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The Making of Martha Mayfield (Jo Dabrowski, Affirm)
Released September 2025
In The Making of Martha Mayfield, Jo Dabrowski (Get Your Act Together Doris Kozlowski) tells the story of 11-year-old Martha and her quest to overcome her shyness ahead of the... Read more
Robo-teacher (Charlotte Barkla, illus Gabriella Petruso, Larrikin)
Released September 2025
When Miss Horrid cancels the Fun Park excursion, it’s the last straw for Class 5H in Robo-teacher by Charlotte Barkla (All Bodies Are Good Bodies). Led by the industrious 10-year-old... Read more
The Locked Room (Adam Cece, PRH)
Released August 2025
Adam Cece’s The Locked Room is built on an excellent premise: four teenagers trapped in an escape room must solve a series of puzzles – each on a one-hour countdown... Read more
The Wicked Ship (Oceanforged #1)(Amelia Mellor, Affirm)
Released August 2025
Amelia Mellor follows The Grandest Bookshop series, her bestselling, award-winning historical fantasy trilogy, with the new swashbuckling Oceanforged series for readers aged 8–10. The Wicked Ship is the first of... Read more
Our History: A House Divided (Clare Hallifax, Walker Books)
Released August 2025
In Our History: A House Divided, Clare Hallifax places the political turmoil of the 1975 Dismissal of the Whitlam government within the everyday rhythms of family life in Canberra. The... Read more
Run (Sarah Armstrong, HGCP)
Released August 2025
Sarah Armstrong’s latest middle-grade novel, Run, is a fast-paced survival tale that explores themes of trust, resilience and complicated families. It follows Armstrong’s previous titles for younger readers, Big Magic and Magic Awry, and her... Read more
A Gift from the Birds (Caroline Stills, Text)
Released August 2025
A Gift from the Birds is the first middle-grade novel by picture book author Caroline Stills. Winner of the 2024 Text Prize – and the final recipient before the prize... Read more
Edie Tells a Lie (Ingrid Laguna, Text)
Released July 2025
Ingrid Laguna’s Edie Tells a Lie is a gentle story of friendship and family. After the loss of her father, Edie mourns the large family she wishes she had. Edie’s... Read more
The Silken Thread (Gabrielle Wang, Penguin)
Released July 2025
When 12-year-old Moonie’s Ma Mi leaves home, an apparition of a boy, Little Dipper, appears. Moonie regularly sees three ghost siblings in her 1930s Carlton house, so she is unfazed... Read more
Danger Road (A L Tait, Scholastic)
Released July 2025
In Danger Road, seasoned middle-grade author A L Tait has created a compelling standalone mystery about a cold case, small-town secrets, and the difficulties surrounding sibling dynamics. Set in a quiet... Read more
Music Camp (Penny Tangey, UQP)
Released June 2025
Penny Tangey (Granbad, As Fast As I Can) returns to middle grade with Music Camp, a story set during a selective five-day interschool music camp. Miley lives with her mum... Read more
Rise of the Witch (Everglade #1) (Kitty Black, illus Rebecca Crane, Affirm)
Released June 2025
Take one part Enid Blyton’s The Enchanted Wood, add a sprinkle of Diana Wynne Jones and a dash of Jessica Townsend’s Nevermoor, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a... Read more
R.I.P. Nanny Tobbins (Lucie Stevens, HarperCollins)
Released June 2025
R.I.P. Nanny Tobbins by Lucie Stevens is a deliciously macabre and unexpectedly funny debut fantasy for advanced middle-grade readers, blending tension, mystery and moments of humour with remarkable skill. Albertine... Read more
The Haunting of Hindmarsh Hall (Kate Gordon, Riveted Press)
Released May 2025
The Haunting of Hindmarsh Hall is the first book in The Secret Detectives Club middle-grade series by Kate Gordon (Xavier in the Meantime). Set in the quiet town of Table... Read more
The Girl and the Ghost (Jacqueline Harvey, Penguin)
Released May 2025
Jacqueline Harvey, author of the best-selling Alice-Miranda and Kensy and Max books, returns with The Girl and the Ghost, the first instalment in a new fantasy-mystery middle-grade series. When 12-year-old... Read more
The Surface Trials (HM Waugh, A&U Children’s)
Released May 2025
Starquest Academy is an elite school for exceptional students from around the galaxy. Notoriously difficult to enter, Starquest requires prospects to undergo a three-day televised challenge on an unknown planet.... Read more
The Great Chocolate Caper (Heist #1) (Joel McKerrow, Penguin)
Released April 2025
The Great Chocolate Caper is the first in the middle-grade Heist series by performance poet Joel McKerrow. Andy McGee is struggling to fit in and make friends in his first... Read more
How to Sail to Somewhere (Ashleigh Barton, Lothian)
Released April 2025
In a coastal holiday town where ‘the land kisses the sea and the children grow up with salt in their hair’, Bea, a lonely only child who has never set... Read more
The Thylacine and the Time Machine (Renée Treml, A&U Children’s)
Released April 2025
In The Thylacine and the Time Machine, 12-year-old Violet is completing a project on the de-extinction of the Tasmanian Tiger. Working late into the night, Violet falls asleep at her... Read more
Tim Tie-Your-Shoelaces (Something Terrible #1) (Sally Barton, illus Christopher Nielsen, Walker)
Released April 2025
‘Tim, tie your shoelaces – or something TERRIBLE will happen!’ Tim Mulligan hears this all the time – from his mum and dad, the neighbours, the crossing guard and even... Read more
