The Lorikeet Tree & the Carnegie Medal

The Lorikeet Tree by Paul Jennings The Lorikeet Tree by Paul Jennings (published in Australia by Allen & Unwin and by Old Barn Books in the US) is nominated for the highly prestigious 2024 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing. This extraordinary middle-fiction (middle-grade) novel only solidifies Paul Jennings’s outstanding reputation. Some of his previous books […]

Ask Aunty: Seasons (An introduction to First Nations seasons)

Ask Aunty: Seasons (An introduction to First Nations Seasons) By Aunty Munya Andrews Illustrated by Charmaine Ledden-Lewis Published by Hardie Grant Explore Ask Aunty: Seasons by Aunty Munya Andrews with illustrations by Charmaine Ledden-Lewis is published by Hardie Grant Explore. Available in stores nationally from 15 November, RRP $24.99. “I love my culture and I love […]

Bryan Brown Interview ‘The Drowning’

The Drowning by Bryan Brown (published by Allen & Unwin) Author interview with Bryan Brown The Drowning is a compulsive, gritty crime novel with plenty of dry Australian humour. It grabs your attention from the start because it is so easy to read. It has a large cast of male and female characters. We are […]

Dirrarn by Carl Merrison & Hakea Hustler

Dirrarn by Carl Merrison & Hakea Hustler Illustrated by Dub Leffler Published by Magabala Books “Mia felt so far from home. Growing up in a remote outback community, she had still faced her share of bullies. She’s dealt with it in her own way then. Telling a teacher sometimes worked, other times a big brother […]

Bon and Lesley by Shaun Prescott

Bon and Lesley by Shaun Prescott Author Interview at Paperbark Words “You’d be surprised how many places elude maps, you can fairly easily stray from the known world entirely. And you’re not paying attention if you think it’s untrue, but you must know it anyway because you got off the train. You always thought these […]

World by Martine Murray & Anna Read

World by Martine Murray & Anna Read (published Parachute Press) World is a 2024 CBCA Notable book in the Picture Book of the Year category. Congratulations. Chloe Hooper describes World in her cover puff as, “A wise and generous fable with a vital message”. Martine Murray first came to my attention in 2001 with her novel […]

One Song by A.J. Betts

One Song by A.J. Betts (published Pan MacMillan) Author Interview with A.J. Betts about her YA novel One Song for Joy in Books at PaperbarkWords blog I think that One Song is original and highly memorable. Why do you think this is so? One Song is unlike anything I’ve written before, or anything I’ve read. […]

Fleur Ferris and Seven Days

Fleur Ferris, Seven Days & other books “It blows my mind to think what we do today matters – not just to us, but to those who come after us, to those who aren’t even born yet. It can impact someone one hundred years from now.” (Seven Days) All of Fleur Ferris’ novels (published Penguin […]

Let’s Never Speak of This Again by Megan Williams

Let’s Never Speak of This Again by Megan Williams Winner of the Text Prize (Published by Text) HONOUR BOOK CBCA 2024 Book of the Year: Older Readers Inside the CBCA Shortlist Inside the 2024 CBCA Shortlist Inside the 2024 Notable Books Guest author post by Megan Williams about Let’s Never Speak of This Again for […]

Meet Me at the Moon Tree by Shivaun Plozza

Meet Me at the Moon Tree by Shivaun Plozza Guest author post by Shivaun Plozza about Meet Me at the Moon Tree Thank you for your superb body of work for YA and middle-grade, Shivaun and for writing so beautifully about Meet Me at the Moon Tree (published University of Queensland Press) for Joy in […]