I’m Not Really Here by Gary Lonesborough

I’m Not Really Here by Gary Lonesborough (A&U Books for Children and Young Adults) I’m Not Really Here by Gary Lonesborough is the WINNER of the CBCA 2025 Book of the Year: Older Readers category. “Back in my room, I stare at myself in the mirror of my wardrobe. As I sip my glass of water, […]

TO and FRO by Anton Clifford-Motopi

TO and FRO by Anton Clifford-Motopi Allen & Unwin To and Fro by Anton Clifford-Motopi is shortlisted for the 2025 CBCA Book of the Year: Younger Readers. Congratulations on To and Fro being shortlisted by the CBCA, Anton. I was laughing out loud most of the way through. It also has important themes that you share aptly and originally. […]

Tigg and the Bandicoot Bushranger by Jackie French

Tigg and the Bandicoot Bushranger by Jackie French (HarperCollins AU) “It wasn’t easy being the smallest bushranger on the goldfields. It was worsewhen your borrowed horse ate your wig.” (Tigg and the Bandicoot Bushranger ) Tigg and the Bandicoot Bushranger by Jackie French is shortlisted for the 2025CBCA Book of the Year: Younger Readers. Tigg and the […]

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 […]

Being Jimmy Baxter by Fiona Lloyd

Being Jimmy Baxter by Fiona Lloyd (a Puffin Book from Penguin Random House) Guest author post about Being Jimmy Baxter by Fiona Lloyd for Joy in Books at PaperbarkWords blog: Uncertainty. It’s an all too familiar word in the wake of the covid pandemic. It’s also the story for my gentle protagonist, 12-year-old Jimmy Branthwaite. […]

Nightbirds by Kate J. Armstrong

Nightbirds by Kate J. Armstrong Author Interview ‘I’ll tell you another secret … about Simta. Everyone in this city wears a mask. They pretend they’re someone braver, smarter, more cunning: whatever mask best suits them. Wear it well and no one will see you – not the real you. They’ll only see what you want […]

THE WINTRISH GIRL by Melanie La’Brooy

THE WINTRISH GIRL by Melanie La’Brooy Melanie La’Brooy writes about The Wintrish Girl, her debut novel for young readers for Joy in Books at PaperbarkWords blog. The Wintrish Girl explores high fantasy archetypes of identity, light and dark and the quest. It has moments of unexpected humour and layers of meaning that are perfectly integrated […]

Sadie Starr’s Guide to Starting Over by Miranda Luby

Sadie Starr’s Guide to Starting Over by Miranda Luby As the title Sadie Starr’s Guide to Starting Over forewarns, Sadie Starr is trying to turn her life around and do things differently when she leaves her best friend Daniel and her life in Sydney and begins again in Melbourne. Of course, it will not be […]

Fish Out Of Water by Kate Hendrick

I enjoyed Kate’s previous YA novels The Accident and The Finder and so was very keen to read her new book Fish Out of Water (published by Text). Kate speaks about it here at PaperbarkWords. Kate Hendrick on Fish Out of Water: At fifteen, Finn knows exactly who he is. He’s Finn the swimmer, who […]

The Magic of Magnolia Moon by Edwina Wyatt

Edwina Wyatt writes as beautifully and with as much care for PaperbarkWords about her new children’s novel, The Magic of Magnolia Moon, as she does in her books. The Magnolia Moon trilogy (Walker Books Australia) is shaping up to be an exquisite and important body of work for children. Edwina Wyatt writes about The Magic […]