inside the cbca 2023 shortlist

INSIDE THE CBCA 2023 SHORTLIST The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Shortlisted Books for 2023 has been announced. Follow the links to those I have already reviewed or interviewed the author or illustrator on the blog. I will add to this list until the winners are announced in August. Also see the 2023 NOTABLE […]

The hotel witch by Jessica Miller

Jessica Miller is creating highly original middle-fiction. Her previous books were Elizabeth and Xenobia and The Republic of Birds. Jessica’s books are fantasies with a dose of black intrigue. Jessica writes about her new work, The Hotel Witch, for Joy in Books at PaperbarkWords blog. It’s funny how things creep into a story, after you […]

Sensitive by Allayne L. Webster & IBBY

Book award season has begun! IBBY Australia congratulates Allayne L Webster and Asphyxia whose respective books Sensitive and Future Girl have been selected for the 2023 IBBY international catalogue of outstanding books for young people with disabilities. These books were selected from the following Australian nominations. The ten titles nominated by IBBY Australia are: The […]

INSIDE THE 2023 CBCA NOTABLE BOOKS

The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Notable Books for 2023 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 here and on the Inside the 2023 Shortlist page on the blog (once the shortlist is announced) until the winners […]

Running with Ivan by Suzanne Leal

RUNNING WITH IVAN by SUZANNE LEAL Published by Angus & Robertson (HarperCollins Australia) “Take it from me, Leo, at thirteen you can do almost everything. Never forget this. Difficult things, courageous things: they are all possible, even at thirteen. No, especially at thirteen.” (Running with Ivan) Suzanne and I first met while judging the NSW […]

Oliver Phommavanh – class clown to champion

Author interview with Oliver Phommavanh Oliver Phommavanh is the highly popular author of funny, thoughtful books that feature Asian-Australian protagonists. His books range from Thai-riffic!, Con-nerd, Super Con-nerd, Natural Born Loser and The Other Christy to Brain Freeze and What About Thao? (all published by Penguin Random House). Thanks for speaking with ‘Joy in Books’ […]

Big Magic by Sarah Armstrong

Big Magic by Sarah Armstrong Sarah Armstrong, writer of awarded literary fiction, explains how she wrote her imaginative first middle-fiction novel, Big Magic for Joy in Books at PaperbarkWords blog: A few years ago – squashed beside my six-year-old daughter on her narrow bed, reading her the classic kids’ novel, The Borrowers – it struck me that […]

BERANI by Michelle Kadarusman

BERANI by Michelle Kadarusman (published by Allen & Unwin) Everything Michelle Kadarusman writes is thoughtful, original and important. Music for Tigers (I also reviewed for The Australian) Girl of the Southern Sea The Theory of Hummingbirds Michelle tells us more about her latest middle-fiction novel, Berani, at PaperbarkWords blog: Environment, conservation and how we interact […]

Gus and the Starlight by Victoria Carless

Gus and the Starlight by Victoria Carless Published by HarperCollins Australia Guest author: Victoria Carless Victoria Carless writes about her wonderful middle-fiction novel, Gus and the Starlight for PaperbarkWords. Christmas gift idea Gus and the Starlight is a story about family, friendships and second chances. It’s set in a haunted drive-in movie theatre and features […]

The Silver Moth by Carol Lefevre

The Silver Moth by Carol Lefevre When ‘The End’ is a Beginning: writing a sequel to Elizabeth Goudge’s The Little White Horse Carol Lefevre As a child, when you truly bond with a book, some part of you never quite accepts that its final page is the end of the story. This was my experience […]