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The Jammer (Nova Weetman, UQP)
Released October 2022
Fred has roller derby in her blood. As soon as she could walk, her mum had her skating. It was their thing—and a place where Fred always knew she belonged—until... Read more
The Sun Walks Down (Fiona McFarlane, A&U)
Released October 2022
Fiona McFarlane’s debut novel The Night Guest and short story collection The High Places received critical acclaim. Now teaching creative writing at the University of California, Berkeley, the author seals... Read more
People Who Lunch (Sally Olds, Upswell)
Released September 2022
People Who Lunch is the much-anticipated first book by Melbourne-based writer Sally Olds. Known among a devoted coterie of fans for her long-form standalone essays, Olds’ first full collection focuses... Read more
A Message for Nasty (Roderick Fry, Awa Press)
Released September 2022
Roderick Fry’s debut novel is the harrowing wartime story of a family fighting to reunite amid the destruction of the Second World War. The plot follows a married couple, Marie... Read more
A Question of Age: Women, ageing and the forever self (Jacinta Parsons, ABC Books)
Released September 2022
Jacinta Parsons wanted to get under the skin of ageing. What is it? And can we prepare ourselves for it, even before we have arrived at ‘old age’ (whatever that... Read more
Itty Bitty Kitty (Maddy Mara, illus by Noémie Gionet Landry, Affirm)
Released September 2022
Maddy Mara is the pseudonym for publishing powerhouses Hilary Rogers and Meredith Badger, who have between them worked across industry roles from illustration to acquisitions. Having previously collaborated on picture... Read more
My Deadly Boots (Carl Merrison and Hakea Hustler, illus by Samantha Campbell, Lothian)
Released September 2022
This is the story of a pair of fantastically bright footy boots which may or may not be the source of a young Indigenous boy’s confidence, joy, inspiration, energy, power... Read more
The Wintrish Girl (Melanie La’Brooy, UQP)
Released September 2022
Melanie La’Brooy’s The Wintrish Girl is an exciting middle-grade fantasy debut. Penn is an outsider in the strict world of Aralyia, a slave to the princess Seraphine, who is orphaned... Read more
The Tree at Number 43 (Jess McGeachin, Puffin)
Released September 2022
Jess McGeachin has fast established himself as an exciting and skilled creator of picture books, drawing on his work at Melbourne Museum to celebrate the beauty of the natural world... Read more
Where You Left Us (Rhiannon Wilde, UQP)
Released September 2022
Rhiannon Wilde’s second YA novel, Where You Left Us, is as bewitching as her Glendower Award–winning debut Henry Hamlet’s Heart. It follows the two Prince sisters, Cinnamon and Scarlett, who... Read more
Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell (Tobias Madden, Penguin)
Released September 2022
Noah and Eli play an online computer game together most nights. They take down swamp goblins and drink virtual flagons of ale for hours at a time, but they still... Read more
Bon and Lesley (Shaun Prescott, Giramondo)
Released September 2022
Shaun Prescott continues his existential explorations of modern life in his second novel, which follows his 2017 debut The Town. In the opening pages of Bon and Lesley we meet... Read more
Birdbrain (Kelli Anne Hawkins, HarperCollins)
Released September 2022
In her return to middle-grade fiction, Kelli Anne Hawkins delivers another madcap caper for 10- to 12-year-olds that has puns aplenty and some genuine chuckles. Hadley Boggs is 11 and... Read more
Paper Cage (Tom Baragwanath, Text)
Released September 2022
Paper Cage is a thrilling whodunnit and the winner of the 2021 Michael Gifkins Prize. The story centres on Lorraine, a records clerk at a small-town police department. She’s bright... Read more
Naturopolis (Deborah Frenkel, illus by Ingrid Bartkowiak, Storytorch Press)
Released September 2022
The narrative nonfiction genre of children’s books—particularly those exploring the natural world—seems to be growing, and it can be hard to get right, since the audience for the ‘story’ component... Read more
Curlews on Vulture Street (Darryl Jones, NewSouth)
Released September 2022
A fascination with birds and wildlife took hold early for Darryl Jones. Now a professor of ecology at Griffith University, he first noticed the creatures who shared his landscape as... Read more
Dirt by Sea (Michael Wagner, illus by Tom Jellett, Puffin)
Released September 2022
When Daisy mishears the lyrics of the national anthem, Dad declares a road trip in Mum’s Kombi to show her that Australia is an island, girt by sea, even if... Read more
Honour Among Ghosts (Sean Williams, A&U)
Released September 2022
Honour Among Ghosts is a high-action historical mystery set in a small Irish village where there are sorcerers, moralistic ghosts and spell-scribbling scribes. When 12-year-old Penny’s working-class father is thrown... Read more
Dancing Barefoot (Alice Boyle, Text)
Released September 2022
Dancing Barefoot brings a warm and uplifting queer contemporary romance to the #LoveOzYA, #AusQueerYA and #OwnVoices scenes. Winner of the 2021 Text Prize, Alice Boyle’s debut novel follows Patti ‘Patch’... Read more
Be Careful, Xiao Xin! (Alice Pung, illus by Sher Rill Ng, Working Title Press)
Released September 2022
The bilingual picture book Be Careful, Xiao Xin! shows us how hard it can be for a young child to move towards independence and for a family to keep their... Read more
