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Ghost Cities (Siang Lu, UQP)
Released May 2024
Recently fired from his translating job at the Chinese Consulate in Sydney for lying about his translation skills and using Google Translate to do his job, Xiang Lu is a... Read more
All the Beautiful Things You Love (Jonathan Seidler, Macmillan)
Released May 2024
A romantic comedy told in reverse, All the Beautiful Things You Love charts Elly and Enzo's relationship over 10 years, leading up to their divorce. But what happens to their... Read more
Ultra Violet: Down to Business (Cristy Burne, illus Rebel Challenger, Larrikin House)
Released May 2024
Ultra Violet: Down to Business is the first in a new junior graphic novel series with a hilarious—but very scientific—premise. Violet (a science genius who wears a lab coat) and... Read more
The Kindness Project (Deborah Abela, Puffin)
Released May 2024
Nicolette is unconfident and shy and feels like she doesn’t fit in anywhere. However, she loves spending time with her nanna and takes comfort in her visits to her nursing... Read more
Because I’m Not Myself, You See (Ariane Beeston, Black Inc.)
Released May 2024
Ariane Beeston’s debut, Because I’m Not Myself, You See, chronicles her postpartum psychosis, as a mother and clinical psychologist. The memoir weaves personal experiences with scientific evidence, and makes recommendations... Read more
How to Avoid a Happy Life (Julia Lawrinson, Fremantle)
Released May 2024
How to Avoid a Happy Life is a lively memoir by Julia Lawrinson (Losing It), the author of over 15 books for young people. This memoir takes readers through a lifetime of sad and... Read more
Peripathetic: Notes on (un)belonging (Cher Tan, NewSouth)
Released May 2024
The nine essays in this collection, Peripathetic by Melbourne-based Cher Tan, use the form’s digressive capacity well. In elastic prose informed by wide reading, Tan heads down wordy, winding rabbit... Read more
Safe Haven (Shankari Chandran, Ultimo)
Released May 2024
Miles Franklin–winning author Shankari Chandran turns her focus to Australia’s inhumane practice of mandatory detention in her fourth novel, Safe Haven. As in Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens, a focal... Read more
The Unexpected Mess of It All (Gabrielle Tozer, HarperCollins)
Released May 2024
Gold Inky award-winning author Gabrielle Tozer’s fifth YA novel, The Unexpected Mess of it All, displays her trademark empathy, humour and cheekiness. Jamila’s life is an unexpected mess. Since their... Read more
Cora Seen and Heard (Zanni Louise, Walker)
Released May 2024
When Cora’s family moves to Tasmania to renovate a decrepit theatre, Cora, 12, is thrilled at the opportunity to reinvent herself as Cora 2.0: more confident, admired, and interesting. But... Read more
What Stars Are For (Margeaux Davis, Affirm)
Released May 2024
What Stars Are For is the first picture book by sewing pattern and soft toy designer Margeaux Davis. The emerging children’s book illustrator’s love for the natural world is informed... Read more
Circadia (Judith Bishop, UQP)
Released May 2024
Judith Bishop’s Circadia is a collection of neatly formed, intelligent poems in which you can discover something new with each read. Bishop is in conversation with a chorus of voices and introduces... Read more
To Sing of War (Catherine McKinnon, HarperCollins)
Released May 2024
From Miles Franklin–shortlisted author Catherine McKinnon (Storyland), To Sing of War confronts the interconnectedness that binds humanity. Against the backdrop of WWII, we find ourselves immersed in the jungles of... Read more
The Land Recalls You (Kirli Saunders, illus David Cragg & Noni Cragg, Scholastic)
Released May 2024
The title of multi-awarded Gunai poet Kirli Saunders’s picture book The Land Recalls You honours the Stolen Generations and their descendants, as well as others who have been taken from Country, in a story... Read more
Our Flag, Our Story (Bernard Namok Jnr & Thomas Mayo, illus Tori-Jay Mordey, Magabala)
Released May 2024
Reading Our Flag, Our Story: The Torres Strait Islander Flag by Bernard Namok Jnr and Thomas Mayo on so-called Australia Day feels incredibly poignant. In October 2023, Australians voted against establishing the... Read more
Saltblood (Francesca de Tores, Bloomsbury)
Released May 2024
Saltblood is an engrossing, deeply felt historical novel by Melbourne poet, author and academic Francesca de Tores (with previous works published as Francesca Haig), fictionalising the life of pirate Mary... Read more
Country (Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson, illus Cheryl Davison, Wild Dog)
Released May 2024
Country is a celebration of earth and sky, sun, moon and stars—central to First Nations Culture. Through intricate, warm and entrancing artwork by renowned artist and Walbunja, Ngarigo woman Cheryl... Read more
The Mistress of Dara Island (Averil Kenny, Echo)
Released April 2024
Traversing the 1950s to 1960s, Averil Kenny’s The Mistress of Dara Island follows Tally Ramsey, who spent her childhood on a paradisiacal tropical island. Despite its setting in the real-world... Read more
Ela! Ela! (Ella Mittas, Murdoch)
Released May 2024
Ela! Ela! means 'Come! Come!', and it’s a wonderfully fitting title for this generous, delicious and personal book of Turkish-Greek recipes, photography and essays, which documents Ella Mittas’s travels to Istanbul, Alaçatı,... Read more
The Apprentice Witnesser (Bren MacDibble, A&U Children’s)
Released May 2024
Bren MacDibble has become well-known for her unique and heartfelt adventure novels for middle-grade readers, including How to Bee, The Dog Runner and Across the Risen Sea, as well as The Raven’s... Read more
