Leave Taking by Lorraine Marwood

Inside the CBCA Shortlist Author-poet Lorraine Marwood won the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Children’s Fiction in 2010 for Star Jumps. Her new verse novel Leave Taking (University of Queensland Press) is of similar quality and has already shared the winning prize in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards (Patricia Wrightson Prize). Both books are set […]

Our Birds: Ŋilimurruŋgu Wäyin Malanynha by Siena Stubbs

Inside the CBCA Shortlist Our Birds: Ŋilimurruŋgu Wäyin Malanynha (Magabala Books) is written by 15-year-old Yolŋu girl Siena Mayutu Wurmarri Stubbs. She introduces herself by saying, “my malk, or skin, is Gutjan, I am a Gumatj girl from the Yirritja moiety.” The book is set in Arnhem Land, where she lives, and its creation enabled […]

The Art of Taxidermy by Sharon Kernot

Inside the CBCA Shortlist The Art of Taxidermy (Text Publishing) is a verse novel. This form is here used in an original way to express the grief caused by death. Sensitivity may be needed for grieving students. Lottie/ Charlotte’s mother has died and she is now becoming very interested in dead creatures. I keep them […]

Bouncing Back: An Eastern Barred Bandicoot Story by Rohan Cleave & Coral Tulloch

Inside the CBCA Shortlist The bandicoot is a fascinating Australian native animal but is often forgotten, overshadowed by kangaroos, koalas, platypuses and wombats – the animals in books like Alison Lester’s shortlisted Noni the Pony Rescues a Joey. The Easter Barred Bandicoot is, of course, featured in this book. At times it is important to […]

Malla Nunn and When the Ground is Hard

Inside the CBCA Shortlist When the Ground is Hard (Allen & Unwin) is an original, ultimately empowering young adult novel. Thank you for speaking to Paperbark blog, Malla. Where are you based and why have you written a YA novel after a career writing crime fiction? I live in a weatherboard house in Sydney and […]

Black Cockatoo by Carl Merrison & Hakea Hustler

Inside the CBCA Shortlist Black Cockatoo (Magabala Books) is written by Jaru & Kija man Carl Merrison and Hakea Hustler and is illustrated by Dub Leffler, who also illustrated Sorry Day, which is shortlisted in the CBCA Eve Pownall category. It is a memorable story about an Aboriginal family living in the Kimberley. Thirteen-year-old Mia […]

Remy Lai and Pie in the Sky

Thanks for speaking with Paperbark blog, Remy. Thank you for having me! I was impressed and touched while reading Pie in the Sky (Walker Books Australia), your debut novel illustrated with comics about Jingwen, his younger brother Yanghao and their mother who move to Australia. You have shared intense feelings and experiences while keeping the […]

Between Us by Clare Atkins

Inside the CBCA Shortlist Why and how is the novel a powerful forum to alert people to the plight of refugees and those in detention centres? Clare Atkins tackles significant social and political issues in her books. Her second novel, Between Us (Black Inc) is set in the Northern Territory between a Darwin school and […]

Waves: for those who came across the sea

Inside the CBCA Shortlist Waves: for those who came across the sea by Donna Rawlins, illustrated Mark Jackson & Heather Potter Waves (Walker Books Australia) is narrative non-fiction structured chronologically to show ‘waves’ of refugee movement to Australia. It is told in a factual style to show both current and historical reality and uses first […]

The Mediterranean by Armin Greder

Inside the CBCA Shortlist The Mediterranean (Allen & Unwin) is a picture book for mature readers. It is not for reading pleasure. It is deliberately confronting, aiming to shock the reader with the terrible issue of dead refugees. The quote at the end of the book tells us that the story is based on the […]