Review search
Birdy (Sharon Kernot, Text)
Released February 2024
In Birdy, a compelling YA verse novel by CBCA award-winning author Sharon Kernot (The Art of Taxidermy), we meet Maddy, who began experiencing selective mutism and anxiety after an unnamed... Read more
The Invocations (Krystal Sutherland, Penguin)
Released January 2024
Emer Byrne, Zara Jones and Jude Wolf are young women who have led completely different lives until one thread of commonality brings them together—magic. Zara believes in magic because she’s... Read more
Stuck Up & Stupid (Angourie Rice & Kate Rice, Walker)
Released November 2023
Stuck Up & Stupid is the debut novel from a mother-daughter writing team: actor Angourie Rice and playwright Kate Rice. With a familiar yet fresh narrative, this contemporary YA reimagining of Pride and... Read more
An Unexpected Party (ed by Seth Malacari, Fremantle)
Released November 2023
The queer experience is immensely diverse, too vast and evolving as a space to be summed up by any one representation, but An Unexpected Party—an anthology of queer speculative short stories—aims... Read more
Everything Under the Moon (ed by Michael Earp, illus Kit Fox, Affirm)
Released October 2023
Everything Under the Moon: Fairy tales in a queerer light is a collection of insightful stories from a variety of authors, including Michael Earp, Alison Evans, Helena Fox, Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner,... Read more
Unholy Terrors (Lyndall Clipstone, Penguin)
Released October 2023
Unholy Terrors is an alluring, gothic tale of forbidden love and shifting allegiances in a land of magic and monsters. Everline Blackthorn is not like the other wardens who guard... Read more
If You Tell Anyone, You’re Next (Jack Heath, Scholastic)
Released October 2023
Bestselling author Jack Heath has written 40 books for children, teenagers and adults. He returns with a pulse-racing psychological thriller set in a suburban high school. Zoe’s best friend Jayden... Read more
In Times of Bushfires and Billy Buttons (Steven Herrick, Ford St)
Released October 2023
With his parents in jail for drug dealing, high-school student Ethan goes to live with his Aunt Helen, a supermarket stacker who dreams of the Greek Islands. He gets by... Read more
Borderland (Graham Akhurst, UWA Publishing)
Released October 2023
Jono is a young Indigenous man who has little connection to Country and community. While his best friend, Jenny, seems to know exactly who she is, Jono struggles with his... Read more
Eleanor Jones is Not a Murderer (Amy Doak, Penguin)
Released September 2023
Amy Doak’s debut, Eleanor Jones is Not a Murderer, is a young adult mystery novel for aspiring detectives. Eleanor thinks of herself as an unexceptional person with medium hair, skin, height and... Read more
Let’s Never Speak of This Again (Megan Williams, Text)
Released September 2023
Sixteen-year-old Abby’s life may not be perfect, but it is manageable. With a best friend like Ella, it doesn’t matter that there’s tension between Abby and her mum, or that... Read more
I Am The Mau & Other Stories (Chemutai Glasheen, Fremantle)
Released August 2023
Chemutai Glasheen delivers a powerful and vibrant collection of short stories in I Am the Mau & Other Stories. Inspired by her upbringing in Africa, each brilliant tale is infused... Read more
One Song (A J Betts, Pan Australia)
Released July 2023
A J Betts’s latest book One Song is a delightful and emotionally intelligent YA novel. Our protagonist Eva is in Year Twelve and is desperate to win Triple J Unearthed... Read more
Blind Spot (Robyn Dennison, Text)
Released July 2023
Robyn Dennison’s debut novel Blind Spot is a sophisticated, challenging novel that explores themes of personal responsibility alongside a duty of care for others. Dale is a ‘nice’ guy who’s... Read more
We Didn’t Think It Through (Gary Lonesborough, A&U Children’s)
Released July 2023
Jamie Langton doesn’t mean to be so angry. He didn’t mean to partake in car theft. He didn’t mean to end up in juvenile detention. After a plan to get... Read more
Isles of the Gods (Amie Kaufman, A&U Children’s)
Released May 2023
With Isles of the Gods, Amie Kaufman once again reminds us why she is one of the best young adult authors writing today. Her first solo YA after numerous collaborations,... Read more
We Could Be Something (Will Kostakis, A&U Children’s)
Released May 2023
Will Kostakis’s first novel Loathing Lola was published when he was 19 years old. This uncommon experience inspires his latest book, a semi-autobiographical YA novel for readers aged 14–17. We... Read more
Royals (Tegan Bennett Daylight, S&S)
Released May 2023
This compelling, character-driven novel is Tegan Bennett Daylight’s first foray writing for teens. Through 16-year-old Shannon’s perspective, we follow the day-to-day minutiae of six teens (and one baby) who have... Read more
Hunger of Thorns (Lili Wilkinson, A&U Children’s)
Released April 2023
Lili Wilkinson’s new YA novel is a dark and twisting tale that draws on a history of persecution and celebrates the power of women, even as it interrogates society’s fear... Read more
Between Worlds (B D Lovell, UWAP)
Released May 2023
While often overlooked, science fiction poetry, or speculative verse as it’s sometimes called, has a distinguished pedigree, with contributions from such luminaries as Ursula K LeGuin and Brian Aldiss, as... Read more
