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LIT (Anna Woods, Echo)
Released June 2026
Auckland-based writer Anna Woods’ debut novel, LIT, is a psychological thriller set in the same city, centring on 3 emotionally and professionally entangled architects: Virginia Ishak (Gin), Clarissa Taylor (Clary)... Read more
Later, Only Love Remains (Leah Swann, HarperCollins)
Released June 2026
In Later, Only Love Remains, Leah Swann (Sheerwater) returns with another literary thriller, following Jack Wolfe in the aftermath of a car crash that killed his wife while he was... Read more
The Secret Garden Club (Wendy Lynn Newton, Macmillan)
Released June 2026
Whimsical, witty and genuinely heartwarming, Wendy Lynn Newton’s The Secret Garden Club is a striking debut. When 52-year-old lapsed artist Hilary finds her husband of 30 years, newly retired engineer... Read more
I’m Not Afraid of Spiders (Caitlin Henderson, illus Annie Henderson, CSIRO Publishing)
Released June 2026
For many children, fear of spiders can get in the way of appreciating just how fascinating they really are. In I’m Not Afraid of Spiders, nature-loving sisters – award-winning wildlife... Read more
Smoke, Rice, Water: Recipes and Stories from a Bengali Home (Kishwar Chowdhury, Hardie Grant)
Released June 2026
Kishwar Chowdhury first captured national attention on MasterChef with her ambition to bring Bengali cuisine into the spotlight; Smoke, Rice, Water: Recipes and Stories from a Bengali Home is the... Read more
Josie Mack and the MEGA Division (Bethany Loveridge, illus Jade Goodwin, Wombat Books)
Released June 2026
Josie Mack and the MEGA Division by Bethany Loveridge (Renegade Timeline Officer) is a fun, adventurous tale that shows how children can respectfully interact with and safeguard native wildlife. Josie... Read more
Night Swimming (Sharon Kernot, Text)
Released June 2026
Sharon Kernot’s first foray into adult fiction, Night Swimming, is both a suspenseful verse novel and a ghost story in which the narrator of the book haunts herself. Night Swimming... Read more
A Flash in the Dust (Meg Caddy, UQP)
Released June 2026
Set in Western Australia in 1899, Meg Caddy’s queer YA historical novel A Flash in the Dust follows Gilberta and Norah, who are imprisoned in Fremantle Asylum and escape into... Read more
I Remember Everything (Fiona Wilkes, Fremantle)
Released June 2026
Fiona Wilkes’s debut novel, I Remember Everything, memorialises the LGBTQIA+ communities lost to the AIDS crisis. In this fictionalised memoir, Billie recounts her formative years from 1979 to 1990, moving... Read more
Floating by the Clouds (Mohammad Awad, illus Niña Nill, Penguin)
Released June 2026
Floating by the Clouds by Mohammad Awad is a lyrical debut picture book that explores the highs and lows of emotions, encouraging children to acknowledge and express their feelings. The central... Read more
Seasons of Clementine (Jess Galatola & Jasmine Berry, Perentie Press)
Released June 2026
Seasons of Clementine, written by Jess Galatola and illustrated by Jasmine Berry, is a sweet and reflective graphic novel about growing up and learning to cope with change. Aimed at... Read more
The Sisters of Serendib (Ayesha Inoon, HQ Fiction)
Released June 2026
The Sisters of Serendib, the sophomore novel from Ayesha Inoon (Untethered), opens in 1990 with a flurry of events as Tamil Muslims board boats to escape the escalating violence of... Read more
Wormhole (Hannah McElhinney, Affirm)
Released June 2026
How far should you go in search of answers when mainstream medicine can’t help? Wormhole is author Hannah McElhinney’s attempt to answer that question through a blend of memoir, cultural... Read more
Touch Grass (Mary Colussi, Penguin)
Released June 2026
Mary Colussi’s debut novel, Touch Grass, is the sharp and inventive winner of the 2025 Penguin Literary Prize. This work of speculative fiction takes readers into the not-too-distant future, where strawberries are... Read more
Where the Heart Is (Shirley Marr, illus Michael Speechley, Walker)
Released June 2026
In Where the Heart Is, Shirley Marr (Countdown to Yesterday) (with illustrations by Michael Speechley) crafts a wistful picture book for readers aged 3 to 6 that plays with the... Read more
What’s That Splat? (Johanna Bell, illus Amelia Luscombe, Thames & Hudson)
Released June 2026
What’s That Splat? is the picture-book equivalent of the famous Rorschach test – the psychological assessment that analyses a person’s response to a series of inkblots. Here, writer Johanna Bell... Read more
Detention (Ralph Jackman, A&U)
Released June 2026
Detention is a powerful memoir about Australia’s youth detention system, told from the perspective of a rookie teacher and his fight for the rights of some of our country's most... Read more
The Palace of Lost Virtue (Anthea Hodgson, Penguin)
Released June 2026
In The Palace of Lost Virtue, Anthea Hodgson follows her bestselling novel The War Nurses with a stirring work of historical fiction. Spanning 1898 to 1926, this new novel offers... Read more
Song of the Shadow of a Seed (Luisa Mitchell, Fremantle)
Released June 2026
For Whadjuk Nyungar writer Luisa Mitchell, seeds represent the longevity of the past and sustainability of the future. From seeds grow roots and trees, a living representation of connection to... Read more
Cleopatra: The Girl Who Would Be King (Heroes in the Ancient World #1) (Jackie French, Angus & Robertson)
Released June 2026
Bestselling author and historian Jackie French (Tigg and the Bandicoot Bushranger) tackles the question of what the Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra was up to during her tween years in Cleopatra: The... Read more
