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Others Were Emeralds (Lang Leav, Viking)
Released September 2023
The year is 1997—the era of Jerry Maguire and Scream, dial-up modems, and rising anti-Asian sentiment in the heavily politicised Australian town of Whitlam. Poet Lang Leav’s debut novel revolves... Read more
Body Friend (Katherine Brabon, Ultimo)
Released September 2023
Katherine Brabon distinguished herself with her first novels, The Memory Artist and The Shut Ins, but she has surpassed these and reached an early career pinnacle with her enigmatically titled novel, Body Friend. If a... Read more
One Day We’re All Going to Die (Elise Esther Hearst, HarperCollins)
Released September 2023
Elise Esther Hearst’s impressive debut novel One Day We’re All Going To Die is introspective, evocative and imbued with poetic simplicity. With a playfully dark narrative, the book follows 27-year-old... Read more
Borderland (Graham Akhurst, UWA Publishing)
Released October 2023
Jono is a young Indigenous man who has little connection to Country and community. While his best friend, Jenny, seems to know exactly who she is, Jono struggles with his... Read more
Millie Mak the Maker (Alice Pung, illus Sher Rill Ng, HarperCollins)
Released September 2023
Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Alice Pung’s new middle-grade heroine nearly shares a name with Joyce Lankester Brisley’s much-loved creation: if you tried to write a version of Milly-Molly-Mandy in... Read more
Everyone and Everything (Nadine J Cohen, Pantera)
Released September 2023
Nadine J Cohen’s debut novel, Everyone and Everything, opens with 34-year-old Yael Silver swimming at a women-only ocean pool following a recent suicide attempt. The pool, built deep into a cliff... Read more
Tiwi Story: Turning history downside up (Mavis Kerinaiua & Laura Rademaker, UNSW)
Released September 2023
In Tiwi Story: Turning history downside up, Mavis Kerinaiua and Laura Rademaker undertake the phenomenal work of penning Tiwi peoples’ past and present. Tiwi Story is the latest preservation of... Read more
The Hummingbird Effect (Kate Mildenhall, Scribner)
Released August 2023
Kate Mildenhall’s latest novel, The Hummingbird Effect, follows the struggles of four women in a world completely transformed by time. The book follows four protagonists; in 1933, Peggy adjusts to life in a... Read more
Sunbirds (Mirandi Riwoe, UQP)
Released September 2023
In West Java, towards the end of 1941, war is looming. Whispers of a Japanese invasion weigh heavily on the minds of the van Hoorn family, who are throwing their... Read more
Our Country: Where History Happened (Mark Greenwood, illus Frané Lessac, Walker)
Released September 2023
Our Country: Where History Happened is the second title by the creative duo Mark Greenwood and Frané Lessac. This nonfiction picture book contextualises the many different corners of Australia’s history for... Read more
Every Night at Midnight (Peter Cheong, Affirm)
Released September 2023
Up-and-coming author-illustrator Peter Cheong casts a magnificent glow with Every Night at Midnight, his heart-warming picture book about finding friendship in unexpected places. With the repetitive refrain, ‘Every night at... Read more
Ordinary Gods and Monsters (Chris Womersely, Macmillan)
Released September 2023
For 17-year-old Nick Wheatley and his long-time best friend and next-door neighbour, Marion Perry, school has finished for good, adulthood beckons and their lives are nudging them in different directions.... Read more
Eleanor Jones is Not a Murderer (Amy Doak, Penguin)
Released September 2023
Amy Doak’s debut, Eleanor Jones is Not a Murderer, is a young adult mystery novel for aspiring detectives. Eleanor thinks of herself as an unexceptional person with medium hair, skin, height and... Read more
The Disorganisation of Celia Stone (Emma Young, Fremantle)
Released September 2023
Emma Young’s second novel, The Disorganisation of Celia Stone, explores the demands of modern life and how they affect women living in a world with unrealistic expectations. Celia Stone has it... Read more
Country Town (Isolde Martyn & Robyn Ridgeway, illus Louise Hogan, Ford St)
Released September 2023
Country Town is the first picture book for both historical novelist Isolde Martyn and Aboriginal Studies teacher Robyn Ridgeway. From a fusion of interesting factoids about real Australian towns, Martyn... Read more
A Different Dragon (Nick Gill, illus Luma Wildish, HGCP)
Released September 2023
A little dragon named Donny knows that dragons are meant to do one thing: breathe fire. But he has trouble getting the hang of it, unlike his friends, who shoot... Read more
The Visitors (Jane Harrison, HarperCollins)
Released September 2023
It’s 1788 in Gadigal country. Seven Aboriginal Elders gather from different clans to discuss the large ships in the harbour. Who are these visitors? Why are they here? How did... Read more
Aggie Flea is Not a Liar! (Tania Ingram, illus A Yi, Scholastic)
Released September 2023
Aggie Flea is greatly misunderstood. Her teacher, Mrs Fossy, definitely doesn’t like her and regularly sends her to the principal’s office. Aggie loves the fictitious Princess Zombie books about a... Read more
Something Bad is Going to Happen (Jessie Stephens, Macmillan)
Released September 2023
When Jessie Stephens’s debut novel opens, protagonist Adella is almost 30 and spending New Year’s Eve in a psychiatric hospital. Something bad, it seems, has happened. The novel rewinds to... Read more
Good Morning, My Deer! (Mel Amon, illus Sophie Beer, Scribble)
Released September 2023
Hare or hair, pear or pair, son or sun—abounds in a glorious new picture book from author Mel Amon, illustrated by national treasure Sophie Beer. Good Morning, My Deer! is... Read more
