Junior Newsletter
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Children's and YA book reviews and interviews
 

Ollie and Augustus
Gabriel Evans, Walker, September 2019, reviewed by Anica Boulanger-Mashberg

When Ollie (‘small—like a pickling jar or a shoe box’) starts school, he worries that his beloved pet Augustus (‘large—like a fridge or a table’;... Read more
 
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A writer’s life for me: Andrew Daddo on ‘Atticus Van Tasticus’

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... Read more
 
 

The Gift
Michael Speechley, Picture Puffin, September 2019, reviewed by Ellen Cregan
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Rosie is a lonely little girl who misses her mum. Across the street from Rosie’s place is a scary and neglected-looking house. Rosie has never seen the person who lives... Read more
 
 

Cryptosight
Nean McKenzie, MidnightSun, October 2019, reviewed by Isobel Moore
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Cryptosight is a fun romp through regional Victoria, following Raff and his younger sister as they try to track down their missing monster-tracking father, while out-swerving the baddies at every... Read more
 
 

Grace’s Secrets
Louise Park, Berbay, September 2019, reviewed by Isobel Moore
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Having relocated to a Scottish castle with her mother, Grace discovers a way into the past and promptly sets about helping her predecessors, even as her actual life seems to... Read more
 
 

How to Make a Movie in 12 Days
Fiona Hardy, Affirm Kids, September 2019, reviewed by Katie Haydon
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Hayley, 11, has one mission in life: to make a movie. Ever since Grandma—who was going to make it with her—died, the need is much greater than before, especially since... Read more
 
 

Jinxed!: The Curious Curse of Cora Bell
Rebecca McRitchie, illus by Sharon O’Connor, HarperCollins, September 2019, reviewed by Annie Waters
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Rebecca McRitchie follows the success of her ‘Whimsy and Woe’ duology with a new middle-grade fantasy series, of which Jinxed! is the first instalment. Cora lives in the tumbledown city... Read more
 
 

The Lords of Melody
Phillip Gwynne, Puffin, September 2019, reviewed by Dani Solomon
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Suzi Lord lives on a street full of mansions in an old weatherboard house bought by her ex-rock star parents while they were at the height of their fame with... Read more
 
 

The Secret Science Society’s Spectacular Experiment
Kathy Hoopmann & Josie Montano, illus by Ann-Marie Finn, Wombat Books, August 2019, reviewed by Anica Boulanger-Mashberg
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Since Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls, the trend for kids’ books celebrating perseverance, creativity and innovation has seeped from nonfiction into fiction. Kathy Hoopmann and Josie Montano’s chapter book for... Read more
 
 

I Am Change
Suzy Zail, Black Dog, August 2019, reviewed by Tracy-Kate Watts
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Suzy Zail’s latest novel tells the story of young Lilian, who wants nothing more than to go to school. However, poverty, outdated traditions and the simple fact she was born... Read more
 
 

Kulinmaya! Keep Listening, Everybody!
Mumu Mike Williams, A&U, August 2019, reviewed by Andrew Wrathall
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Pitjantjatjara artist and activist Mumu Mike Williams, aka Kunmanara, sought to hold the government to account on Indigenous issues through his subversive artwork, which repurposed Australia Post mailbags into painted... Read more
 
 

Monuments
Will Kostakis, Lothian, September 2019, reviewed by Tehani Croft
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Award-winning young adult author Will Kostakis makes his first foray into urban fantasy with Monuments, book one in a duology that has a massive scope but a local setting. Sixteen-year-old... Read more
 
 

The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling
Wai Chim, A&U, August 2019, reviewed by Erin Wamala
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Sixteen-year-old Anna comes from a relatively traditional Chinese-Australian family. Originally from Hong Kong, her father owns a restaurant while her mother stays at home to look after the children. Anna... Read more
 

 

 

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