Making connections: Cath Moore on ‘Metal Fish, Falling Snow’ Archive
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...
Feeling seen: Kay Kerr on ‘Please Don’t Hug Me’ Archive
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...
Dream team: Emily Rodda & Marc McBride on ‘The Glimme’ Archive
Friday, 8 November 2019
Author Emily Rodda and illustrator Marc McBride’s working relationship has spanned nearly 20 years, starting with the first ‘Deltora Quest’ book. Now, the pair are back with a new middle-grade...
State of euphoria: Alison Evans on ‘Euphoria Kids’ Archive
Friday, 8 November 2019
Reviewer Jordi Kerr says Alison Evans’ YA novel Euphoria Kids (Echo, February) is ‘a tender, contemporary fairytale about magic, friendship and gender identity’ that follows three trans kids ‘learning to...
Scaling new heights: H M Waugh on ‘The Lost Stone of SkyCity’ Archive
Thursday, 5 September 2019
H M Waugh’s middle-grade fantasy The Lost Stone of SkyCity (Fremantle Press, October) is set in the mountainous worlds of the Dirt and the Ice. Reviewer Catherine Moller spoke to...
A writer’s life for me: Andrew Daddo on ‘Atticus Van Tasticus’ Archive
Thursday, 4 July 2019
Atticus Van Tasticus, Andrew Daddo and Stephen Michael King’s illustrated middle-grade adventure (Puffin, September), follows a 10-year-old whose grandma gifts him a pirate ship. Kelsey Oldham spoke with Daddo about...
Nervous laughter: Nina Kenwood on ‘It Sounded Better in My Head’ Archive
Thursday, 6 June 2019
Nina Kenwood won the 2018 Text Prize for her YA debut It Sounded Better in My Head (Text, August), which follows neurotic 18-year-old Natalie as she navigates first love during...
How it feels to write: Helena Fox on ‘How it Feels to Float’ Archive
Tuesday, 19 March 2019
Helena Fox’s YA debut How it Feels to Float (Pan, May) is a ‘perfect, surreal exploration of mental illness and grief’, writes reviewer Bec Kavanagh. She spoke to the author....
Learning to be brave: Anna Walker on ‘Lottie and Walter’ Archive
Thursday, 7 February 2019
Anna Walker’s Lottie and Walter (Picture Puffin, March) tells the story of a little girl who is scared to get in the water, but who finds courage in a singing walrus...
When the wind changes: Justin D’Ath on ‘47 Degrees’ Archive
Monday, 12 November 2018
Justin D'Ath's 47 Degrees (Puffin, January) follows 12-year-old Zeelie whose life is forever changed when temperatures soar one summer's day in 2009. Described as 'an extraordinarily fast-paced and visceral story that...
A right royal romance: Emma Grey on ‘Tilly Maguire and the Royal Wedding Mess’ Archive
Tuesday, 30 October 2018
Emma Grey’s Tilly Maguire and the Royal Wedding Mess (HarperCollins, December) follows an 18-year-old aspiring writer who wins a six-week internship at a top London PR firm, and somehow gets wrapped...
Stretching the truth: Jack Heath on ‘The Truth App’ Archive
Thursday, 30 August 2018
The Truth App (Scholastic, September) is the first book in YA author Jack Heath’s five-book junior-fiction series 'Liars', described by reviewer Heath Graham as a ‘non-stop action-adventure ride’ for readers who want ‘techno-thrillers...
Growing pains: Karen Foxlee on ‘Lenny’s Book of Everything’ Archive
Thursday, 30 August 2018
Karen Foxlee’s middle-grade novel Lenny’s Book of Everything (A&U) is ‘bittersweet tale about heartbreak and healing’ with ‘a sense of whimsy that never feels forced’. Reviewer Karys McEwen spoke to the author. Lenny’s brother...
Top cat: Elliot Perlman on ‘The Adventures of Catvinkle’ Archive
Thursday, 2 August 2018
Elliot Perlman’s The Adventures of Catvinkle is ‘a charming and whimsical tale’ writes reviewer Hannah Cartmel. The book follows a friendship between a pampered Amsterdam cat named Catvinkle and a...
Reaching out: Ambelin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina on ‘Catching Teller Crow’ Archive
Thursday, 5 July 2018
Ambelin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina’s Catching Teller Crow (A&U, September) is a 'distinctly Australian hybrid YA novel that blends thriller, crime and ghost story elements', writes reviewer Karen Wyld. Told in two...
World class: Jeremy Lachlan on ‘Jane Doe and the Cradle of All Worlds’ Archive
Thursday, 31 May 2018
Jeremy Lachlan’s middle-grade adventure Jane Doe and the Cradle of All Worlds (Hardie Grant Egmont, August) is ‘a thrilling story set in a universe made up of multiple worlds’ that features...
Kaleidoscopic views: Emily Gale on ‘I Am Out with Lanterns’ Archive
Thursday, 31 May 2018
Emily Gale’s I Am Out with Lanterns (Random House, August) intertwines the points of view of several teenagers to create a story that is ‘nuanced, complex and thoroughly devourable’, writes Jordi...
A quiet place: Katrina Lehman on ‘Wren’ Archive
Friday, 4 May 2018
Katrina Lehman’s picture book Wren (illus by Sophie Beer, Scribble, July) is filled with ‘fluid, rhythmic prose’ that ‘rolls off the tongue’, alongside ‘gloriously colourful’ illustrations, writes reviewer Bronte Coates....
Memory trick: Margot McGovern on ‘Neverland’ Archive
Friday, 13 April 2018
Debut author Margot McGovern was inspired by her favourite childhood reads to create Neverland (Random House, April), ‘a dark and compelling examination of memory, self-determination and the dangers of romanticising...
The new normal: Adam Cece on ‘The Extremely Weird Thing That Happened in Huggabie Falls’ Archive
Thursday, 1 March 2018
Adam Cece won the 2017 Text Prize for The Extremely Weird Thing That Happened in Huggabie Falls (Text, April). Reviewer Holly Harper describes it as ‘a funny read full of...
Up for a challenge: Nelly Thomas on ‘Some Girls’ Archive
Thursday, 1 February 2018
When comedian Nelly Thomas came up with the idea for Some Girls, an early childhood picture book that challenges gender and other stereotypes in young girls, she decided to crowdfund...
Down through the blue: Alison Lester and Jane Godwin on ‘The Silver Sea’ Archive
Thursday, 1 February 2018
Alison Lester and Jane Godwin's The Silver Sea (Affirm, March) was created in collaboration with children from Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital, with all profits from the book going to the...
From the heart: Shivaun Plozza on ‘Tin Heart’ Archive
Wednesday, 1 November 2017
In her second YA novel Tin Heart (Penguin, March), Shivaun Plozza tells the story of a teenage girl who undergoes an organ transplant. The book ‘cements Plozza as a writer with...
Children of invention: Catherine Pelosi on ‘Quark’s Academy’ Archive
Wednesday, 4 October 2017
In Quark’s Academy (Hachette, February), debut author Catherine Pelosi brings together three junior science geniuses in an elite and mysterious science academy. Reviewer Lian Hingee spoke to the author. (Read...
Out of the ordinary: Jaclyn Moriarty on ‘The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone’ Archive
Thursday, 7 September 2017
Bound by her parents’ magical will, 10-year-old Bronte Mettlestone must journey to 10 different kingdoms to visit each of her 10 aunts. So goes the premise of Jaclyn Moriarty’s new...
Blast off: Sha’an d’Anthes on ‘Zoom’ Archive
Thursday, 7 September 2017
Sha’an d’Anthes is the first-time author and illustrator of Zoom (Lothian, November), a picture book about a young boy’s adventures in space. Reviewer Bronte Coates spoke to d’Anthes about visual...
Something wundrous: Jessica Townsend on ‘Nevermoor’ Archive
Wednesday, 2 August 2017
Queensland author Jessica Townsend’s debut Nevermoor (Hachette, October) is a middle-grade fantasy about a cursed 11-year-old girl ‘that will hook readers aged 10 and up with intricate imaginative detail and...
Fresh take: Margrete Lamond on ‘The Sorry Tale of Fox and Bear’ Archive
Wednesday, 2 August 2017
The Sorry Tale of Fox and Bear (Margrete Lamond, illus by Heather Vallance, August) is the first title from newly launched small publisher Dirt Lane Press. Inspired by Norwegian folk...
Off-course navigation: Claire Christian on ‘Beautiful Mess’ Archive
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...
Little book of horrors: Jack Henseleit on ‘The Vampire Knife’ Archive
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...
