Brightest Wild by Tania Crampton-Larking

Brightest Wild by Tania Crampton-Larking Published by Lothian Children’s Books, Hachette Australia “It’s so quiet here. Even though Art has a large yard, it feels better to be here in the bushland. Yellow, brown and green shades glow mysteriously. My heart skips a beat or three with overwhelming awe and wonder. This place is deeply […]

The Helios Book by Slade Carter

The Helios Book by Slade Carter Guest author post about The Helios Book by Slade Carter for Joy in Books at PaperbarkWords blog The Helios Book is first and foremost an adventure story. I wanted to write a book where things happen, so it’s packed full of action. The book starts out as a mystery, with Londoner twins Hugo […]

A Giant’s Trek by Nick Stella

A Giant’s Trek by Nick Stella (Text Publishing) Guest author post by Nick Stella about A Giant’s Trek, an imaginative, well put-together fantasy adventure, at PaperbarkWords blog I love a good quest. A group of heroic characters bound together to achieve a common goal. Striding across plains, wading through marshes, climbing over mountains. Fighting monsters, solving riddles, […]

The Unwilling Twin by Freya Blackwood

Inside the CBCA Shortlist The Unwilling Twin by Freya Blackwood (HarperCollins Publishers) is shortlisted for the CBCA 2021 Picture Book of the Year. Credit to the judges of the picture book category because of their outstanding list (although I can’t imagine how they will select the winner and honour books from these deserving titles), and […]

Catch Me If I Fall by Barry Jonsberg

“We’re like one of those fairy stories Mum used to read us at bedtime, Ashleigh. A princess and her prince brother in our beautiful tower… But we know nothing about the world out there … The real world.” (Catch Me If I Fall) Some of Barry Jonsberg’s early YA novels, The Whole Business with […]

The End of the World is Bigger than Love by Davina Bell

Inside the CBCA Shortlist “We live on a blue planet that circles around a ball of fire next to a moon that moves the sea, and you don’t believe in miracles?” (The End of the World is Bigger than Love) The End of the World is Bigger than Love by Davina Bell (Text Publishing) may […]

Ghost Bird by Lisa Fuller

Inside the CBCA Shortlist Ghost Bird is an exceptional YA debut by Wuilli Wuilli woman, Lisa Fuller. It explores the relationship between Stacey and her very different twin Laney, who disappears. Stacey seems to share some of Laney’s experiences through nightmares and she resolves to find her despite times of deeply unnerving danger. Thank you […]