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The Fantastic Recipe Machine (Chihiro Takeuchi, Berbay Publishing)
Released March 2017
Chihiro Takeuchi is a paper-cut artist and the intricate pictures in this picture book are a startling sample of her craft. The Fantastic Recipe Machine is a testament to the... Read more
Florette (Anna Walker, Viking)
Released March 2017
Anna Walker’s picture book Mr Huff was awarded the 2016 CBCA Book of the Year in the Early Childhood category, so more picture books from her are eagerly awaited. Florette... Read more
The Tales of Mrs Mancini (Natalie Jane Prior, illus by Cheryl Orsini, ABC Books)
Released November 2016
Mrs Mancini is a marmalade cat who, along with her human friend Filippina, runs a cake shop. They know everyone’s business—as well as their favourite baked treats. This book is... Read more
From the Wreck (Jane Rawson, Transit Lounge)
Released March 2017
In 1859, the steamship Admella sunk off the coast of South Australia. Among the few lucky survivors was sailor George Hills and a mysterious woman who vanished upon her rescue.... Read more
Bloodlines (Nicole Sinclair, Margaret River Press)
Released March 2017
Thirty-one-year-old Beth is lost in her current life in Western Australia’s wheat belt and running from a past that haunts her. She seeks refuge on an island in Papua New... Read more
The Circle and the Equator (Kyra Giorgi, UWA Publishing)
Released February 2017
The Circle and the Equator introduces readers to an original and fresh voice in Australian fiction. Perth-born writer and cultural historian Kyra Giorgi has drawn on her love of history... Read more
Do You Love Me or What (Sue Woolfe, S&S)
Released March 2017
A dancer moves towards clarity; an ill-defined friendship threatens to sink a marriage; a strange Florentine love affair awakens a traveller’s longing for home. Across eight stories and a cast... Read more
Down the Hume (Peter Polites, Hachette)
Released March 2017
The narrator of Peter Polites’ smart and pleasantly unnerving debut novel, Down the Hume, is in a bad relationship with a physically abusive man who is only ever referred to... Read more
First, We Make the Beast Beautiful (Sarah Wilson, Macmillan)
Released March 2017
Sarah Wilson is a journalist, editor, TV presenter and the bestselling author of I Quit Sugar. In her new book, she explores the anxiety disorder that turned her life upside... Read more
The Hope Fault (Tracy Farr, Fremantle Press)
Released March 2017
On a rainy weekend, Iris and her family—her ex-husband, his new wife, her son and her friend’s daughter—are packing up their coastal holiday home. The house has seen parties, homemade... Read more
To Know My Crime (Fiona Capp, Fourth Estate)
Released March 2017
The cover blurb on Fiona Capp’s To Know My Name asks the reader, ‘how far would you go, for the ones you love?’. It’s a fair summary of this compelling... Read more
Peak: Reinventing Middle Age (Patricia & Don Edgar, Text)
Released March 2017
I opened this book expecting ‘middle age’ to cover approximately the ages 45-65 but noted social policy experts Patricia and Don Edgar believe that extended life expectancies—an added 25 years... Read more
The Restorer (Michael Sala, Text)
Released March 2017
In Newcastle author Michael Sala’s second novel, set in his hometown in 1989, a young family of four arrives from Sydney under strained circumstances. The coastal house Roy has bought... Read more
An Uncertain Grace (Krissy Kneen, Text)
Released March 2017
An Uncertain Grace is a powerful story told in five parts through the eyes of five characters from the present day to a post-climate-change world that is 100 years in... Read more
One Little Goat (Ursula Dubosarsky, illus by Andrew Joyner, Little Hare)
Released March 2017
Goats are the new ducks, it would seem, as the successful team of Ursula Dubosarsky and Andrew Joyner (The Terrible Plop, Too Many Elephants) reunite for another round of inventive... Read more
Ida (Alison Evans, Echo Publishing)
Released January 2017
Ida Wagner can travel backwards in time, but is clueless about how to move forwards with her life. She thinks her biggest problem is figuring out what to do now... Read more
The Thank You Dish (Trace Balla, A&U)
Released March 2017
Thank You Dish is a whimsical picture book from Trace Balla, author and illustrator of Rivertime and Rockhopping. The book centres on Grace and Mama, who are thanking the people,... Read more
Under the Love Umbrella (Davina Bell, illus by Allison Colpoys, Scribble)
Released March 2017
Davina Bell and Allison Colpoys’ previous collaboration was the superb, award-winning The Underwater Fancy-Dress Parade, and their follow-up, Under the Love Umbrella, has a similar charm—if not quite the same... Read more
Ballad for a Mad Girl (Vikki Wakefield, Text)
Released March 2017
Grace is the prankster in her group of friends, the odd one of the odd ones out. She’s always been known for taking a joke further, and for being the... Read more
The Turnkey (Allison Rushby, Walker Books)
Released March 2017
Witnessing the turbulence and devastation of World War II during the London Blitz would prove challenging for any 12-year-old girl, but Flossie Birdwhistle is no ordinary girl—she is a ghost.... Read more
