The Lost History by Melanie La’Brooy The Lost History follows the The Wintrish Girl in the excellent ‘Talismans of Fate’ middle fiction high fantasy series by Melanie La’Brooy. The series stands out for its beguiling storylines deftly layered with light and dark threads. These are entertaining, intelligent books. Both are published by UQP (University of […]
Read More The Lost History by Melanie La’BrooyTHE 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 […]
Read More THE WINTRISH GIRL by Melanie La’BrooyEgg by Clare Atkins, illustrated by Harrison Vial Clare Atkins is an exceptional Australian author who writes across a range of platforms, including YA novels, scriptwriting and now a stunning picture book, Egg (University of Queensland Press). Clare has a big heart and is able to embody her characters and their situations thoughtfully to create […]
Read More Egg by Clare Atkins & Harrison Vial“Yes. I can almost hear the thoughts of every single girl in my year level. We’re all scared, of almost everything.” (The Gaps) Leanne Hall is such a star writer. If her debut YA novel, This is Shyness, was her only book, she would still go into the annals of Australian YA literature. But […]
Read More The Gaps by Leanne Hall“Do I look like a fool-fool country gal? Is that because I’m only fifteen? Or because I’ve left school without finishing? Because I’m not doing a skilled job? Or is it just because I’m from Jamaica? (Louisa in The Enigma Game) I knew The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein (Bloomsbury, 2020) was going to be […]
Read More The Enigma Game by Elizabeth WeinBook Review Much of Maxine Beneba Clarke’s writing is poetic, and often throws unforgettable diamond-honed punches. I have read and valued a number of her books, beginning with her short fiction Foreign Soil, in which the first story refers to a bike that evokes searing memories as well as a mention of patchwork bikes. Her […]
Read More When We Say Black Lives Matter by Maxine Beneba Clarke“You’re an Arab from Punchbowl. No one will believe you.” (The F Team) The F Team is a compelling new YA novel set mainly in Western Sydney by Rawah Arja (published by Giramondo). It is impossible to put down because of its portrayal of a visceral masculinity and physicality inhabited by authentic, lively characters. It […]
Read More The F Team by Rawah ArjaBy Bryan Stevenson Book Review Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson (Scribe Publishing) is also a movie starring Michael B. Jordan as Bryan Stevenson and Jamie Foxx as Walter McMillan, the man Bryan tries to save from death row. Based on the powerful true story of young Harvard-educated African American […]
Read More Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and RedemptionStudents from the Tiwi Islands, eighty kilometres north of Darwin, have collaborated with the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, Penguin Random House Australia and co-authors David Lawrence and Shelley Ware to create a new illustrated book, Ngiya Yintanga Japarrika, ‘My Name is Japarrika’. Japarrika means the Storm Bird. It follows the story of Kay-Bell who moves from […]
Read More Ngiya Yintanga Japarrika By Tiwi College Alalinguwi JarrakarlingaAt this year’s Brisbane Writers Festival I was fortunate to moderate the memorable session, People in the Margins. Melina Marchetta, Melanie Cheng and Tony Birch discussed their recent novels The Place on Dalhousie, Room for a Stranger and The White Girl respectively to explore the lives of people living on the margins of society. These […]
Read More Brisbane Writers Festival 2019 Tony Birch, Melina Marchetta & Melanie Cheng
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