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The Hush (Skye Melki-Wegner, Random House)
Released March 2015
In a world where Music is the fabric of reality, none but those trained by the elite Conservatorium are allowed to touch the Song (the life force of everything). Travelling... Read more
Lifespan of Starlight (Thalia Kalkipsakis, Hardie Grant Egmont)
Released April 2015
Similar to a lot of recent YA fiction, this book is set in a dystopian future. It’s pretty well thought out, though. There’s a rigid class system, computer monitoring, and... Read more
Frankie and Joely (Nova Weetman, UQP)
Released May 2015
Escaping to relatives in the country with best friend Frankie in tow seemed like a wonderful idea to Joely at the time. But now they have arrived, she’s learning that... Read more
‘Lily the Elf’ series: The Precious Ring and The Midnight Owl (Anna Branford, illus by Lisa Coutts, Walker Books)
Released May 2015
Stand aside princesses and ballet dancers, elves could be the next big thing if the ‘Lily the Elf’ series is anything to go by. Anna Bradford, author of the ‘Violet... Read more
Farm Rescue: Pup Patrol Book One (Darrel & Sally Odgers, Scholastic)
Released March 2015
Farm Rescue is the first book in a new series for junior readers by Darrel and Sally Odgers, two names many readers will already be familiar with. Barnaby Station Stamp... Read more
Anyone but Ivy Pocket (Caleb Krisp, Bloomsbury)
Released May 2015
In a similar vein to Lemony Snicket comes Ivy Pocket, an orphaned maid and the terrifically unreliable narrator of this story. After being let go from her current position, Ivy... Read more
‘The Gateway’ series: The Four Fingered Man and The Warriors of Brin-Hask (Cerberus Jones, Hardie Grant Egmont)
Released April 2015
The brilliantly named Cerberus Jones is actually a pseudonym for three authors, Chris Morphew, Rowan McAuley and David Harding, who are already bestsellers in the middle-grade market. So when they... Read more
Dropping In (Geoff Havel, Fremantle Press)
Released April 2015
Stick and Ranga are best mates who love skateboarding, PlayStation and dunking arrowroot biscuits into steaming mugs of Milo. Their friendship duo unexpectedly becomes a trio with the arrival of... Read more
A Single Stone (Meg McKinlay, Walker Books)
Released May 2015
In almost all cases, shortness of breath is not a great feeling. In this instance, though, it was merely a symptom of good writing, and it happened as I read... Read more
The Flywheel (Erin Gough, Hardie Grant Egmont)
Released February 2015
Between running her father’s struggling café while he takes a well-earned holiday, dodging mean girls at school and helping her best friend with his girl dramas, Del is seriously in... Read more
A Man Made Entirely of Bats (Patrick Lenton, Spineless Wonders)
Released March 2015
In this collection of short stories and flash fiction, Patrick Lenton careens wildly across genres and draws on elements of surrealism, horror, fairytale, stand-up comedy and pulp fiction to generate... Read more
Clade (James Bradley, Hamish Hamilton)
Released February 2015
In his first novel in 10 years, James Bradley writes about the members of an extended family in a soft-dystopian near-future, where violent climate events have brought rapid changes to... Read more
The Anchoress (Robyn Cadwallader, HarperCollins)
Released March 2015
A small, dark cell in 13th-century England is the setting for the majority of Robyn Cadwallader’s debut novel, which arrives with some anticipation after being sold at auction into multiple... Read more
Anchor Point (Alice Robinson, Affirm Press)
Released March 2015
When Laura and Vik are children, their eccentric mother disappears during a flash flood on the family’s struggling property in rural Victorian. Though just a girl herself, Laura is forced... Read more
The Ash Burner (Kári Gíslason, UQP)
Released March 2015
Kári Gíslason’s first book, The Promise of Iceland, was a memoir about his search for his absent Icelandic father and a heartfelt exploration of the importance of home, place and... Read more
The Chocolate Promise (Josephine Moon, A&U)
Released April 2015
The Chocolate Promise offers a Tasmanian twist on the movie Chocolat; its heroine Christmas Livingston—who is more fairy godmother than seductress—runs a boutique chocolate shop outside of Launceston. Staunchly single,... Read more
Down to the River (S J Finn, Sleepers)
Released March 2015
S J Finn’s second novel is a timely and thoughtful piece of work. Joni Miller is a newspaper journalist living in a small country town with her restless girlfriend Tiff... Read more
Hot Little Hands (Abigail Ulman, Hamish Hamilton)
Released March 2015
There is intermittent gold to be found in this slightly uneven collection of short stories from debut author Abigail Ulman. Think Bret Easton Ellis meets Lena Dunham: Hot Little Hands is the... Read more
Panthers and the Museum of Fire (Jen Craig, Spineless Wonders)
Released March 2015
The year 2015 is only in its early days, but already I know that Sydney writer Jen Craig’s novella, Panthers and the Museum of Fire, will be among my top... Read more
A Short History of Richard Kline (Amanda Lohrey, Black Inc.)
Released March 2015
A Short History of Richard Kline is Amanda Lohrey’s first full-length novel in a decade, all the more welcome for the wait. This is at once a quiet, searching novel,... Read more
