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Dorrie (Tanya McCartney, HarperCollins)
Released February 2023
Award-winning Tanya McCartney’s Dorrie is a personable, narrative-style biography of author Dorothy Wall and how she came to write the Blinky Bill stories. It’s filled with young Dorrie’s irrepressible energy... Read more
Grace Notes (Karen Comer, Lothian)
Released February 2023
A verse novel taking place as Coronavirus takes a grip on Melbourne, Karen Comer’s debut Grace Notes is a lyrical exploration of how two teenagers experience exceptional times. Crux, an... Read more
You Made Me This Way (Shannon Molloy, Fourth Estate)
Released February 2023
Known for his feature journalism as well as his acclaimed memoir of teenage struggle, Fourteen, Shannon Molloy has turned his keen eye to a more expansive project in You Made... Read more
The One Thing We’ve Never Spoken About (Elfy Scott, Pantera)
Released January 2023
In The One Thing We’ve Never Spoken About, Sydney-based journalist and podcast presenter Elfy Scott uses her talent for explaining complicated issues in accessible ways to examine the myths and... Read more
Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder (Kerryn Mayne, Bantam)
Released March 2023
In the lush, comforting Dandenongs, east of Melbourne, primary school teacher Lenny Marks is living a very organised life. She rides her bike to work, has dutifully polite conversations with... Read more
The New Rulebook (Chris Cheers, Harper by Design)
Released February 2023
In an era when psychologists’ waiting lists are months long, navigating mental health can be overwhelming. The New Rulebook by psychologist Chris Cheers is a godsend for those of us... Read more
Easy Peasy (Ky Garvey, illus by Amy Calautti, EK Books)
Released February 2023
When Ruby is given a pair of fabulous sparkly red roller skates for her birthday, she expects to be able to skate, equally fabulously, immediately—easy peasy. Of course, it isn’t... Read more
Two Can Play That Game (Leanne Yong, A&U Children’s)
Released February 2023
Leanne Yong’s debut Two Can Play That Game is a joyful and fun addition to the growing Asian-Australian Own Voices YA movement, joining the likes of Tiger Daughter and The... Read more
Crows Nest (Nikki Mottram, UQP)
Released January 2023
Crows Nest is the absorbing debut crime thriller by Nikki Mottram. Following the breakdown of her marriage, social worker Dana Gibson takes a job interstate, fleeing north to Toowoomba. While... Read more
A Man of Honour (Simon Smith, Echo)
Released February 2023
When debut novelist Simon Smith was a child he was told, ‘Someone in our family shot a prince.’ That man was Henry James O’Farrell, whose failed attempt in 1868 to... Read more
The Good Death Through Time (Caitlin Mahar, MUP)
Released February 2023
Historian Caitlin Mahar’s The Good Death Through Time joins previous works exploring euthanasia—see, for example, Assisted by Stefanie Green—but it is unique in its approach to the story. Mahar’s book is an account of... Read more
Running with Ivan (Suzanne Leal, HarperCollins)
Released February 2023
Having previously won the Nib People's Choice Prize for her historical adult novel The Deceptions, Suzanne Leal tackles a similar era in her first book for younger readers, a time... Read more
Smashing Serendipity (Louise K Hansen, Fremantle Press)
Released February 2023
Proud Binjareb Nyoongar woman Louise K Hansen unfortunately passed away before her profound memoir, Smashing Serendipity: The story of one Moordtj Yorga, was published. But the strong stories from her... Read more
The Death of John Lacey (Ben Hobson, A&U)
Released February 2023
Ben Hobson’s third novel tells the fragmented story of the life and demise of John Lacey, a ruthless, violent settler of a Victorian gold rush town. John and his brother... Read more
Hedgehog the Wonder Dog (Dannika Patterson, illus by Ross Morgan, Ford Street)
Released February 2023
Hedgehog the Wonder Dog is a picture book with a beautiful aura around it, both visually and figuratively, telling a tender and soul-soothing story of the power of connection—in this... Read more
Maggie (Catherine Johns, Hachette)
Released February 2023
In Catherine Johns’s debut novel, a 17-year-old Catholic school girl’s life is derailed when she becomes enamoured of her priest. It’s 1967 and Maggie is a straight-A student whose education... Read more
Tumbleglass (Kate Constable, A&U Children’s)
Released February 2023
Rowan is helping her big sister Ash with painting her room when suddenly they find themselves in 1999, at a party in the very same house. While Ash wants to... Read more
This Time it’s Real (Ann Liang, Penguin)
Released February 2023
Ann Liang’s This Time it’s Real is a vibrant young adult romantic comedy with its heart in the right place. When 17-year-old Eliza Lin’s school essay about her fabricated love... Read more
Taking to the Field (Jane Carey, Monash University Publishing)
Released February 2023
The most surprising thing to be found in a book about the history of women in science—for the author, as well as the reader—is the fact that the field has... Read more
Little Plum (Laura McPhee-Browne, Text)
Released January 2023
Little Plum is the second novel by the award-winning author of Cherry Beach, Laura McPhee-Browne. The story unfolds around 29-year-old Coral, who decides to follow through with a pregnancy from... Read more
