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Glimpse (Jane Higgins, Text)
Released May 2023
Jane Higgins’s dystopian YA debut The Bridge was the winner of the 2010 Text Prize, and her latest, Glimpse, has the same qualities that won Higgins the prize. Inspired by... Read more
All About the Heart (Remi Kowalski, illus by Tonia Composto, Berbay)
Released May 2023
All About the Heart by paediatric cardiologist Remi Kowalski and graphic designer Tonia Composto is the first in Berbay’s new nonfiction picture book series for four- to eight-year-olds. Kowalski and... Read more
She and Her Pretty Friend (Danielle Scrimshaw, Ultimo)
Released May 2023
Danielle Scrimshaw’s debut, She and Her Pretty Friend, is a history of queer Australian women. In a light and intriguing tone, Scrimshaw pieces together what little evidence there is—letters, diary entries,... Read more
Harriet Hound (Kate Foster, illus Sophie Beer, Walker)
Released May 2023
Harriet Hound is eight years old, vegan, and autistic. Her family runs a dog rescue shelter, Hound’s Rescue, on Hound Lane in their town of Labrador. On her eighth birthday,... Read more
The Sideways Orbit of Evie Hart (Samera Kamaleddine, HarperCollins)
Released May 2023
When 12-year-old Evie’s mum and stepdad Lee announce their separation, it feels like her whole world has been turned upside down. What’s more, Lee—the only father Evie has ever known—is... Read more
The Fall Between (Darcy Tindale, Bantam)
Released May 2023
The first body is waiting for Detective Rebecca Giles on a property in Muswellbrook, floating in a water trough. Giles is fresh out of a missing-persons case wrapped up in... Read more
A Friend for George (Gabriel Evans, Puffin)
Released May 2023
George is accustomed to being alone. All he wants is a friend. Is that so much to ask? Someone to frolic in the sea and go on boat rides with.... Read more
Royals (Tegan Bennett Daylight, S&S)
Released May 2023
This compelling, character-driven novel is Tegan Bennett Daylight’s first foray writing for teens. Through 16-year-old Shannon’s perspective, we follow the day-to-day minutiae of six teens (and one baby) who have... Read more
The Letterbox Tree (Rebecca Lim & Kate Gordon, Walker)
Released May 2023
In The Letterbox Tree, two acclaimed children’s writers have teamed up for the first time to write a platonic, cli-fi version of The Lakehouse, crafting a tense and pacy story... Read more
The Sydney Harbour Fairy (Deborah Frenkel, illus by Cate James, Affirm)
Released May 2023
Set on Sydney Harbour and its surrounds, The Sydney Harbour Fairy revolves around a clever play-on-words between ‘fairy’ and ‘ferry’. Nanna has organised a Girls’ Day Out with her granddaughter... Read more
After the Rain (Aisling Smith, Hachette)
Released April 2023
Aisling Smith’s debut novel, After the Rain, is the melancholic and moving winner of the 2020 Richell Prize. The story begins with Malti, a woman who moved from Fiji to... Read more
Obsession (Nicole Madigan, Pantera)
Released May 2023
When journalist Nicole Madigan starts dating single dad Adam, it seems like the beginning of an exciting new chapter for her and her children. But as the relationship progresses, something... Read more
The Rush (Michelle Prak, S&S)
Released May 2023
The Rush by Michelle Prak gives new meaning to the words gripping and horrifying. Take Jane Harper’s The Lost Man, add some sinister Wolf Creek, and you’re on the right... Read more
Neil, the Amazing Sea Cucumber (Amelia McInerney, illus by Lucinda Gifford, Affirm)
Released May 2023
Expect to be giggling, chortling then guffawing through Neil, the Amazing Sea Cucumber. Amelia McInerney writes a mockumentary-style picture book, taking a creative risk that pays off in abundance, and... Read more
Hunger of Thorns (Lili Wilkinson, A&U Children’s)
Released April 2023
Lili Wilkinson’s new YA novel is a dark and twisting tale that draws on a history of persecution and celebrates the power of women, even as it interrogates society’s fear... Read more
Etta and the Octopus (Zana Fraillon, illus by Andrew Joyner, Lothian)
Released May 2023
What should we offer a newly independent reader who is ready for a book with more text than a picture book but still needs plenty of support from the illustrations?... Read more
Love Letter to Lola (Carmel Bird, Spineless Wonders)
Released May 2023
Carmel Bird was the recipient of the 2016 Patrick White Literary Award and is a respected author of fiction and nonfiction. Love Letter to Lola, a compilation of 18 short... Read more
The Collected Regrets of Clover (Mikki Brammer, Viking)
Released May 2023
The Collected Regrets of Clover is the heartwarming debut novel by Australian author and journalist Mikki Brammer. Set in New York, the book centres on Clover Brooks, a socially isolated... Read more
Between Worlds (B D Lovell, UWAP)
Released May 2023
While often overlooked, science fiction poetry, or speculative verse as it’s sometimes called, has a distinguished pedigree, with contributions from such luminaries as Ursula K LeGuin and Brian Aldiss, as... Read more
Naked Ambition (Robert Gott, Scribe)
Released May 2023
Gregory Buchanan is an up-and-coming state politician with a healthy dose of self-regard. A blithe spirit, he commissions career artist Sophie White to capture his portrait. The sitting takes an unusual... Read more
