Scar Town by Tristan Bancks

Scar Town by Tristan Bancks Published by Puffin (AU) an imprint of Penguin Random House Australia Inside the CBCA Shortlist Inside the 2024 CBCA Shortlist Inside the 2024 Notable Books Scar Town is the winner of the prestigious CBCA Book of the Year: Younger Reader category and is also declared the winner by children, who […]

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INSIDE THE CBCA 2024 SHORTLIST

INSIDE THE CBCA 2024 SHORTLIST The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Shortlisted Books for 2024 have been announced. Follow the links to those books I have already reviewed, or interviewed the author or illustrator, at PaperbarkWords blog. I will add to this list until the winners are announced in August. Also see the 2024 NOTABLE BOOKS at […]

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Cora Seen and Heard by Zanni Louise

Cora Seen and Heard by Zanni Louise (Published by Walker Books Australia) Zanni Louise is a beautiful writer and, true to form, has written a beautiful piece here about putting herself into the story. Guest author post by Zanni Louise about her new children’s middle fiction novel, Cora Seen and Heard, for Joy in Books at PaperbarkWords blog Putting Yourself in […]

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The Kindness Project by Deborah Abela

Kindness as a Superpower The Kindness Project a middle grade verse novel by Deborah Abela Increasing in popularity, verse novels are a very important and innovative form. Of course, we have some standout verse novelists from the adult list with Dorothy Porter, Les Murray, Alan Wearne and others.  Equally significant are our verse novelists for […]

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Look Me in the Eye by Jane Godwin

Look Me in the Eye by Jane Godwin Author Interview at PaperbarkWords “ ‘I can never spot the cameras,’ I say. ‘What, are you blind?’ says Mish. Maybe I am, I think. Blind to all the things Mish sees. Maybe we’re all blind. Who knows what anyone else is doing, saying, thinking?” (Look Me in […]

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Inside the 2024 CBCA Notable Books

The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Notable Books for 2024 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 2024 Shortlist page on the blog (once the shortlist is announced) until the […]

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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 […]

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