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Rise of the Witch (Everglade #1) (Kitty Black, illus Rebecca Crane, Affirm)
Released June 2025
Take one part Enid Blyton’s The Enchanted Wood, add a sprinkle of Diana Wynne Jones and a dash of Jessica Townsend’s Nevermoor, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a... Read more
The Name of the Sister (Gail Jones, Text)
Released June 2025
The latest novel from award-winning author Gail Jones, The Name of the Sister, is a literary whodunnit set in a small mining town. The book begins with a woman stumbling onto... Read more
Lucky’s Star: The Story of a Meteorite (Mark Greenwood, illus by Lucia Masciullo, CSIRO Publishing)
Released June 2025
Children are naturally fascinated by the night sky, and Lucky’s Star will surely delight primary-aged students with its clever combination of storytelling and facts. Based on the real-life 1969 Murchison... Read more
King of Dirt (Holden Sheppard, Pantera)
Released June 2025
Holden Sheppard hits again with the blunt edge of Australian queerness in his latest novel, King of Dirt. Continuing his work in the gay coming-of-age genre (Sheppard’s 2019 debut Invisible... Read more
Bombard the Headquarters! The Cultural Revolution in China (Linda Jaivin, Black Inc)
Released June 2025
Chairman Mao’s decade of terror is the subject of Bombard the Headquarters!, Australian sinologist Linda Jaivin’s excellent primer on China’s Cultural Revolution. In 1966, Peking University’s Nie Yuanzi created a... Read more
Stinkbug (Sinéad Stubbins, Affirm)
Released June 2025
Sinéad Stubbins’ debut fiction novel, Stinkbug, is a sharp, darkly funny reflection on the corporate ‘normal’ and the compromises we make to survive in a hostile environment. It meditates on... Read more
R.I.P. Nanny Tobbins (Lucie Stevens, HarperCollins)
Released June 2025
R.I.P. Nanny Tobbins by Lucie Stevens is a deliciously macabre and unexpectedly funny debut fantasy for advanced middle-grade readers, blending tension, mystery and moments of humour with remarkable skill. Albertine... Read more
When Nothing Feels Real (Nathan Dunne, Murdoch)
Released June 2025
When Nothing Feels Real is a raw and immersive first-person account of journalist Nathan Dunne’s experience of depersonalisation. It begins with a moment – a dive into cold water –... Read more
Ever Blessed (Olivia O’Flynn, HarperCollins)
Released June 2025
Ever Blessed by Olivia O’Flynn is a confident debut in the romantasy genre, featuring a recalcitrant heroine, a taciturn hero, and potentially world-ending stakes. Captain Elva, a warrior princess of... Read more
A Farm by the Sea (Jillian Packer, Berbay)
Released June 2025
Fans of Alison Lester, Freya Blackwood and Trace Balla will be captivated by A Farm by the Sea by debut author and illustrator Jillian Packer. This new picture book invites young readers... Read more
Rytual (Chloe Elisabeth Wilson, Penguin)
Released May 2025
In her unsettling and sharply constructed debut, Rytual, Chloe Elisabeth Wilson dissects the seductive promise of transformation through beauty, rituals and belief systems. Marnie Sellick once dreamed of writing screenplays.... Read more
Joss: A History (Grace Yee, Giramondo)
Released June 2025
Grace Yee’s Joss: A History uncovers the lives of Chinese immigrants in Australia during the 19th and 20th centuries through a powerful blend of archival research and poetry. Viewing White... Read more
Our Dance (Jacinta Daniher & Taylor Hampton, illus by Janelle Burger, Lothian)
Released May 2025
Our Dance by Jacinta Daniher and proud Ngiyampaa/Wiradjuri man Taylor Hampton celebrates Australian First Nations culture through the joy of movement as children dance and sing in the corroboree. The... Read more
My Supercharged ADHD Brain (Dani Vee & James Layton, illus Ruth-Mary Smith, Larrikin)
Released May 2025
My Supercharged ADHD Brain is a brightly coloured picture book that candidly explores some of the positive aspects of having ADHD, celebrating differences and encouraging a better understanding of neurodivergence.... Read more
The Book of Guilt (Catherine Chidgey, Penguin)
Released May 2025
Welcome to an alternative version of the UK in the 1970s. In Catherine Chidgey’s The Book of Guilt, Hitler is assassinated in 1943. After a purge of senior Nazis and... Read more
The Letter Writer (Binny Talib, Windy Hollow)
Released May 2025
The Letter Writer by author and illustrator Binny Talib (Sloths Love Parties) opens with stunning endpapers – a delightful collage of envelopes adorned with scribbles and doodles that immediately draws... Read more
Find Me at the Jaffa Gate: An Encyclopaedia of a Palestinian Family (Micaela Sahhar, NewSouth)
Released May 2025
Several generations into the Palestinian diaspora in Australia, Micaela Sahhar explores the complexities of being disconnected from her ancestral land in Find Me at the Jaffa Gate: An Encyclopaedia of... Read more
The Edge of Everything (Miranda Luby, Text)
Released May 2025
In The Edge of Everything, Miranda Luby (Sadie Starr’s Guide to Starting Over) tells a poignant story of a teenager recovering from tragedy. It’s been eleven months since Lucy’s older... Read more
The Haunting of Hindmarsh Hall (Kate Gordon, Riveted Press)
Released May 2025
The Haunting of Hindmarsh Hall is the first book in The Secret Detectives Club middle-grade series by Kate Gordon (Xavier in the Meantime). Set in the quiet town of Table... Read more
I Want Everything (Dominic Amerena, S&S)
Released May 2025
An unnamed aspiring writer leaves a Melbourne hospital and, seeking distraction, swims laps at his local pool. There, he recognises an elderly woman as Brenda Shales, one of Australia’s best... Read more
