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Dear Ibis (Kate Liston-Mills, Spineless Wonders)
Released June 2021
From the author of The Waterfowl Are Drunk! comes an elegant and moving collection of short fiction set principally in New South Wales. With stories taking place against the backdrop... Read more
A Pair of Pears and an Orange (Anna McGregor, Scribble)
Released June 2021
A pair of pears are good friends who like to spend their days together, playing games that are just right for the two of them. When Orange appears, Little Pear... Read more
Frizzle and Me (Ellie Royce, illus by Andrew McLean, Ford St)
Released June 2021
Frizzle and Me jumps on board a current—and vital—trend for books celebrating diversity, and makes a respectable contribution to the cohort. The premise is that the definition of ‘family’ is... Read more
One Hundred Days (Alice Pung, Black Inc.)
Released June 2021
Is there a right way to love? Karuna feels suffocated by her mother—and her entrapment multiplies when her dad leaves and she’s forced to move away from private school and... Read more
Marlow Brown, Magician in the Making (Kesta Fleming, illus by Marjory Gardner, Celapene Press)
Released June 2021
Kesta Fleming has written stories and poems for junior readers for many years, making her publishing debut with the Marlow Brown chapter books in 2019. Magician in the Making, the second in... Read more
Echolalia (Briohny Doyle, Vintage)
Released June 2021
Echolalia, Briohny Doyle's skilful second novel, concerns a family on the verge of disintegration. Skipping elegantly between chapters set before and after a traumatic event that changes the family irrevocably,... Read more
A Paper Inheritance (Dymphna Stella Rees, UQP)
Released June 2021
Leslie Rees and Coralie Clarke Rees were a literary partnership, contemporaneous with two more famous Australian literary couples of the 20th century, Ruth Park and D’Arcy Niland, and Charmian Clift... Read more
100 Remarkable Feats of Xander Maze (Clayton Zane Comber, HarperCollins)
Released June 2021
Xander Maze’s best friend is his Nanna. When she is diagnosed with stage four cancer and asks him to write a list of 100 Remarkable Feats for him to achieve... Read more
Kunyi (Kunyi June Anne McInerney, Magabala)
Released June 2021
Kunyi, an illustrated memoir of Kunyi June Anne McInerney’s childhood, collects snapshot moments and stories of her life, told in her own words and accompanied by her paintings. The lively... Read more
Who Gets to be Smart (Bri Lee, A&U)
Released June 2021
Who Gets to be Smart opens with a walking tour of Oxford. Author Bri Lee is at the university to visit her friend, a freshly minted Rhodes Scholar. As the... Read more
We Were Not Men (Campbell Mattinson, Fourth Estate)
Released June 2021
Campbell Mattinson’s We Were Not Men charts the story of twin brothers Jon and Eden in an episodic exploration of male kinship. Told from Jon’s perspective, the book begins with the... Read more
The Covered Wife (Lisa Emanuel, Pantera Press)
Released June 2021
When young lawyer Sarah meets the smart, handsome Daniel, the attraction is instant. Influenced by the charismatic Rabbi Menachem Lev and his wife Chani, who take the new couple under... Read more
The School (Brendan James Murray, Picador)
Released June 2021
Brendan James Murray is a full-time high school English teacher and an award-winning writer. His new nonfiction work The School chronicles a year in his classroom, in a public school... Read more
Walking in Gagudju Country: Exploring the monsoon forest (Diane Lucas and Ben Tyler, illus by Emma Long, A&U Children’s)
Released June 2021
Combining their expertise in and passion for botanical work, wild landscapes and the culture of the Top End bush, authors Diane Lucas and Ben Tyler join with illustrator Emma Long... Read more
Echo in the Memory (Cameron Nunn, Walker Books)
Released June 2021
Cameron Nunn presents an ambitious work of historical fiction in his latest novel Echo in the Memory. Seamlessly telling the stories of two adolescents existing almost 200 years apart, the... Read more
Coco, the Fish with Hands: Endangered Animal Tales 1 (Aleesah Darlison, illus by Mel Matthews, Puffin)
Released June 2021
Coco, the Fish with Hands is a simple book that reads almost like a souvenir from a conservation habitat visit. Its story is practical and streamlined, introducing an individual handfish,... Read more
The Other Half of You (Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Hachette)
Released June 2021
Michael Mohammed Ahmad’s latest novel continues the story of Bani Adam, a young Lebanese Muslim man growing up in Sydney. Bani, the protagonist of Ahmad’s 2018 novel The Lebs, now... Read more
Everything Harder Than Everyone Else (Jenny Valentish, Black Inc.)
Released June 2021
Don't be fooled by the Motörhead-inspired title: journalist Jenny Valentish’s latest work of nonfiction isn't about music but is instead an accessible deep dive into extreme bodily endurance. A spiritual... Read more
Fil & Harry (Jenny Blackford, illus by Kristin Devine, Christmas Press)
Released May 2021
This charming novel is the first book in a new list from Christmas Press aimed at that tricky age between picture books and middle fiction. Written by Jenny Blackford, whose... Read more
Common Wealth (Gregg Dreise, Scholastic)
Released May 2021
In light of the recent change to the lyrics of ‘Advance Australia Fair’, as well as the ongoing debate surrounding January 26, this impassioned plea for recognition and unity from... Read more
