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Game On (Prank Wars #1) (Louise Park & Mo Johnson, illus Jules Faber, Larrikin)
Released October 2024
If Game On is any indication, Louise Park and Mo Johnson’s new series, Prank Wars, will be a hit with middle-grade readers who are high in energy and imagination. It’s a... Read more
Dig Deep (Junkyard Fairies #1) (Edwina Wyatt, illus Lauren O’Hara, Walker)
Released October 2024
Deep in a quiet scrap heap on the edge of a forest live the junkyard fairies: Fur, Tip and Nug. Dig Deep is the first in the new Junkyard Fairies... Read more
Sabina and the Cats of Rome (Sophie Masson, illus Laura Wood, Christmas Press)
Released October 2024
Sabina and the Cats of Rome, a light fantasy chapter book for readers aged 6 to 9, packs adventure, action, mystery, love and fun into its pages. Sophie Masson (The... Read more
The Audition (Stage Stars #1) (Penny McNamee, Scholastic)
Released September 2024
The Audition, the first book in actor Penny McNamee’s Stage Star series, introduces us to Millie Von Trapp, an enthusiastic but lonely Year 6 student whose immediate family are all... Read more
The Best Witch in Paris (Lauren Crozier, Text)
Released September 2024
Lauren Crozier won the 2023 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing for her middle-grade novel The Best Witch in Paris. With a charm reminiscent of Jill Murphy’s Worst... Read more
Escape from Cuttlefish Cove (Rachel Jackson, Riveted Press)
Released September 2024
Debut author Rachel Jackson knocks it out of the park with Escape from Cuttlefish Cove, a choose-your-own-adventure story where the reader is the main character. Imagine waking up on an... Read more
Six Summers of Tash and Leopold (Danielle Binks, Lothian)
Released September 2024
Middle-grade readers who enjoyed A L Tait’s The First Summer of Callie McGee and Nova Weetman’s The Edge of Thirteen will delight in this compelling coming-of-age story targeting the ever-growing... Read more
Summer of Shipwrecks (Shivaun Plozza, UQP)
Released September 2024
Award-winning children’s author Shivaun Plozza’s Summer of Shipwrecks is a vividly real, heartfelt middle-grade novel that explores the capriciousness of tween friendship. Sidney has been waiting all year for her... Read more
Dragonfire: 18,000 Holes in the Universe (Adam Wallace & Lisa Foley, illus James Hart, HarperCollins)
Released August 2024
Tee off into the surreal world of Dragonfire: 18,000 Holes in the Universe, the first book in a new graphic novel series by Adam Wallace and Lisa Foley, with imaginative... Read more
How to Break a World Record and Survive Grade Five (Carla Fitzgerald, UQP)
Released August 2024
How to Break a World Record and Survive Grade Five is the new novel from Carla Fitzgerald, author of the popular middle-grade title How to Be Prime Minister and Survive... Read more
Yarn Quest 1: The Search for the Story Realm (Brooke Scobie, illus Jade Goodwin, Penguin)
Released August 2024
Brooke Scobie’s debut series, Yarn Quest, begins with The Search for the Story Realm (with the next two books in the series releasing concurrently) and introduces friends Sibyl and Tane... Read more
Hi from Outer Space (Fiona Katauskas, A&U Children’s)
Released August 2024
Cartoonist and illustrator Fiona Katauskas’s debut middle-grade novel, Hi from Outer Space, is a wonderfully wacky sci-fi/comedy that will appeal to readers of Nat Amoore, Morris Gleitzman and Eve L... Read more
Hester Hitchins and the Falling Stars (Catherine Norton, HarperCollins)
Released August 2024
The year is 1866, and 11-year-old Hester’s life looks like something out of A Series of Unfortunate Events: her father is lost at sea, her mother dies giving birth to... Read more
Adventures Unlimited: The Land of Lost Things (Andy Griffiths, illus Bill Hope, Pan Australia)
Released August 2024
Adventures Unlimited is the latest series from middle-fiction superstar Andy Griffiths, with the first instalment, The Land of Lost Things, full of the wacky, exuberant, imaginative shenanigans fans have come... Read more
Oscar vs the Grand Old Dude Named York (Ross Curnow, Walker)
Released August 2024
A fresh and hilarious new voice in children’s literature springs forth from the page with delightful force in Oscar vs the Grand Old Dude Named York by debut novelist Ross... Read more
The Dragon’s Treasure (Mark Greenwood, Fremantle)
Released July 2024
Buried treasure? Check. Old shipwrecks? Check. Mark Greenwood’s latest nonfiction book, The Dragon’s Treasure, begins his new History Hunter series and pulls together historical evidence to tell the story of... Read more
Forbidden Journal of Rufus Rumble #1 (Nick Long, illus Robin Tatlow-Lord, Affirm)
Released June 2024
Rufus Rumble is not an ordinary boy. For one thing, he’s about to go into space. For another, Rufus lives in a dystopian world where the Throwbackers have taken power... Read more
Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra (Cassy Polimeni, illus Hykie Breeze, UWAP)
Released July 2024
Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra by Cassy Polimeni (The Garden at the End of the World) is a beautifully written junior fiction story exploring themes of animal conservation, friendship... Read more
Leaf Letters (Lorena Carrington, Christmas Press)
Released July 2024
Nine-year-old Hazel Bird loves to explore her local area and collect little treasures. When her baby sister is born, she can no longer bring home ‘choke-ables’ and is gifted an... Read more
Brock the Croc (Adrian Beck, illus Dean Rankine, Larrikin House)
Released June 2024
Brock the Croc is a humorous early chapter book for kids aged 7+ who have recently become comfortable with independent reading. Brock is the only crocodile in the swamp, and... Read more
