The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Notable Books for 2022 have been announced.
Follow the links to those books I have already reviewed or interviewed the author or illustrator at PaperbarkWords blog.
NB I will add reviews and interviews on the Inside the 2022 Shortlist page on the blog until the winners are announced in August.
Congratulations to those creators who have been longlisted. Sincere commiserations to those who have created great books but have missed out on these awards.
Older Readers
The Gaps by Leanne Hall (Text Publishing) Author interview & review in the Weekend Australian (behind paywall)
Tiger Daughter by Rebecca Lim (Allen & Unwin) Review in the Weekend Australian (behind paywall)
The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni (Penguin Random House) Author interview
Girls in Boys’ Cars by Felicity Castagna (Pan Macmillan Australia) Author interview
Road Tripping with Pearl Nash by Poppy Nwosu (Wakefield Press) Author article
Social Queue by Kay Kerr (Text Publishing) Author article
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland (Penguin Random House) My review originally appeared in Magpies magazine (reproduced below)
How to Repaint a Life by Steven Herrick (University of Queensland Press) My book review on the way
Other books from this list to feature soon
Younger Readers
Dragon Skin by Karen Foxlee (Allen & Unwin) Author interview PaperbarkWords blog & Magpies magazine
Cuckoo’s Flight by Wendy Orr (Allen & Unwin) Author interview PaperbarkWords blog & my teacher notes at A&U
Exit Through the Gift Shop by Maryam Master, illustrated Astred Hicks (Pan Macmillan Australia) Author interview
Are You There, Buddha? by Pip Harry (Hachette Australia) Author interview
My Brother Ben by Peter Carnavas (University of Queensland Press) Author interview
Elsewhere Girls by Emily Gale & Nova Weetman (Text Publishing) Author interview
The Edge of Thirteen by Nova Weetman (University of Queensland Press) Author article
Fozia and the Quest of Prince Zal by Rosanne Hawke (University of Queensland Press) Author article
Footprints on the Moon by Lorraine Marwood (University of Queensland Press) Author article
Always by Morris Gleitzman (Penguin Random House Australia) My book review in the Weekend Australian (behind paywall)
Other books from this list to feature soon
Early Childhood
Hello World by Lisa Shanahan & Leila Rudge (ABC, HarperCollins Australia) Author & Illustrator interview PaperbarkWords blog & Author interview Magpies magazine
Sharing by Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson, illustrated Leanne Mulgo Watson (Magabala Books) Author interview
Grumble Boats by Susannah McFarlane & Tamsin Ainslie (Affirm Press) Author & Illustrator interview
Little One by Jane Godwin & Gabriel Evans (Affirm Press) Author & Illustrator article
The River by Sally Morgan, ill. Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr (Magabala Books) Book review and ideas on how to use with children
Florence and Fox by Zanni Louise & Anna Pignataro (Walker Books Australia) Author & illustrator interview
Other books from this list to feature soon
Picture Books
The Boy and the Elephant by Freya Blackwood (HarperCollins Australia) Book review
Christmas Always Comes by Jackie French & Bruce Whatley (HarperCollins Australia) Book review
Mo and Crow by Jo Kasch & Jonathan Bentley (Allen & Unwin) Author interview
Iceberg ill. Jess Racklyeft, text. Claire Saxby (Allen & Unwin) Author and illustrator interview.
Other books from this list to feature soon
Eve Pownall Award for Information Books
One Potoroo: A Story of Survival by Penny Jaye & Alicia Rogerson (CSIRO Publishing) Author interview
Book of Curious Birds by Jennifer Cossins (Hachette Australia) Author/illustrator interview Magpies magazine
The First Scientists: Deadly Inventions and Innovations from Australia’s First Peoples by Blak Douglas & Corey Tutt (Hardie Grant Publishing) My book review Magpies magazine
The Gentle Genius of Trees by Philip Bunting (Scholastic Australia) My interview with Philip Bunting about his books
The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Peculiar Pairs in Nature by Sami Bayly (Hachette Australia) Author/illustrator interview
Other books from this list to feature soon
The 2021 CBCA shortlist will be announced on 29th March. The winners will be announced in Book Week on Friday, 19th August.
Thank you to the publishers who have kindly sent me review copies and to the authors and illustrators who have responded so generously by answering interview questions and writing about their books.
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
In a change of genre from her two previous YA novels, although layers of darkness are evident in her intriguing A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares, Krystal Sutherland has penned an atmospheric horror tale in House of Hollow.The cover conjures the deliberately suffocating Gothic tone of the story, where the beauty and threat of the lush, despoiled flowers on a girl’s face unveil this reimagining of a missing children tale.
Sisters Grey, Vivi and Iris were stolen from a dark Edinburgh Street as children. Their parents were nearby but didn’t witness their uncanny abduction. The girls were found naked but unharmed a month later although their dark hair had turned white and their blue eyes black. They each had a hook-shaped scar on their throat but couldn’t remember what had happened to them. Refusing to believe they are his true daughters, despite the possibility of stress-caused physical changes, their father kills himself.
The girls have grown into tall beauties who are always hungry. Grey and Vivi leave home in their teens to forge their way in the glamorous and precarious worlds of fashion and music. Iris and her mother try to keep a semblance of family alive until Grey disappears. A menacing bull-headed man stalks the young women and scenes of bloody violence and invasive blooms are juxtaposed with glimpses of couture fashion and Grey’s opulent, decaying ephemera. The powerful bond between sisters is the foundation of this original, visceral novel for mature teens.
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