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 […]

Summer of Shipwrecks by Shivaun Plozza

Summer of Shipwrecks by Shivaun Plozza Published by UQP “How to Stop My Holiday Sucking: A Plan by Sidney Sackbridge. Step one: do something about Hailey. Maybe Hailey really is the absolute coolest person for real but do the math. When it’s just me and Lou, I get one hundred per cent Lou-time, which equals the […]

Laughter is the Best Ending by Maryam Master, illustrated by Astred Hicks

Laughter is the Best Ending by Maryam Master illustrated by Astred Hicks Author/illustrator Interview at PaperbarkWords ‘You’re not supposed to laugh at funerals. That’s the number-one rule of funerals. Everybody knows that. Even my pea-brain pet chihuahua, Jox, knows it. But I can’t help it. Tears (of the laughter variety) are rolling down my face. […]

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 […]

5 Writers 5 Minutes

5 Writers 5 Minutes Guest author post by Lian Tanner on behalf of the Ubers, the Uber-Talented Crit Group for Joy in Books at PaperbarkWords blog Lian Tanner writes Two years ago, in the middle of the Covid lockdowns, I received an intriguing email from author Deborah Abela. ‘I’ve wanted to be in a critique […]

The Raven’s Song by Zana Fraillon & Bren MacDibble

The Raven’s Song by Zana Fraillon & Bren MacDibble Inside the CBCA Shortlist Inside the 2023 CBCA Shortlist Inside the 2023 Notable Books The Raven’s Song by Zana Fraillon & Bren MacDibble (published by Allen & Unwin) The Raven’s Song is shortlisted and is an Honour Book in the CBCA 2023 Book of the Year […]

Honey and the Valley of Horses by Wendy Orr

Honey and the Valley of Horses by Wendy Orr (published by Allen & Unwin) Wendy is the acclaimed author of many books for different age-groups throughout childhood to young adult. Personal favourites are her Ancient Crete trilogy: Dragonfly Song (winner of a Prime Minister’s Literary Award – of which I was a judge!), Swallow’s Dance […]

One Wrong Turn by Chenée Marrapodi

One Wrong Turn by Chenée Marrapodi (published by Fremantle Press) Chenée Marrapodi is an Australian writer and podcaster who has just launched her first book for middle readers, One Wrong Turn. She writes with insight and clarity about One Wrong Turn for Joy in Books at PaperbarkWords blog: Guest author post by Chenée Marrapodi about One […]