Reviews
Adult fiction
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 picturesque Mount Dandenong—is now the only place for any Victorians willing to fight back. It’s also the home of Jack Dunne, an Outrider—a lethal military… Read more
The Skeleton House (Katherine Allum, Fremantle)
Released June 2024
The Skeleton House is a powerful and riveting literary debut, delving into themes of motherhood, coercive control, and life within a remote and rigid society. Meg’s life, like that of many mid-20s women in her Mormon community in Nevada, seems straightforward on the surface. Despite not being Mormon herself, she feels the pressure to be… Read more
Adult nonfiction
Always Was, Always Will Be (Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson, Magabala)
Released June 2024
Always Was, Always Will Be is set to be an indispensable resource for young people looking to understand First Nations resistance in Australia. Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson, whose collaboration began with Nganga: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander words and phrases, provide a succinct thesis for this new book from the opening: ‘Many people today see current… Read more
Milk (Matthew Evans, Murdoch)
Released July 2024
Dairy milk is an odd battleground for political polarisation, yet it always seems to be one. Milk is an attempt to make the case for that long-loved standard—cows’ milk—in the face of stiff competition from plant-based alternatives. Author Matthew Evans, best known as SBS’s Gourmet Farmer and a former restaurant critic and restaurateur, declares his bias from the get-go… Read more
Children's picture books
Wild About Book Week (Sarah Speedie, illus Kruti Desai, Larrikin House)
Released July 2024
Wild About Book Week is a meta-tale of sorts, which celebrates what has become an annual tradition for many families: dressing up for Book Week. The protagonist, a pigtailed child, is surrounded by books in the first spread, spoiled for choice. In author Sarah Speedie’s (Boss Cat) first-person rhyming prose, they recount the costume possibilities,… Read more
Spiro (Anna McGregor, Scribble)
Released July 2024
Spiro is a humorous new picture book by Anna McGregor, the multi-award-winning creator of Anemone Is Not the Enemy. The protagonist is Spiro, a determined little spider on a mission to catch his next meal. He’s hungry for a juicy fly, a scrumptious moth, or a crunchy stink bug, but he’s not having much luck. Each time… Read more
Younger readers
Brock the Croc (Adrian Beck, illus Dean Rankine, Larrikin House)
Released June 2024
Brock the Croc is a humorous early chapter book for kids aged 7+ who have recently become comfortable with independent reading. Brock is the only crocodile in the swamp, and he likes it that way. He basks in the attention, riding his motorbike and throwing elaborate parties. All the other animals love him and enjoy… Read more
Freddie Spector, Fact Collector: Space Cadet (Ashleigh Barton, illus Peter Cheong, Lothian)
Released July 2024
Freddie Spector, Fact Collector: Space Cadet is the first instalment in this funny, fact-filled junior fiction series, ideal for ages 7 to 10. Freddie is a wacky, confident eight-year-old boy who collects facts on sticky notes. When Freddie gets interested in a topic, he dives deep, poring through books and websites until he has enough facts… Read more
Young adult
Father of the Lost Boys: The Mecak Ajang Alaak story (Yuot A Alaak, Fremantle)
Released June 2024
In Father of the Lost Boys, former child refugee Yuot A Alaak immortalises the hero who rescued 20,000 boys from the brink of death—his father, Mecak Ajang Alaak. Affectionately embraced as ‘Dad’ by the thousands of boys he cared for during the Second Sudanese Civil War, Ajang will captivate readers of his family’s story in this… Read more
Liar’s Test (Ambelin Kwaymullina, Text)
Released June 2024
The latest YA novel from Palyku author Ambelin Kwaymullina is a high-action, thematically rich fantasy with a gutsy, intuitive protagonist who must become a good liar to survive in the city-kingdom of Radiance, where Treesingers have long been living under oppression by the Risen. Fifteen-year-old Bell Silverleaf is a Treesinger and a memory-walker with the… Read more
Recently released titles
Deep Is the Fen (Lili Wilkinson, A&U Children’s)
Released April 2024
Lili Wilkinson’s latest fantasy novel is set in the same magical world as her Victorian Premier's Literary Award–winning novel, A Hunger of Thorns. It’s a realm where all magic is controlled by corporations who sell magical disguises and trinkets to the masses. This is the story of three friends—Merry, Sol and Teddy—who, at 17, are… Read more
Sanctuary (Garry Disher, Text)
Released April 2024
Grace has been stealing her whole life. She is an expert thief, taught by pros and specialising in small, high-value items, such as stamps and watches. However, a life of crime comes with danger, so she lives life on the edge, ready to disappear at a moment’s notice. When she sees Adam Garrett, a familiar… Read more
