How to Grow a Family Tree (Eliza Henry Jones, HarperCollins)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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,...
Taking Down Evelyn Tait (Poppy Nwosu, Wakefield)
6 February 2020
Lottie is 16 and loves black metal, collecting curious words and making trouble, so her transformation into a goody two-shoes surprises herself as much as anyone else. But Lottie is...
Backyard Birds (Helen Milroy, Fremantle Press)
6 February 2020
Helen Milroy is a descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Born in Perth, she has always had a passionate interest in health and wellbeing,...
The Animals in That Country (Laura Jean McKay, Scribe)
3 February 2020
Laura Jean McKay’s debut novel concerns itself with the apocalypse, but an entirely different one to that fixated upon in cli-fi narratives. In McKay’s doomsday tale, humans contract a highly...
The Adversary (Ronnie Scott, Hamish Hamilton)
3 February 2020
Ronnie Scott’s debut novel The Adversary is set during what appears to be an uneventful Melbourne summer but actually sees a lot happening to its protagonist. Languishing in emotional and...
Stone Sky Gold Mountain (Mirandi Riwoe, UQP)
3 February 2020
In goldrush-era Australia the landscape is harsh, the law basically non-existent and discrimination bluntly and unashamedly informs every facet of life. Siblings Ying and Lai Yue are trying to scrape...
Sheerwater (Leah Swann, HarperCollins)
3 February 2020
Sheerwater begins when a plane falls out of the sky. The accident—a light aircraft crash-landing in a field off the Great Ocean Road—is witnessed by Ava, a young woman on...
Below Deck (Sophie Hardcastle, A&U)
3 February 2020
In Below Deck, 21-year-old Oli gives up a high-flying internship to work on the ocean after meeting an enigmatic older couple and sailing with them to the Coral Sea. Four...
Come (Rita Therese, A&U)
3 February 2020
Twenty-five-year-old sex worker Rita Therese’s debut memoir is dark, funny and extremely candid—but her unsanitised tales of the sex industry are not for the faint-hearted. Come invites the reader into...
The Salt Madonna (Catherine Noske, Picador)
3 February 2020
Set on a remote fictional island off the coast of Western Australia, Catherine Noske’s debut novel grapples with questions of familial obligation, complicity, remorse and the fallibility of memory. Noske...
Small Mercies (Richard Anderson, Scribe)
3 February 2020
Dimple and Ruthie Travers are farmers in a tough time. Drought has seen them reduce their cattle herd and hold off sowing crops. Money is tight, rain is always forecast...
Almost a Mirror (Kirsten Krauth, Transit Lounge)
3 February 2020
Kirsten Krauth’s Almost a Mirror is about the relationship between music and memory, and the unexpected directions that family and romantic life can take. Mona is in her late 30s...
Fourteen (Shannon Molloy, S&S)
3 February 2020
Fourteen is the factual account of one year in the life of a gay high-schooler in the small central Queensland town of Yeppoon. Journalist Shannon Molloy uses clear, concise language...
The Brisbane Line (J P Powell, Xoum)
3 February 2020
J P Powell’s debut novel—named for an alleged WWII-era government plan to abandon Northern Australia in the event of a Japanese invasion—is an exploration of tension and corruption amid the...
After the Count: The death of Davey Browne (Stephanie Convery, Viking)
30 January 2020
When young and fit professional boxer Davey Browne died in the ring, pummelled to death in front of his family and friends, it was the result of a perfect storm...
Beautiful Eggs (Alice Lindstrom, Scribble)
22 January 2020
In this board book, Melbourne-based artist and illustrator Alice Lindstrom uses her stunning cut-paper style of illustration to introduce the tradition of egg decoration across a number of cultures around...
Desire Lines (Felicity Volk, Hachette)
15 January 2020
Desire Lines is a heartrending love story between a man struggling to overcome the struggles of a deeply traumatic childhood and a woman who, frankly, deserves better. At a market...
All Bodies are Good Bodies (Charlotte Barkla, Little Hare)
12 December 2019
All Bodies Are Good Bodies is a rhyming picture book that champions bodies of all shapes and sizes. Charlotte Barkla’s words are written to be read out loud as one...
The Long Distance Playlist (Tara Eglington, HarperCollins)
12 December 2019
Tara Eglington’s The Long Distance Playlist is a touching depiction of a long-distance friendship and blossoming romance. Taylor is an ex-snowboarding prodigy slowly coming to terms with his recent amputation,...
