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Sticks and Stones (Katherine Firkin, Bantam)
Released June 2020
Detective senior constable Emmett Corban works for Missing Persons, a department under threat of downsizing: most of the people they’re looking for don’t want to be found. When a man... Read more
Rise & Shine (Patrick Allington, Scribe)
Released June 2020
Patrick Allington’s second novel takes place in an allegorical dystopia following an ambiguous apocalypse. The cities of Rise and Shine have emerged from these ashes thanks to the efforts of... Read more
Respect (Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson, illus by Lisa Kennedy, Magabala)
Released May 2020
Dream team Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson, who previously brought us the excellent Nganga: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander words and phrases, have collaborated with artist Lisa Kennedy to... Read more
Rocky and Louie (Phil Walleystack, Raewyn Caisley & Dub Leffler, Puffin)
Released May 2020
Siblings Rocky and Louie are as close as can be. Louie loves playing footy with his big brother and learning all about the Country they call home. Rocky shows Louie... Read more
The Year the Maps Changed (Danielle Binks, Lothian)
Released May 2020
The Year the Maps Changed is Melbourne-based writer Danielle Binks’ debut novel. The year is 1999 and in small-town Sorrento, Victoria, 11-year-old Fred is lost within the complexity of a... Read more
Tiger & Cat (Allira Tee, Berbay)
Released July 2020
In this appealing debut picture book from Melbourne illustrator Allira Tee, two animals recognise the value of their close friendship. Tiger and Cat do everything together—exploring, dancing, eating delicious pink... Read more
Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal (Anna Whateley, A&U)
Released May 2020
Peta Lyre is an atypical girl living in a typical world. Her best mate says she has so many letters that they almost make up the alphabet—ADHD, ASD, SPD. Fiercely... Read more
Sometimes Cake (Edwina Wyatt, illus by Tamsin Ainslie, Walker)
Released May 2020
Audrey meets a lion carrying a purple balloon and asks him if it’s his birthday. ‘Sometimes,’ he responds, ‘but not today’. But considering that Audrey happens to like birthdays, she... Read more
When it Drops (Alex Dyson, Hardie Grant Egmont)
Released May 2020
Former triple j breakfast presenter Alex Dyson’s debut YA novel draws on his considerable knowledge of the Australian music industry—he has said that this book was inspired by the school-aged... Read more
Please Don’t Hug Me (Kay Kerr, Text)
Released May 2020
At the suggestion of her psychologist, Erin writes letters to her absent older brother, Rudy. Erin is 17 years old, behind on her savings for Schoolies and freshly unemployed. There... Read more
Broken Rules and Other Stories (Barry Lee Thompson, Transit Lounge)
Released September 2020
In this accomplished debut, Barry Lee Thompson makes delicate inquiries into the passage of time through a series of loosely linked, often coming-of-age stories. Several stories cast back to lucid... Read more
The Drop-Off (Fiona Harris & Mike McLeish, Echo)
Released May 2020
The Drop-Off is a cheerful depiction of parenting culture, told through the alternating points-of-view of three parents and set in a middle-class primary school in the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne.... Read more
Fathoms: The world in the whale (Rebecca Giggs, Scribe)
Released May 2020
Rebecca Giggs’ nonfiction debut is a lyrical, wide-ranging meditation on whales and their complex relationship with humanity. Meticulously researched and full of fascinating information, Fathoms is not just limited to... Read more
Mammoth (Chris Flynn, UQP)
Released May 2020
Chris Flynn’s third novel is an ambitious adventure back in time that recounts the folly of humanity—as told by the fossil of a 13,000-year-old mammoth. It sounds like it could... Read more
Hysteria: A memoir of illness, strength and women’s stories throughout history (Katerina Bryant, NewSouth)
Released September 2020
In this ambitious debut, Katerina Bryant blends memoir, biography, history and cultural analysis in an effort to deconstruct the complex cultural frameworks that inform our understanding of women’s mental health... Read more
Night Lessons in Little Jerusalem (Rick Held, Hachette)
Released May 2020
Night Lessons in Little Jerusalem is an impressive and gripping debut that blurs the line between memoir and fiction. Based on the wartime diaries of the author’s father, the novel tells... Read more
Ghost Species (James Bradley, Hamish Hamilton)
Released May 2020
James Bradley’s latest novel tells the story of Eve, a genetically engineered Neanderthal brought into life as part of a scheme for mitigating the environmental degradation of climate change. In... Read more
Untethered (Hayley Katzen, Ventura)
Released May 2020
In 1989 academic Hayley Katzen moved from apartheid South Africa to Australia. In Sydney she taught and worked in law and enjoyed the comparative safety and community of the city... Read more
How to Grow a Family Tree (Eliza Henry Jones, HarperCollins)
Released April 2020
Eliza Henry Jones explores addiction, family and identity in this insightful, compelling novel for young adults. Stella has always known that she’s adopted, but an unexpected letter from her birth... Read more
Mum’s Elephant (Maureen Jipiyiliya Nampijinpa O’Keefe, illus by Christina Booth, Magabala)
Released April 2020
Maureen Jipiyiliya Nampijinpa O’Keefe has spun a cherished childhood memory into a beguiling tale for children in this debut picture book. In its pages she reflects on her mum’s ‘elephant’,... Read more
