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The Memory Thief (Leonie Agnew, Puffin)
Released July 2021
Following her last spellbinding tale The Impossible Boy, Leonie Agnew has created another spine-tingling adventure novel for middle-grade readers. The Memory Thief tells the magical story of an unlikely friendship... Read more
The Newcomer (Laura Elizabeth Woollett, Scribe)
Released July 2021
Paulina Novak is a bad-girl bogan archetype in early 2000s Sydney. Stuck in a rut, she moves on a whim to Fairfolk Island, a fictional Pacific island known as a... Read more
The Cat Thief (Pat Simmons, illus by Liz Duthie, Little Pink Dog Books)
Released July 2021
Olive desperately wants a cat. So much so she is willing to steal them from off the street! The Cat Thief is a wickedly sly and humorous tale of theft,... Read more
Gentle and Fierce (Vanessa Berry, Giramondo)
Released July 2021
If you grew up in the 80s you’ll probably remember that infamous scene in The NeverEnding Story where Artax the horse sinks forever into the Swamp of Sadness. Sydney writer... Read more
Shockingly Good Stories (R A Spratt, Puffin)
Released July 2021
The foreword to R A Spratt’s latest middle-grade book declares that the collection of stories the reader holds in their hands was created specifically to spread joy in challenging times.... Read more
After Story (Larissa Behrendt, UQP)
Released July 2021
'Books have been my lifeline, my escape.' Jasmine’s family was forever changed by the loss of her sister when she was three. Now a lawyer, Jasmine is invited on a... Read more
Rainfish (Andrew Paterson, Text)
Released July 2021
Debut middle-grade novel Rainfish is set in the 1980s during the uncomplicated glory days of Transformers and Star Wars, when ‘being offline’ meant you left your phone off the hook.... Read more
The Shut Ins (Katherine Brabon, A&U)
Released July 2021
When Mai Takeda runs into an old acquaintance at a train station in Nagoya, it begins a narrative that weaves the lives of four people together in unexpected ways. Mai,... Read more
The Brilliant Boy: Doc Evatt and the great Australian dissent (Gideon Haigh, Scribner)
Released July 2021
If Herbert Vere 'Doc' Evatt is thought of at all today, it’s usually in terms of his nearly decade-long failure as Labor leader to combat Menzies’ conservative stranglehold. Gideon Haigh... Read more
The Incredibly Busy Mind of Bowen Bartholomew Crisp (Paul Russell & Nicky Johnston, EK Books)
Released July 2021
The title of this picture book is a bit of a mouthful, but it is rather apt because there is a lot going on in the mind of young Bowen... Read more
The Nordic Edge: Policy possibilities for Australia (ed by Andrew Scott & Rod Campbell, MUP)
Released July 2021
What can Australia learn from Nordic countries Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland? Quite a lot, according to editors Andrew Scott and Rod Campbell. Marshalling an array of Australian and... Read more
The Story of Australia: For the young (and the curious) (Don Watson, Black Inc.)
Released July 2021
After being out of print for 20 years, Don Watson’s The Story of Australia has been given a new life, a new target demographic and a new subtitle. Now targeted... Read more
Henry Hamlet’s Heart (Rhiannon Wilde, UQP)
Released July 2021
Henry Hamlet lives in his head, and his head is full of worries—will he ever get a girlfriend and lose his virginity? Will he pass his year 12 exams? What... Read more
The Rabbits (Sophie Overett, Vintage)
Released July 2021
The Rabbits is a tense suburban drama that probes the limits of family bonds and human potential. Sophie Overett, who won the 2020 Penguin Literary Prize for the manuscript, has... Read more
Catch Us the Foxes (Nicola West, S&S)
Released July 2021
Marlowe ‘Lo’ Robertson is an ambitious young journalist given the job of covering the annual show for the local paper. When Lo discovers the body of her friend, reigning showgirl... 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
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
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
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
