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The Edge of Thirteen (Nova Weetman, UQP)
Released March 2021
The Edge of Thirteen is the latest offering by acclaimed middle-grade author Nova Weetman. Following the characters from Weetman's 'The Secrets We Keep' series, yet working as a standalone story,... Read more
New Animal (Ella Baxter, A&U)
Released March 2021
Amelia is numb. Ever since a heartbreaking event a year ago, unable to let go of the tragedy, she finds herself stuck in place. Struggling to find connection, she absorbs... Read more
Return to Uluru (Mark McKenna, Black Inc.)
Released March 2021
‘Perspective is everything,’ writes historian Mark McKenna in Return to Uluru, his mesmeric history–true crime hybrid. When starting the book, McKenna expected to tell an expansive history of central Australia,... Read more
The Believer (Sarah Krasnostein, Text)
Released March 2021
The people who populate The Believer are remarkably different from one another. There are, among others, a convicted murderer, a ‘death doula’, paranormal investigators, and Christian researchers who have dedicated... Read more
9 Things to Remember (and one to forget) (Alison Binks, Berbay)
Released March 2021
This picture book opens with a girl relaxing on a hammock somewhere in the forest, along with the words, ‘If you sleep outside remember that birds wake up very early... Read more
My Year of Living Vulnerably (Rick Morton, Fourth Estate)
Released March 2021
Anyone who enjoyed Rick Morton’s memoir One Hundred Years of Dirt will want to read My Year of Living Vulnerably. Under a disparate set of headings—The Self, Forgiveness, Animals, Touch,... Read more
Rajah Street (Myo Yim, Walker Books)
Released March 2021
In this sunny picture book, three-year-old Junya watches the world outside his window as he waits hopefully for the arrival of one of his most favourite things ever: the garbage... Read more
Dropbear (Evelyn Araluen, UQP)
Released March 2021
When I was in primary school, on the occasion that foreign travellers or tourists would come to visit, our conversation would inevitably turn to Australia's famous fauna and flora—to snakes... Read more
Hold Your Fire (Chloe Wilson, Scribner)
Released March 2021
Hold Your Fire is the incisive and darkly funny fiction debut by Melbourne poet Chloe Wilson, author of Not Fox Nor Axe and The Mermaid Problem. The 17 stories in... Read more
The Breaking (Irma Gold, MidnightSun)
Released March 2021
When Hannah meets fellow Australian traveller Deven in the lobby of a hostel in Thailand, her trip quickly gains a sense of purpose. Hannah’s drawn to the fiery, charismatic Deven... Read more
Waking Romeo (Kathryn Barker, A&U)
Released March 2021
Waking Romeo is a stunning reimagining of the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet—meets Wuthering Heights, meets epic time-travelling extravaganza. The main story revolves around Juliet and a group of... Read more
The Gaps (Leanne Hall, Text)
Released March 2021
The fourth novel by 2009 Text Prize winner Leanne Hall is simultaneously harrowing and enchanting. The Gaps begins as abruptly as a slap, with a newscast declaring schoolgirl Yin Mitchell... Read more
The Detective’s Guide to Ocean Travel (Nicki Greenberg, Affirm)
Released March 2021
Award-winning picture book and graphic novel author and illustrator Nicki Greenberg has turned her attention to middle-grade mystery in her newest work, The Detective’s Guide to Ocean Travel. Perfect for... Read more
Main Abija My Grandad (Karen Rogers, A&U)
Released March 2021
Written as a tribute to the author and artist Karen Rogers’s grandfather, who was instrumental in teaching her about her ancestry and Country, this picture book is a celebration of... Read more
A Room Called Earth (Madeleine Ryan, Scribe)
Released March 2021
In the light of a full moon on a sweltering December night—Christmas Eve eve—a nameless young woman drapes herself in a silk kimono and goes to a party, alone. Singularly... Read more
Other People’s Houses (Kelli Hawkins, HarperCollins)
Released March 2021
This suburban thriller, set on Sydney’s North Shore, explores what happens when unresolved grief turns into obsession. After experiencing a horrific tragedy, Kate develops some bad habits, including an alcohol... Read more
The Missing Among Us (Erin Stewart, NewSouth)
Released March 2021
The Missing Among Us is instantly enthralling. Erin Stewart profiles a number of missing persons cases, deftly and confidently straddling the line between reportage and personal response. Balancing the interviewees'... Read more
Eating With My Mouth Open (Sam van Zweden, NewSouth)
Released February 2021
Sam van Zweden’s Eating With My Mouth Open is at once an expressive memoir and a cultural commentary on the role of food in our lives. It’s part vulnerable and... Read more
The Ghost Squad (Sophie Masson, MidnightSun)
Released February 2021
This young adult thriller starts as a post-collapse story and then takes a supernatural turn. It begins with ‘the pulse’, a solar flare that shuts down all electronics, pitching the... Read more
The Speechwriter (Martin McKenzie-Murray, Scribe)
Released February 2021
Martin McKenzie-Murray’s fiction debut is a fun but sometimes frustrating book that nevertheless delivers plenty of laughs along the way. The story is told by Toby—an aspiring speechwriter whose hyper-ambition... Read more
