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Boy on Fire: The young Nick Cave (Mark Mordue, Fourth Estate)

Released November 2020

After 35 years of communication with Nick Cave, 10 of them actively spent researching a biography which eventually grew to Moby Dick proportions, Mark Mordue has fashioned this expertly detailed... Read more

I’m a Hero Too (Jamila Rizvi, illus by Peter Cheong, Puffin)

Released November 2020

I’m a Hero Too is about a little boy named Arty who’s feeling sad and out of sorts because his parents are acting strangely. Mum is talking in whispers and... Read more

Ernie’s Journey (David Woodland, Berbay)

Released November 2020

David Woodland’s debut picture book Ernie’s Journey is unmistakably influenced by his award-winning cinematic background. Its visual detail and narrative novelty are rich, and the absurd adventures of its eponymous... Read more

Anemone is Not the Enemy (Anna McGregor, Scribble)

Released November 2020

Everybody needs a special friend—one they can rely on, one who’s there for them—but Anemone is lonely and finding it very difficult. The problem is he accidentally stings everybody who... Read more

Infinite Splendours (Sofie Laguna, A&U)

Released November 2020

Miles Franklin–winner Sofie Laguna’s fourth novel tells the story of Lawrence, a boy from a small western Victorian town near the Southern Grampians mountain range. Lawrence has a special, spiritual... Read more

Lucky’s (Andrew Pippos, Picador)

Released November 2020

2002: Emily steps off the plane in Sydney, still reeling from an unexpected marriage breakdown. She’s here to write an article for the New Yorker about Lucky’s, a once-beloved mid-century... Read more

Songlines: The power and promise (Margo Neale & Lynne Kelly, Thames & Hudson)

Released November 2020

The first in a series of six books introducing Indigenous knowledges, Songlines: The power and promise explains the use of mnemonics, or memory systems, in Aboriginal culture. Songlines archive knowledge... Read more

How to Be a Real Ballerina (Davina Bell, illus by Jenny Løvlie, Little Hare Books)

Released November 2020

Many preschoolers go through a ballerina phase and Davina Bell and Jenny Løvlie’s latest picture book shows a little girl doing the utmost to be a real ballerina—but not quite... Read more

The Fifth Season (Philip Salom, Transit Lounge)

Released November 2020

Philip Salom has twice been shortlisted for the Miles Franklin, and The Fifth Season will attract serious readers as a result. But this is not a book for everyone; its... Read more

Factory 19 (Dennis Glover, Black Inc.)

Released November 2020

Dennis Glover’s second novel, an intriguing potential unveiling of our very near future, is crafted with a light touch and a satirical sense of humour. Factory 19 is a reflection... Read more

We Are Wolves (Katrina Nannestad, ABC Books)

Released November 2020

In We Are Wolves, middle-grade author Katrina Nannestad, creator of the 'Olive of Groves' and 'Girl, the Dog and the Writer' series, moves confidently into more sombre territory with the... Read more

Dog (Shaun Tan, A&U)

Released November 2020

This is Shaun Tan doing what he does best. Carrying an elegant tension between joy and sadness, Dog left me in a puddle of emotion. The prose poetry traces the... Read more

One Day I’ll Remember This: Diaries 1987–1995 (Helen Garner, Text)

Released November 2020

The second volume of Helen Garner’s diaries picks up right where the first left off. It’s 1987 and her daughter, having graduated high school, is leaving home—or rather, Garner is... Read more

I Want to be a Superhero (Breanna Humes, illus by Ambelin Kwaymullina, Magabala)

Released November 2020

A little girl in a homemade blanket cape wants to be a superhero, and not just any superhero, she wants to fly! Breanna, the girl in question, is a younger... Read more

The Odds (Matt Stanton, ABC Books)

Released November 2020

The lack of locally produced graphic novels for young Australians has been noted for some time now, but middle-grade and children’s author Matt Stanton has a new book to appease... Read more

The Boy, the Wolf and the Stars (Shivaun Plozza, Puffin)

Released October 2020

Young readers with an insatiable hunger for adventure will love The Boy, the Wolf and the Stars, a timeless new novel from Shivaun Plozza. A departure from her writing for... Read more

This One is Ours (Kate O’Donnell, UQP)

Released October 2020

In her second novel, Kate O’Donnell, author of Untidy Towns, delivers an insightful and earnest coming-of-age story brimming with humanity. This One is Ours takes readers on a romantic overseas... Read more

Death Leaves the Station (Alexander Thorpe, Fremantle Press)

Released October 2020

In 1927 at Halfwell Station in regional WA, the station owner’s daughter, Ana, discovers a body in the nearby desert. At around the same time, a nameless friar arrives at... Read more

How to Make a Bird (Meg McKinlay, illus by Matt Ottley, Walker Books)

Released October 2020

For those children who revel in the natural environment, particularly fossils and bones, How to Make a Bird is a delight. According to the young girl protagonist, you will need... Read more

The Tunnel of Dreams (Bernard Beckett, Text)

Released October 2020

The Tunnel of Dreams is a charmingly breezy middle fiction fantasy novel about identical twins Arlo and Stefan, and their adventure in a parallel, magic-filled world. Author Bernard Beckett wastes... Read more