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I’m a Dirty Dinosaur (Janeen Brian & Ann James, Viking)

Released April 2013

Independently and together, Janeen Brian and Ann James have produced many successful and award-winning picture books for young children. Both know how to appeal to children’s sense of fun, and... Read more

Light Horse Boy (Dianne Wolfer, illus by Brian Simmonds, Fremantle Press)

Released April 2013

Light Horse Boy is the story of a young Anzac and his journey through World War I. Jim is only 17 when he signs up for the army, admitted because... Read more

Max & George (Cori Brooke & Sue deGennaro, Viking)

Released April 2013

Max & George is a subtle and sophisticated children’s book that will be more suitable to early primary school readers than preschoolers given its themes and subdued colour palette. Max’s only... Read more

Night Watch (Phil Cummings, illus by Janine Dawson, Working Title Press)

Released April 2013

Giraffe, elephant, hippo and baboon all live by the lake. They are neighbours, happily co-existing side by side without any territorial disputes. But although they politely acknowledge one another, they... Read more

Song for a Scarlet Runner (Julie Hunt, A&U)

Released April 2013

When nine-year-old Peat is blamed for bringing misfortune to the local settlement, she flees to the marshes. There she is caught by a marsh auntie whose trade is stories that... Read more

Portraits of Celina (Sue Whiting, Walker Books)

Released April 2013

Bailey’s family has not had a good year. After her father’s accidental death, her sister has started drinking, her brother won’t take off his Batman cape, Bailey herself has stopped... Read more

The Mimosa Tree (Antonella Preto, Fremantle Press)

Released April 2013

Mira’s first year of university has just begun and she is determined it will be a fresh start. The year is 1987 and Mira is seriously worried about the Cold... Read more

Ted (Leila Rudge, Walker Books)

Released April 2013

Illustrator Leila Rudge is making a name for herself in Australian picture books, and has collaborated on several books with author Meg McKinlay, including the Children’s Book Council of Australia-nominated... Read more

Between the Lives (Jessica Shirvington, HarperCollins)

Released May 2013

Sabina is no ordinary 16-year-old girl. On alternate days, she wakes up in a different life. In one, she’s a popular socialite with a rich family and a ‘perfect’ boyfriend.... Read more

Boomer and Me (Jo Case, Hardie Grant)

Released April 2013

Many of Books+Publishing’s readers may already be familiar with Jo Case, who is well known in Melbourne publishing circles as an editor and reviewer. Boomer and Me, a memoir about... Read more

Conspiracy 365: Black Ops #1: Missing (Gabrielle Lord, Scholastic)

Released February 2013

Callum Ormond just can't stay out of trouble. He has barely had time to catch his breath following the year-long adventure chronicled in the ‘Conspiracy 365’ series, when he finds... Read more

Konkretion (Marion May Campbell, UWA Publishing)

Released February 2013

UWA Publishing should be commended for going against the grain in publishing such a highly literary and experimental novel. And I use the word ‘novel’ here with some caution. Large... Read more

My Life as an Alphabet (Barry Jonsberg, A&U)

Released February 2013

Candice Phee is 12, nearly 13, and she is intelligent and helpful, she likes to read the dictionary and Charles Dickens, and her mission in life is to make things... Read more

Murder with the Lot (Sue Williams, Text)

Released March 2013

Self-appointed PI Cass Tuplin runs the takeaway shop in drought-ridden Rusty Bore. She has two sons—the local copper Dean and vegetarian Brad, who appears to demonstrate for the environment on... Read more

Amber Road (Boyd Anderson, Bantam)

Released February 2013

In Europe World War II rages, but in Singapore 17-year-old Victoria Khoo is preoccupied with her plans to marry Sebastian Boustead, the son of a great British merchant family, despite... Read more

As the River Runs (Stephen Scourfield, UWA Publishing)

Released February 2013

In today’s Kimberley region, water is a natural resource, a social necessity, a political advantage and a means for personal ambition. Michael Mooney is a government minister who intends to... Read more

Cat & Fiddle (Lesley Jørgensen, Scribe)

Released February 2013

Cat and Fiddle, winner of the 2011 CAL Scribe Fiction Prize for an unpublished manuscript, follows the scandals and fortunes of two connected families in rural Wiltshire. The Anglo-Bangladeshi Choudhurys... Read more

Chasing the Light (Jesse Blackadder, HarperCollins)

Released February 2013

It’s the early 1930s. Whaling is booming in Antarctic waters while the fight for dominance over the land continues. The race to become the first woman to reach Antarctica is... Read more

Fractured (Dawn Barker, Hachette)

Released March 2013

Tony and Anna Patton seem to be the perfect couple: good-looking, hard-working, happily married and new parents to gorgeous baby Jack. Six weeks after Jack is born, however, something goes... Read more

Good News, Bad News (Maggie Groff, Pan Macmillan)

Released March 2013

Set in idyllic Byron Bay, Good News, Bad News follows freelance investigative journo Scout Davis, first introduced in Mad Men, Bad Girls and the Guerilla Knitters Institute, as she uncovers... Read more