Bucket of Stars (Janeen Brian, Walker Books)
Thursday, 2 April 2020
For nearly 13 years Eloise Pail has dreamed of a family and life outside the orphanage. But year after year Eloise is left under the watchful gaze of Sister Hortense,...
Change Starts with Us (Sophie Beer, Little Hare)
Wednesday, 1 April 2020
This brightly coloured and accessible book sets out to empower young children and familiarise them with ways in which even the littlest of us can have an impact our world....
What Zola did on Monday (Melina Marchetta, illus by Deb Hudson, Puffin)
Wednesday, 1 April 2020
Melina Marchetta is a novelist we normally associate with award-winning young adult fiction, and more recently her adult novels Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil and The Place on Dalhousie....
CYL may be gone but YA can still thrive through grassroots advocacy
Wednesday, 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...
Respect (Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson, illus by Lisa Kennedy, Magabala)
Thursday, 5 March 2020
Dream team Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson, who previously brought us the excellent Nganga: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander words and phrases, have collaborated with artist Lisa Kennedy to...
Rocky and Louie (Phil Walleystack, Raewyn Caisley & Dub Leffler, Puffin)
Thursday, 5 March 2020
Siblings Rocky and Louie are as close as can be. Louie loves playing footy with his big brother and learning all about the Country they call home. Rocky shows Louie...
The Year the Maps Changed (Danielle Binks, Lothian)
Thursday, 5 March 2020
The Year the Maps Changed is Melbourne-based writer Danielle Binks’ debut novel. The year is 1999 and in small-town Sorrento, Victoria, 11-year-old Fred is lost within the complexity of a...
Tiger & Cat (Allira Tee, Berbay)
Thursday, 5 March 2020
In this appealing debut picture book from Melbourne illustrator Allira Tee, two animals recognise the value of their close friendship. Tiger and Cat do everything together—exploring, dancing, eating delicious pink...
Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal (Anna Whateley, A&U)
Thursday, 5 March 2020
Peta Lyre is an atypical girl living in a typical world. Her best mate says she has so many letters that they almost make up the alphabet—ADHD, ASD, SPD. Fiercely...
Sometimes Cake (Edwina Wyatt, illus by Tamsin Ainslie, Walker)
Thursday, 5 March 2020
Audrey meets a lion carrying a purple balloon and asks him if it’s his birthday. ‘Sometimes,’ he responds, ‘but not today’. But considering that Audrey happens to like birthdays, she...
When it Drops (Alex Dyson, Hardie Grant Egmont)
Thursday, 5 March 2020
Former triple j breakfast presenter Alex Dyson’s debut YA novel draws on his considerable knowledge of the Australian music industry—he has said that this book was inspired by the school-aged...
Feeling seen: Kay Kerr on ‘Please Don’t Hug Me’
Thursday, 5 March 2020
Kay Kerr's YA novel Please Don't Hug Me (Text, May) follows 17-year-old Erin as she relays life as a teenager with autism in letters to her brother. Reviewer Charlotte Guest...
Please Don’t Hug Me (Kay Kerr, Text)
Thursday, 5 March 2020
At the suggestion of her psychologist, Erin writes letters to her absent older brother, Rudy. Erin is 17 years old, behind on her savings for Schoolies and freshly unemployed. There...
How to Grow a Family Tree (Eliza Henry Jones, HarperCollins)
Thursday, 6 February 2020
Eliza Henry Jones explores addiction, family and identity in this insightful, compelling novel for young adults. Stella has always known that she’s adopted, but an unexpected letter from her birth...
Mum’s Elephant (Maureen Jipiyiliya Nampijinpa O’Keefe, illus by Christina Booth, Magabala)
Thursday, 6 February 2020
Maureen Jipiyiliya Nampijinpa O’Keefe has spun a cherished childhood memory into a beguiling tale for children in this debut picture book. In its pages she reflects on her mum’s ‘elephant’,...
The January Stars (Kate Constable, A&U)
Thursday, 6 February 2020
Fans of Kate Constable’s previous titles Crow Country and Cicada Summer will welcome the release of her latest middle-grade novel, The January Stars. This story introduces 12-year-old Clancy, yet another...
Who’s Your Real Mum? (Bernadette Green, illus by Anna Zobel, Scribble)
Thursday, 6 February 2020
This is an exceptional book. It promises kindness, humour and insight, and absolutely delivers. Nicholas is obsessed with discovering which of Elvi’s two female parents is her ‘real mum’: a...
Anisa’s Alphabet (Mike Dumbleton, illus by Hannah Sommerville, MidnightSun)
Thursday, 6 February 2020
In this picture book, Anisa takes the reader though the alphabet, describing her journey from an unnamed war-torn country to a refugee camp, then on to an overcrowded boat towards...
Shoestring, the Boy Who Walks on Air (Julie Hunt, illus by Dale Newman)
Thursday, 6 February 2020
The creators of the 2015 graphic novel KidGlovz reunite with this illustrated companion novel. KidGlovz told the tale of a young musician so prized that he lived the life of...
Duck, Apple, Egg (Glenda Millard, illus by Martina Heiduczek, ABC Books)
Thursday, 6 February 2020
This sweet and simple picture book will be a nice one to read to babies and toddlers just beginning to enjoy books. Duck, Apple, Egg is a cheerful, concise text...
The Republic of Birds (Jessica Miller, Text)
Thursday, 6 February 2020
In her second middle-grade novel, The Republic of Birds, Jessica Miller has crafted a mythical world inspired by Russian folklore but steeped in a rich history of its own. Growing...
The Vanishing Deep (Astrid Scholte, A&U)
Thursday, 6 February 2020
Tempest ekes out a living scavenging the sunken cities of a future flooded world, alone now after the death of her sister Elysea. But death is no longer the end....
Deep Water (Sarah Epstein, A&U)
Thursday, 6 February 2020
Sarah Epstein’s latest young adult thriller is equipped with enough intrigue and twists to rival any adult or international title in the genre. Deep Water is a captivating, character-driven mystery...
Landing with Wings (Trace Balla, A&U)
Thursday, 6 February 2020
In Landing with Wings, Trace Balla’s latest graphic novel–picture book hybrid, Miri and her mother have moved to a new home in the Victorian Goldfields, and Miri’s feelings about this...
Goodnight Glow Worms (Aura Parker, Puffin)
Thursday, 6 February 2020
Sleepy, cute and appealing bedtime books that, by their simplicity and rhythm, gently rock their readers to sleep are always welcome in families with small children. Most of us know,...
