AustLit

'A glorious celebration of love, family and the Lunar New Year.

'After their family encounters terrible hardship in rural China, siblings Fu and Pei must draw on all their resilience and courage as they embark on a dangerous journey towards a better life. A compelling and poignant children's novel from the CBCA award-winning author of Tiger Daughter.

'What if you were forced to set sail for a country that didn't want you, to meet a father you couldn't remember?

'Thirteen-year-old Fu, his younger sister, Pei, and their mother live in a small rural community in Southern China that is already enduring famine conditions when it is collectivised as part of Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward campaign that ultimately led to economic disaster, widespread famine and millions of deaths.

'After tragedy strikes, and threatened with separation, Fu and Pei set out on a perilous journey across countries and oceans to find their father, who left for Australia almost a decade earlier. With nothing to guide them but a photograph and some letters in a language they cannot read, they must draw on all their courage and tenacity just to survive - and perhaps forge a better life for themselves.

'An unforgettable story of family, resilience and the complex Asian-Australian experience from the esteemed author of Tiger Daughter, winner of the CBCA Book of the year for Older Readers.' (Publication summary)

'Two of Australia’s most acclaimed and high profile writers co-author a sensitive and ultimately hopeful story about our growing climate crisis.

'With sea-levels rising, and the land deforested, over-mined and affected by bushfires and drought – Tasmania is increasingly marooned, its people abandoned. Nyx’s father wants them to leave while they still can but, for Nyx, West Hobart is all she’s ever known, and where her mother is buried. She seeks solace in the single surviving tree near her home - an 80-foot pine that has defied all odds. Bea, too, finds solace in the tree, and facing a move to the mainland herself, leaves a despairing note, wedged into a hole in its trunk. Nyx finds the note, and writes back. But Nyx and Bea don’t realise how special their tree truly is …' (Publication summary)

'This article explores the findings from the first “diversity count” of Australian children’s picture books, conducted in 2019 in partnership with advocacy group Voices from the Intersection (VFTI). Specifically, this article explores the eighty-three percent of 2018 Australian children’s picture books that did not feature a marginalized protagonist: namely, those that featured human characters who could not be identified as marginalized in any way, animals, and inhuman protagonists. We propose that the Australian publishing industry, rather than suffering from a “diversity deficit,” instead overrepresents a narrow demographic of human experiences and non-human protagonists. We suggest that the oversaturation of the local children’s picture book market with such similar stories disadvantages all children, who are denied a rich and diverse reading experience, as well as the opportunity to see themselves and their peers depicted. This article provides greater insight into the current debates about diversity and inclusion in children’s media.'(Publication abstract)

'Research into diverse representation in children’s literature has predominantly focused on highlighting positive representations of marginalized communities, or critiquing overtly negative stereotypes. While important, this has resulted in the more innocuous representations of marginalized characters being overlooked in scholarship. This study discusses 35 2018 Australian children’s picture books in which marginalized characters were depicted; yet their identities were not engaged with as part of an enjoyable narrative. These findings provide new insights for scholars, librarians, educators, readers, and publishers, that can support the identification of truly inclusive children’s picture books.' (Publication abstract)

'Aussie STEM Stars is an inspiring children’s series that celebrates Australia’s experts in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

'The fifth book is about Eddie Woo, the teacher extraordinaire whose ‘WooTube’ channel has been helping students to find the magic in maths since 2012.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Wen Zhou is determined to create a future for herself that is more satisfying than the life her parents expect her to lead. Equal parts heartbreaking and hopeful, Tiger Daughter is a wonderfully compelling and authentic Own Voices novel about growing up Asian in Australia.

'My study buddy, Henry, has made it his mission to get me to an A in maths the way I'm trying to get him to an A in English.

'Wen Zhou is the daughter and only child of Chinese immigrants whose move to the lucky country has proven to be not so lucky. Wen and her friend, Henry Xiao - whose mum and dad are also poor immigrants - both dream of escape from their unhappy circumstances, and they form a plan to sit an entrance exam to a selective high school far from home. But when tragedy strikes, it will take all of Wen's resilience and resourcefulness to get herself and Henry through the storm that follows.' (Publication summary)

'Quests, treasure, sidekicks, sworn enemies, daring deeds, unbelievable escapes… and so much more! 

'Young editors, mentored by children’s author Rebecca Lim and publishing industry professionals, have put together a collection of adventure-themed stories, unlike anything you’ve ever seen. 

'The collection includes 12 intrepid tales, comics, and poems written by young Australian writers between the ages of 8 and 12, alongside a contribution from a beloved children’s author yet to be announced.
'This book was conceived and created by young authors through the Early Harvest publishing program at 100 Story Building. Previous books developed through this program have published the work of 116 young authors as well as original contributions from Andy Griffiths, Terry Denton, Shaun Tan, Alice Pung, Sally Rippin, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Andrew McDonald, Davina Bell, and Morris Gleitzman.' (Publication summary)

'On their way to the Wudang Mountains to discover the fate of Qing's father and sisters, Qing and Harley hear rumours of an ancient vase emblazoned with a red dragon, and make an unscheduled stopover. Enemies are everywhere, and Harley and Qing must race malevolent forces across Hong Kong and Southern China to find the legendary vase. Qing's magic is growing in power, but is it enough to counter the human and otherworldly forces that are determined to stop them at all costs?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'This is a book of `Own Voices'* stories — stories about marginalised peoples told by people from those marginalised groups. The genesis of this collection was conversations across 2015 and 2016 where the two of us shared our frustration at the massive under-representation of diverse Australian voices in children's and young adult (YA) literature and the lack of a formal movement in Australia to focus attention on, and tackle, systemic bias — or what we like to call problems with the filter. '  (Introduction)

'When Harley Spark accidentally releases Qing, one of five dragon sisters, from the ancient vase she's been trapped in for centuries, he re-ignites a war between two ancient, magical families. Soon Harley is on a dangerous international mission with Qing to find and free her four sisters. Hurled into a wild adventure, they are landed in the lair of the Diamond King, where danger lurks around every corner.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Meet Me at the Intersection is an anthology of short fiction, memoir and poetry by authors who are First Nations, People of Colour, LGBTIQA+ or living with disability. The focus of the anthology is on Australian life as seen through each author’s unique, and seldom heard, perspective.

'With works by Ellen van Neerven, Graham Akhurst, Kyle Lynch, Ezekiel Kwaymullina, Olivia Muscat, Mimi Lee, Jessica Walton, Kelly Gardiner, Rafeif Ismail, Yvette Walker, Amra Pajalic, Melanie Rodriga, Omar Sakr, Wendy Chen, Jordi Kerr, Rebecca Lim, Michelle Aung Thin and Alice Pung, this anthology is designed to challenge the dominant, homogenous story of privilege and power that rarely admits ‘outsider’ voices.'  (Publication summary)

'It was a new world to which we were confined because of a bargain I’d made with Death himself: no paradise for Luc and the exiled, and none for me. But the moment I made my choice, I was marked for sacrifice, as was Ryan. A price was settled; a debt, escalated. Time. There would never be enough.

'It’s been two years since Gia Basso witnessed archangels and demons waging war upon each other beneath the dome of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan. Traumatised, Gia has been in self-imposed exile on the English coast. But the sudden reappearance of Mercy in her life, in a new and terrifying incarnation, draws Gia into a desperate struggle to locate Lucifer — who holds Ryan Daley captive in order to keep him from Mercy, his beloved, forever.

'Tasked by the archangels to destroy Lucifer, and by Mercy to help her trace and free Ryan, Gia is pushed to the limits of human endurance as she traverses the earth — with the help of friends old and new — to do the impossible. For Lucifer and his demons have discovered a new way to move freely in the human world. And Mercy and Gia must bargain with the Archangel of Death himself, Azraeil, to get what they want.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Life’s been tough on Sophie Teague.

'Since her parents died in a freak motorbike accident, she’s been living with her gran in their rundown pub. And she’s just enrolled at a new school, desperate for a fresh start.

'That’s until ‘Eve’, a beautiful ghost clad in black, starts making terrifying nightly appearances in Sophie’s bedroom.

'Eve doesn’t speak, or write—she just hovers, transmitting images and pleading for Sophie’s help.

'What happened to Eve? Does it have something to do with the recent murder that sent a notorious bikie-gang leader on the run?

'Sophie isn’t sure—but she knows Eve won’t stop haunting her until she finds out. So with the unlikely help of her enigmatic classmate Jordan Haig, Sophie sets out to unravel the mystery.

'Dark, thrilling and utterly spooky, Afterlight will take you deep into the heart of a dangerous love story, revealing the unworldly—and deadly—pull of the past.' (Publication summary)

'Avicenna Crowe’s mother, Joanne, is an astrologer with uncanny predictive powers and a history of being stalked. Now she is missing.

'The police are called, but they’re not asking the right questions. Like why Joanne lied about her past, and what she saw in her stars that made her so afraid.

'But Avicenna has inherited her mother’s gift. Finding an unlikely ally in the brooding Simon Thorn, she begins to piece together the mystery. And when she uncovers a link between Joanne’s disappearance and a cold-case murder, Avicenna is led deep into the city’s dark and seedy underbelly, unaware how far she is placing her own life in danger.

'Pulse-racing and terrifyingly real, The Astrologer’s Daughter is a stunning, original novel. It will test your belief in destiny and the endurance of love.' (Publication summary)