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Scapegoat (Ava Keyes, illus by Aleksandra Schmidt, Little Steps)
Released October 2018
There are plenty of picture books in the market that deal with bullying, but very few address the subject of being bullied at home, as Scapegoat does. Author Ava Keyes... Read more
The Adventures of Catvinkle (Elliot Perlman, Puffin)
Released October 2018
It’s hard to imagine that a book for children by two-time Miles Franklin-shortlisted author Elliot Perlman would be anything less than wonderful. Perlman was apparently inspired by a cat lying... Read more
Girl Running, Boy Falling (Kate Gordon, Rhiza Edge)
Released October 2018
Kate Gordon’s Girl Running, Boy Falling deals subtly and sensitively with teen suicide, which is no mean feat. It is heartening to know that it is gradually becoming less of... Read more
What the Woods Keep (Katya de Becerra, A&U Children’s)
Released October 2018
Hayden Holland is different from most other teenagers. Her mother disappeared in weird circumstances, and her father moved them to the city, away from the small Colorado town of Promise... Read more
Everything I’ve Never Said (Samantha Wheeler, UQP)
Released September 2018
Everything I’ve Never Said is a middle-grade novel that gently explores disability in young people and how it impacts families. Ava has Rett Syndrome and has spent 11 years of... Read more
Wide Big World (Maxine Beneba Clarke, illus by Isobel Knowles, Lothian)
Released October 2018
Wide Big World is a cheerful and direct celebration of difference that uses the natural wonders of the world to highlight the diversity of experiences around us. Written mainly as... Read more
The Girl Who Fell (Violet Grace, Nero)
Released September 2018
Written by husband-and-wife team Kasey Edwards and Christopher Scanlon, The Girl Who Fell is the first book in a new urban fantasy trilogy. Misfit, social outcast, and orphan with a mysterious... Read more
The Bus on Thursday (Shirley Barrett, A&U)
Released October 2018
Eleanor Mellett, a young woman recovering from breast cancer and a relationship break-up, retreats to a small country town in New South Wales to restart her life and career. But... Read more
The Killing of Louisa (Janet Lee, UQP)
Released October 2018
Winner of the Emerging Writer Manuscript Award at the 2017 Queensland Literary Awards, Janet Lee’s novel The Killing of Louisa is a cleverly written fictional retelling of Louisa Collins’ conviction in 1888... Read more
Speaking Up (Gillian Triggs, MUP)
Released October 2018
A self-described ‘conservative lawyer’ of nearly 50 years, Gillian Triggs attracted a barrage of criticism from right-wing politicians and media during her tenure as president of the Australian Human Rights... Read more
Boys Will Be Boys (Clementine Ford, A&U)
Released October 2018
In Boys Will Be Boys, a follow-up to her bestselling debut Fight Like a Girl, Clementine Ford takes a new angle on gender relations. Inspired by the birth of her son, Ford unpacks the... Read more
Misfits & Me (Mandy Sayer, NewSouth)
Released October 2018
Mandy Sayer’s first collection of nonfiction is primarily interested in Australians who have fallen through the cracks in society, whether due to mental illness, poverty, substance abuse, the disempowerment of... Read more
Blakwork (Alison Whittaker, Magabala)
Released September 2018
Alison Whittaker’s second book, Blakwork is a bold mix of poetry, micro-fiction, memoir and critique, and a follow-up to her award-wining debut poetry collection, Lemons in the Chicken Wire. A Gomeroi woman and Fulbright scholar,... Read more
Cedar Valley (Holly Throsby, A&U)
Released October 2018
On the first day of summer in 1993, Benny Miller arrives in Cedar Valley. She’s been invited, following the death of her mother, to stay at a cottage owned by... Read more
The Valley (Steve Hawke, Fremantle Press)
Released October 2018
Steve Hawke’s first foray into adult fiction, The Valley, is a tender and sensitive novel set in the Kimberley, a place the author lived and worked for many years and knows well.... Read more
Waiting for Chicken Smith (David Mackintosh, Little Hare)
Released September 2018
The nameless narrator of this story has been coming to the same beach with his family for summer holidays for many years. He’s there this year with his sister and... Read more
The Institute of Fantastical Inventions: Book One (Dave Leys, illus by Shane Ogilvie, Harbour Publishing)
Released September 2018
Brilliant super-scientist Leo McGuffin works at the Institute of Fantastical Inventions, a laboratory that delivers creative, high-concept solutions to realising people’s fantasies. Be it a desire to fly, play underwater... Read more
I Had Such Friends (Meg Gatland-Veness, Pantera Press)
Released August 2018
Hamish is a nobody. Less than a nobody. A poor year 12 farm boy with one friend—who is an even bigger loser. But his world is suddenly turned upside down... Read more
Grumpy Bear, Grouchy Bear (Lynn Ward, illus by Monty Lee, Yellow Brick Books)
Released September 2018
Bear is desperately hungry and searching everywhere for food. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t catch anything to eat. A series of accidents distracts him from his hunt... Read more
Maddie’s First Day (Penny Matthews, illus by Liz Anelli, Walker Books)
Released September 2018
Written for preschoolers who may be feeling nervous about their next educational chapter, Penny Matthews’ picture book takes us through the exhilarating journey of a little girl’s first day at... Read more
