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Forbidden Journal of Rufus Rumble #1 (Nick Long, illus Robin Tatlow-Lord, Affirm)
Released June 2024
Rufus Rumble is not an ordinary boy. For one thing, he’s about to go into space. For another, Rufus lives in a dystopian world where the Throwbackers have taken power... Read more
The Last Trace (Petronella McGovern, A&U)
Released July 2024
The Last Trace by award-winning author Petronella McGovern (The Liars) is true to her usual form, simmering with mystery and psychological twists. We meet Lachy, who should be enjoying an... Read more
The Islands Where We Left Our Ancestors (Joshua Santospirito, Scribe)
Released July 2024
Joshua Santospirito’s latest graphic-novel memoir, The Islands Where We Left Our Ancestors, begins with a ferry trip from Palermo to the Aeolian Islands. Santospirito is returning to the islands to... Read more
Big Time (Jordan Prosser, UQP)
Released July 2024
I’m not sure what’s going on at UQP, but they seem to have developed a passion for speculative fiction, and I’m here for it. Their latest offering, Big Time, is... Read more
All About the Brain (Gabriel Dabscheck, illus Kim Siew, Berbay)
Released July 2024
Dr Gabriel Dabscheck’s All About the Brain is a fun and engaging exploration of one of the body’s most fascinating and mysterious organs. Before exploring the brain-body connection, the book... Read more
The End and Everything Before It (Finegan Kruckemeyer, Text)
Released July 2024
Moving, profound and deeply layered, The End and Everything Before It is a soulful debut novel from award-winning playwright Finegan Kruckemeyer. Emma arrives in a small harbour after drifting alone on... Read more
Lost & Found (Tim Sharp, Pantera)
Released July 2024
Lost & Found is the latest book by author, speaker and leader of Australia’s positive psychology movement, Dr Tim Sharp (aka ‘Dr Happy’). A self-help guide with a difference, it... Read more
What Do You Call Your Dad? (Ashleigh Barton, illus Martina Heiduczek, ABC Books)
Released July 2024
What Do You Call Your Dad? is a love letter to fathers by writer Ashleigh Barton (Freddie Spector, Fact Collector: Space Cadet) and illustrator Martina Heiduczek (Spies in the Sky), the... Read more
Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra (Cassy Polimeni, illus Hykie Breeze, UWAP)
Released July 2024
Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra by Cassy Polimeni (The Garden at the End of the World) is a beautifully written junior fiction story exploring themes of animal conservation, friendship... Read more
Personal Logistics (Chris Palazzolo, Fremantle)
Released July 2024
Chris Palazzolo is a poet based in the East Kimberley region whose works have previously won the Viva La Novella prize and the ABC Fiction Award. His latest collection, Personal... Read more
The Book Star (Bec Nanayakkara, illus Joanna Bartel, Affirm)
Released July 2024
The Book Star is a fun and engaging story about the importance of being yourself and following your interests. Centred around Book Week, this picture book offers a relatable situation... Read more
The Mires (Tina Makereti, Ultimo)
Released July 2024
Tina Makereti’s latest novel, The Mires, is a masterclass in social realism with just a touch of magic. Opening from the perspective of the swampland of the Kāpiti Coast in Aotearoa... Read more
Living Hot (Clive Hamilton & George Wilkenfeld, Hardie Grant Books)
Released June 2024
Living Hot by Clive Hamilton (Silent Invasion) and independent energy consultant George Wilkenfeld, provides a stark assessment of Australia’s response to climate change, emphasising that the inertia behind carbon emissions reduction... Read more
Leaf Letters (Lorena Carrington, Christmas Press)
Released July 2024
Nine-year-old Hazel Bird loves to explore her local area and collect little treasures. When her baby sister is born, she can no longer bring home ‘choke-ables’ and is gifted an... Read more
Return to Sender (Lauren Draper, Macmillan)
Released July 2024
A historical letter-writing mystery and searching for the missing ‘Adder Stone’ are two of the many compelling story arcs in this highly engaging, fast-paced contemporary YA novel. Brodie McKellon (‘The... Read more
A Language of Limbs (Dylin Hardcastle, Picador)
Released July 2024
Dylin Hardcastle’s tender and steamy third novel, A Language of Limbs, follows two sapphic young women (Limb One and Limb Two) on different paths through the febrile 1970s and beyond... Read more
Raymaŋgirrbuy dhäwu, When I was a little girl (Kylie Gatjawarrawuy Mununggurr, Magabala)
Released July 2024
This beautiful book is written in dual languages: Dhuwal, also known as Djambarrpuyŋu (widely understood in north-east Arnhem Land), and English. The artworks/illustrations by author Kylie Gatjawarrawuy Mununggurr depict family... Read more
Jade and Emerald (Michelle See-Tho, Vintage)
Released July 2024
Winner of the 2023 Penguin Literary Prize, Jade and Emerald is a portrait of what it means to grow up caught between two cultures. Lei Ling Wen is an Australian-born... Read more
The Infant Vine (Isabella G Mead, UWAP)
Released July 2024
Isabella G Mead’s debut collection, The Infant Vine, speaks to the deeply elemental nature of motherhood. In these poems, the line between what is human and what is animal becomes ever... Read more
Outrider (Mark Wales, Macmillan)
Released July 2024
In Mark Wales’s debut novel, Outrider, China invades Australia, and the state of Victoria is now in the hands of enemy forces. With many fight-hungry locals turned traitors, The Hill—the once... Read more
