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Howl (Kat Patrick, illus by Evie Barrow, Scribble)
Released September 2020
Maggie is having one of those days: the sky too blue, the moon too bright, the spaghetti too long. It almost goes without saying that Maggie’s mother is also having... Read more
The Burning Island (Jock Serong, Text)
Released September 2020
To read The Burning Island is to feel, very often, ‘all at sea’. Much of the novel takes place on the ocean, sure, but more than that, it can be... Read more
The Wolves of Greycoat Hall (Lucinda Gifford, Walker Books)
Released September 2020
Author and illustrator Lucinda Gifford brings us a refreshing and humorous tale with The Wolves of Greycoat Hall, the first book in a new junior fiction series. Boris and his... Read more
Aunty’s Wedding (Miranda Tapsell & Joshua Tyler, illus by Samantha Fry, A&U)
Released September 2020
There are few picture books about weddings for young children, who are naturally curious about this important ceremony. This story takes the charming perspective of a young child who is... Read more
Bluebird (Malcolm Knox, A&U)
Released September 2020
A shaggy array of characters populate Malcolm Knox’s ambitious novel, with 50-year-old Gordon Grimes at the centre. An erstwhile journalist and estranged husband, Gordon is determined to preserve a rundown... Read more
The Lost Library (Jess McGeachin, Puffin)
Released September 2020
This is unashamedly a story for every child (and adult) who loves books and reading—and it reaches out to encourage every reader to fit that description. Little Oliver and his... Read more
Dreams They Forgot (Emma Ashmere, Wakefield)
Released September 2020
The tagline on the title page of Emma Ashmere’s Dreams They Forgot is ‘stories of illusion, deception and quiet rebellion’. This is an apt description of the 25 stories that... Read more
Indigo Owl (Charlie Archbold, Wakefield)
Released September 2020
Scarlet, Dylan and Rumi are new students at the Arcadia Institute, where they will receive the training required to turn them into good citizens of the corpocratic planet Galbraith. But... Read more
Show Me Where It Hurts: Living with invisible illness (Kylie Maslen, Text)
Released September 2020
Imagine living with an invisible illness. For 20 years, Kylie Maslen has been doing just that: her chronic pain and bipolar II (the latter undiagnosed until she was 35) have... Read more
Poly (Paul Dalgarno, Ventura)
Released September 2020
Spouses Chris and Sarah are trying something new—after years without sex, but still in love and keen to remain a family unit, they’ve agreed to see other people. The confident,... Read more
The History of Mischief (Rebecca Higgie, Fremantle Press)
Released September 2020
The History of Mischief is an exploration of family, grief and the power of stories, with a pseudo-historical twist. Nine-year-old Jessie is struggling with the loss of her parents and... Read more
Tricky Nick (Nicholas J Johnson, illus by Russell Jeffery, Pan)
Released September 2020
I’m usually suspicious of books written by performers, celebrities or adult writers turning to children’s fiction, but Tricky Nick won me over in the first 20 pages. Magician-turned-author Nicholas J... Read more
How to Win an Election (Chris Wallace, NewSouth)
Released September 2020
Journalist and historian Chris Wallace’s How to Win an Election can be read two ways. Firstly, as an autopsy of Labor’s shock 2019 defeat, and secondly as a witty Machiavellian... Read more
The Fire Star (A L Tait, Penguin)
Released September 2020
Maven is a servant girl doomed to a life of servitude and forced to hide how sharp-minded she really is. Reeve is a squire with dreams of becoming a knight... Read more
None Shall Sleep (Ellie Marney, A&U)
Released September 2020
From mastermind Australian YA writer Ellie Marney comes a gripping new psychological thriller. Although the novel is not set in Australia—Marney opts for the larger criminal playing field of the... Read more
Windfall: Unlocking a fossil-free future (Ketan Joshi, NewSouth)
Released September 2020
In Windfall: Unlocking a fossil-free future, renewable energy industry insider Ketan Joshi gives a teeth-gnashing account of Australia's interminable climate debates. Working as a data analyst and communicator at Infigen... Read more
Revenge: Murder in Three Parts (S L Lim, Transit Lounge)
Released September 2020
S L Lim’s riveting sophomore novel opens with a disturbing scene of sibling abuse. Yannie, a shy and book-loving teenage girl, lives in the shadow of her brother Shan, who... Read more
Ordinary Matter (Laura Elvery, UQP)
Released September 2020
Award-winning Brisbane author Laura Elvery (Trick of the Light) now brings us Ordinary Matter, a short story collection inspired by the 20 times women have won the Nobel Prize for... Read more
Broken Rules and Other Stories (Barry Lee Thompson, Transit Lounge)
Released September 2020
In this accomplished debut, Barry Lee Thompson makes delicate inquiries into the passage of time through a series of loosely linked, often coming-of-age stories. Several stories cast back to lucid... Read more
Hysteria: A memoir of illness, strength and women’s stories throughout history (Katerina Bryant, NewSouth)
Released September 2020
In this ambitious debut, Katerina Bryant blends memoir, biography, history and cultural analysis in an effort to deconstruct the complex cultural frameworks that inform our understanding of women’s mental health... Read more
