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Stay Well Soon (Penny Tangey, UQP)

Released September 2013

Horse-mad Stevie is 11 years old and lives with her perpetually dieting mother and older brother Rhys, who, for the first time in his life, has turned down a potato... Read more

Every Breath (Ellie Marney, A&U)

Released September 2013

Picking up on the current Sherlock Holmes zeitgeist, Every Breath is the story of two teenagers playing at detective, trying to solve the death of their friend Homeless Dave. Rather... Read more

The Vanishing Moment (Margaret Wild, A&U)

Released September 2013

A weeping girl, a haunted somnambulist and a mysterious magician named Bob—Margaret Wild’s latest YA novel is a riveting exploration of the measure of human life and happiness, worlds away... Read more

You Don’t Even Know (Sue Lawson, Walker Books)

Released September 2013

Stuck in hospital after an accident he can’t remember, Alex is forced to try to put together the events that led him to this moment, starting with the terrible loss... Read more

In Praise of Ageing (Patricia Edgar, Text, October)

Released October 2013

This challenging book has two sections. The first is a summary and critique of public and private attitudes and policies towards older Australians; the second is a series of short... Read more

The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka (Clare Wright, Text, November)

Released November 2013

Lively, incisive and timely, Clare Wright’s account of the role of women in the Eureka Stockade is an engrossing read. Assembling a tapestry of voices that vividly illuminate the hardscrabble... Read more

The Vale Girl (Nelika McDonald, Pan Macmillan, August)

Released August 2013

This impressive debut novel from Melbourne writer Nelika McDonald had me hooked from the beginning. Told through realistically drawn characters, this part thriller, part coming-of-age story revolves around 14-year-old Sarah... Read more

His Stupid Boyhood: A Memoir (Peter Goldsworthy, Hamish Hamilton, August)

Released August 2013

The subject of Peter Goldsworthy’s memoir is his first 18 years and ‘the getting of stupidity’. ‘The getting of wisdom would have to wait,’ he writes. Goldsworthy’s father was a... Read more

The Young Lion (Blanche d’Alpuget, HarperCollins, September)

Released September 2013

The Tudor family has long been a focus for historical novels, with authors such as Alison Weir, Philippa Gregory and Hilary Mantel flooding the market with Henry VIII and his... Read more

What the Ground Can’t Hold (Shady Cosgrove, Picador)

Released August 2013

What the Ground Can’t Hold is the story of an avalanche and its aftermath from the point of view of five characters. Emma meets up with two American men in... Read more

The Double (Maria Takolander, Text)

Released September 2013

Maria Takolander’s first collection of short stories is a captivating and slightly uncomfortable series of tales that are in turns frightening, amusing, haunting and reassuring. They explore humanity on the... Read more

Snake Bite (Christie Thompson, A&U)

Released August 2013

When we meet Jez she has just finished Year 11 and is hanging with her best friend Lukey and considering her 12th piercing. Jez and Lukey live in the outer... Read more

Tsunami and the Single Girl (Krissy Nicholson, A&U)

Released September 2013

This honest and revealing memoir documents Krissy Nicholson’s incredible time as an aid worker in poverty- and disaster-stricken countries, where she lives it up as a single 30-something amid the... Read more

Infamy (Lenny Bartulin, A&U)

Released October 2013

It is 1830. William Burr, who has been adventuring in South America, is contacted by his old friend and former employer John McQuillan, who has moved to Van Diemen’s Land.... Read more

Zac & Mia (A J Betts, Text)

Released August 2013

As far as introductions go, a cancer ward is not the first place that comes to mind, but that is exactly where Zac and Mia meet while undergoing treatment. What... Read more

Pureheart (Cassandra Golds, Penguin)

Released August 2013

Deirdre has spent her entire life living in the shadow of her overbearing grandmother, captive to the strange, deserted apartment block in which they live and to her grandmother’s terrible... Read more

The Wishbird (Gabrielle Wang, Puffin)

Released August 2013

Boy is a street urchin in the desolate City of Soulless, who makes ends meet by stealing for the reprehensible Panther. One day Panther encourages Boy to steal treasure from... Read more

Fox Swift (David Lawrence with Cyril Rioli, Slattery Media)

Released July 2013

Francis ‘Fox’ Swift has moved again. His parents’ jobs as social justice lawyers have dragged him away from his beloved Port Pembla Pirates footy team to some country town called... Read more

The Andy Flegg Survival Guide (Mark Pardoe, Puffin)

Released August 2013

When Andy’s parents promise him an Xbox for his 12th birthday on the condition that he writes in his journal on every single one of the 138 days between now... Read more

Noah Dreary (Aaron Blabey, Viking)

Released August 2013

Aaron Blabey has a knack for creating picture books with unusual themes, and has won several awards for his work. His first book Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley won the CBCA Book... Read more