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The January Stars (Kate Constable, A&U)
Released April 2020
Fans of Kate Constable’s previous titles Crow Country and Cicada Summer will welcome the release of her latest middle-grade novel, The January Stars. This story introduces 12-year-old Clancy, yet another... Read more
Who’s Your Real Mum? (Bernadette Green, illus by Anna Zobel, Scribble)
Released April 2020
This is an exceptional book. It promises kindness, humour and insight, and absolutely delivers. Nicholas is obsessed with discovering which of Elvi’s two female parents is her ‘real mum’: a... Read more
Anisa’s Alphabet (Mike Dumbleton, illus by Hannah Sommerville, MidnightSun)
Released March 2020
In this picture book, Anisa takes the reader though the alphabet, describing her journey from an unnamed war-torn country to a refugee camp, then on to an overcrowded boat towards... Read more
Shoestring, the Boy Who Walks on Air (Julie Hunt, illus by Dale Newman)
Released June 2020
The creators of the 2015 graphic novel KidGlovz reunite with this illustrated companion novel. KidGlovz told the tale of a young musician so prized that he lived the life of... Read more
Duck, Apple, Egg (Glenda Millard, illus by Martina Heiduczek, ABC Books)
Released March 2020
This sweet and simple picture book will be a nice one to read to babies and toddlers just beginning to enjoy books. Duck, Apple, Egg is a cheerful, concise text... Read more
The Republic of Birds (Jessica Miller, Text)
Released March 2020
In her second middle-grade novel, The Republic of Birds, Jessica Miller has crafted a mythical world inspired by Russian folklore but steeped in a rich history of its own. Growing... Read more
The Vanishing Deep (Astrid Scholte, A&U)
Released March 2020
Tempest ekes out a living scavenging the sunken cities of a future flooded world, alone now after the death of her sister Elysea. But death is no longer the end.... Read more
Deep Water (Sarah Epstein, A&U)
Released April 2020
Sarah Epstein’s latest young adult thriller is equipped with enough intrigue and twists to rival any adult or international title in the genre. Deep Water is a captivating, character-driven mystery... Read more
Landing with Wings (Trace Balla, A&U)
Released April 2020
In Landing with Wings, Trace Balla’s latest graphic novel–picture book hybrid, Miri and her mother have moved to a new home in the Victorian Goldfields, and Miri’s feelings about this... Read more
Goodnight Glow Worms (Aura Parker, Puffin)
Released April 2020
Sleepy, cute and appealing bedtime books that, by their simplicity and rhythm, gently rock their readers to sleep are always welcome in families with small children. Most of us know,... Read more
Taking Down Evelyn Tait (Poppy Nwosu, Wakefield)
Released April 2020
Lottie is 16 and loves black metal, collecting curious words and making trouble, so her transformation into a goody two-shoes surprises herself as much as anyone else. But Lottie is... Read more
Backyard Birds (Helen Milroy, Fremantle Press)
Released April 2020
Helen Milroy is a descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Born in Perth, she has always had a passionate interest in health and wellbeing,... Read more
The Animals in That Country (Laura Jean McKay, Scribe)
Released April 2020
Laura Jean McKay’s debut novel concerns itself with the apocalypse, but an entirely different one to that fixated upon in cli-fi narratives. In McKay’s doomsday tale, humans contract a highly... Read more
The Adversary (Ronnie Scott, Hamish Hamilton)
Released April 2020
Ronnie Scott’s debut novel The Adversary is set during what appears to be an uneventful Melbourne summer but actually sees a lot happening to its protagonist. Languishing in emotional and... Read more
Stone Sky Gold Mountain (Mirandi Riwoe, UQP)
Released April 2020
In goldrush-era Australia the landscape is harsh, the law basically non-existent and discrimination bluntly and unashamedly informs every facet of life. Siblings Ying and Lai Yue are trying to scrape... Read more
Sheerwater (Leah Swann, HarperCollins)
Released April 2020
Sheerwater begins when a plane falls out of the sky. The accident—a light aircraft crash-landing in a field off the Great Ocean Road—is witnessed by Ava, a young woman on... Read more
Below Deck (Sophie Hardcastle, A&U)
Released March 2020
In Below Deck, 21-year-old Oli gives up a high-flying internship to work on the ocean after meeting an enigmatic older couple and sailing with them to the Coral Sea. Four... Read more
Come (Rita Therese, A&U)
Released April 2020
Twenty-five-year-old sex worker Rita Therese’s debut memoir is dark, funny and extremely candid—but her unsanitised tales of the sex industry are not for the faint-hearted. Come invites the reader into... Read more
The Salt Madonna (Catherine Noske, Picador)
Released March 2020
Set on a remote fictional island off the coast of Western Australia, Catherine Noske’s debut novel grapples with questions of familial obligation, complicity, remorse and the fallibility of memory. Noske... Read more
Small Mercies (Richard Anderson, Scribe)
Released April 2020
Dimple and Ruthie Travers are farmers in a tough time. Drought has seen them reduce their cattle herd and hold off sowing crops. Money is tight, rain is always forecast... Read more
