Review search
Ariana Treasure: The Missing Book (Jacqueline de Rose-Ahern, illus Karen Erasmus, Wombat)
Released March 2025
Ariana Treasure: The Missing Book is the first in a new series for beginner readers by Jacqueline de Rose-Ahern. Ariana’s family own the Treasure Chest, a local thrift shop filled... Read more
The Last Seed Keeper (Paul Russell, EK Books)
Released March 2025
In The Last Seed Keeper, the first in Paul Russell’s cli-fi (climate fiction) trilogy of the same name, not a narrative minute is wasted. Tense action, complex speculative cautionary concepts,... Read more
Sunny and Shadow (Helen Milroy, Fremantle)
Released February 2025
Sunny and Shadow is a heartfelt junior fiction novel and intergenerational tale that follows Calla and her descendants, who all have the precious gift of talking with and caring for... Read more
Brightest Wild (Tania Crampton-Larking, Lothian)
Released February 2025
Brightest Wild, by Mirning woman Tania Crampton-Larking, was a winning manuscript in the 2019 black&write! Fellowships for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers. It tells the story of 12-year-old Alex,... Read more
Jungle Escape (Nathan Luff, Walker)
Released February 2025
Jungle Escape is the latest middle-grade title by Nathan Luff, author of Bad Grammar and the Family Disasters and Nerd Herd series. This stand-alone novel is filled with comedic mishaps, deliberate misunderstandings, and... Read more
The Serpent Rider (Yxavel Magno Diño, Bloomsbury Children’s)
Released January 2025
Inspired by Filipino folklore, Yxavel Magno Diño’s debut novel, The Serpent Rider, is a mesmerising middle-grade fantasy. All Tani wants is for her bakunawa egg to hatch so she can... Read more
Lexie Moon and the Word Burgling Bungle (Melissa Garside, illus Lauren Mullinder, Riveted Press)
Released January 2025
Lexie Moon and the Word Burgling Bungle is debut author Melissa Garside’s exciting junior novel about a creative and prolific 10-year-old inventor. Lexie has been mentored by her grandfather, but... Read more
Revenge of the Toxic Space Potato (First Dog on the Moon, A&U Children’s)
Released December 2024
Finding a fresh angle on superheroes in 2024 is no easy task—unless you’re the Indefatigable EnviroTeens, who effortlessly revitalise a tired genre with humour, action and underpants pastry. In First... Read more
Tigg and the Bandicoot Bushranger (Jackie French, HarperCollins)
Released December 2024
Jackie French once again showcases her meticulous research in an engaging historical fiction novel that will captivate upper middle-grade readers. In 1859, near the Ballarat goldfields, we meet Tigg, a... Read more
Thunderhead (Sophie Beer, A&U Children’s)
Released November 2024
Thunderhead is the debut middle-grade novel by award-winning author and illustrator Sophie Beer. Thunderhead (the titular character’s online username—their name isn’t revealed until the end of the book) is an... Read more
The 113th Assistant Librarian (Stuart Wilson, Penguin)
Released November 2024
The 113th Assistant Librarian is a fantastical story that opens with Oliver Wormwood sneaking out of his house to try to find the trade that is his Calling—his path in... Read more
The Strange and Unlikely Tale of Montgomery, the Mysterious Bird of Mystery (Antony Elworthy, Walker)
Released November 2024
According to his grandson, Gramps has had ‘what they call a Chequered Career’. It has taken him on all sorts of adventures, though by far the most exciting was his... Read more
Hazel’s Treehouse (Zanni Louise, illus by Judy Watson, Walker)
Released November 2024
Zanni Louise (Cora Seen and Heard) has written over 40 books for children, two of which have received CBCA commendations. Louise has teamed up with equally lauded illustrator Judy Watson... Read more
All the Beautiful Things (Katrina Nannestad, ABC Books)
Released November 2024
Approaching her fourth World War II novel, All the Beautiful Things, I feared Katrina Nannestad may have run out of stories to tell, but this book was as compelling and... Read more
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
