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The Secret Library of Hummingbird House (Julianne Negri, Affirm Press)
Released July 2020
Julianne Negri’s debut middle-grade novel The Secret Library of Hummingbird House is sure to entice young readers with its effervescent premise and hook. It tells the story of Hattie, a... Read more
The Details: On love, death and reading (Tegan Bennett Daylight, Scribner)
Released July 2020
Tegan Bennett Daylight knows a thing or two about reading. As a writer, critic and creative writing lecturer, Bennett Daylight has a careful eye for detail and knows how it... Read more
Littlelight (Kelly Canby, Fremantle Press)
Released July 2020
A tyrannical leader, an oppressive wall and a courageous girl come together in this timely fable for preschoolers. When bricks start disappearing from the protective wall that surrounds their town,... Read more
The Friendly Games (Kaye Baillie, illus by Fiona Burrows, MidnightSun)
Released June 2020
It’s great to see so many books telling true stories of inspiring young people and overlooked yet defining moments in the lives of different communities. The Friendly Games unearths one... Read more
I Shot The Devil (Ruth McIver, Hachette)
Released September 2021
Richell Prize-winner Ruth McIver’s debut crime thriller is a powder-keg with a slow burning fuse that has you racing to figure out which of the shadowy, unreliable suspects ‘did it’—and... Read more
The End of the World is Bigger Than Love (Davina Bell, Text)
Released June 2020
Davina Bell’s first young adult novel is unlike anything else written for the target audience. This becomes clear almost immediately upon beginning the book, when the identical twin protagonists, Summer... Read more
Henry Turnip (Chloe Jasmine Harris, Walker Books)
Released June 2020
Henry Turnip is a panda who likes strawberry jam sandwiches with the crusts cut off, reading about the ocean, and his seven sets of blue-striped overalls. He dislikes mess, too... Read more
The Dark Tide (Alicia Jasinska, Penguin)
Released June 2020
The island city of Caldella is sinking, and the only way to hold back the tide is through an annual ritual sacrifice performed by the cold, distant Witch Queen. When... Read more
Eloise and the Bucket of Stars (Janeen Brian, Walker Books)
Released June 2020
For nearly 13 years Eloise Pail has dreamed of a family and life outside the orphanage. But year after year Eloise is left under the watchful gaze of Sister Hortense,... Read more
Change Starts with Us (Sophie Beer, Little Hare)
Released June 2020
This brightly coloured and accessible book sets out to empower young children and familiarise them with ways in which even the littlest of us can have an impact our world.... Read more
What Zola did on Monday (Melina Marchetta, illus by Deb Hudson, Puffin)
Released June 2020
Melina Marchetta is a novelist we normally associate with award-winning young adult fiction, and more recently her adult novels Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil and The Place on Dalhousie.... Read more
The Trials of Portnoy: How Penguin brought down Australia’s censorship system (Patrick Mullins, Scribe)
Released June 2020
Starting even before Federation and lasting until the early 1970s, the Australian government controlled what Australians could read. Yet today, as Patrick Mullins recounts in this scintillating account of the rise and fall of Australian... Read more
Father of the Lost Boys (Yuot A Alaak, Fremantle Press)
Released June 2020
This shocking story should be better known: the attempt of more than 20,000 orphaned boys and thousands more refugee followers to survive amid the terrifying atrocities of the Second Sudanse... Read more
The Rain Heron (Robbie Arnott, Text)
Released June 2020
Ren has retreated from the world. After the country is torn apart by a coup, she hides herself away on a mountain, barely seeing another living soul beyond the animals... Read more
Sticks and Stones (Katherine Firkin, Bantam)
Released June 2020
Detective senior constable Emmett Corban works for Missing Persons, a department under threat of downsizing: most of the people they’re looking for don’t want to be found. When a man... Read more
Rise & Shine (Patrick Allington, Scribe)
Released June 2020
Patrick Allington’s second novel takes place in an allegorical dystopia following an ambiguous apocalypse. The cities of Rise and Shine have emerged from these ashes thanks to the efforts of... Read more
Respect (Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson, illus by Lisa Kennedy, Magabala)
Released May 2020
Dream team Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson, who previously brought us the excellent Nganga: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander words and phrases, have collaborated with artist Lisa Kennedy to... Read more
Rocky and Louie (Phil Walleystack, Raewyn Caisley & Dub Leffler, Puffin)
Released May 2020
Siblings Rocky and Louie are as close as can be. Louie loves playing footy with his big brother and learning all about the Country they call home. Rocky shows Louie... Read more
The Year the Maps Changed (Danielle Binks, Lothian)
Released May 2020
The Year the Maps Changed is Melbourne-based writer Danielle Binks’ debut novel. The year is 1999 and in small-town Sorrento, Victoria, 11-year-old Fred is lost within the complexity of a... Read more
Tiger & Cat (Allira Tee, Berbay)
Released July 2020
In this appealing debut picture book from Melbourne illustrator Allira Tee, two animals recognise the value of their close friendship. Tiger and Cat do everything together—exploring, dancing, eating delicious pink... Read more
