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Australian Book of the Year for Older Children (2006-)
Subcategory of Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA)
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Notes

  • Age range 8 - 14 years.

Latest Winners / Recipients

Year: 2023

winner y separately published work icon The Blood Traitor Lynette Noni , United States of America (USA) : Houghton Mifflin , 2022 23116436 2022 single work novel young adult fantasy

'The eagerly awaited finale of the Prison Healer trilogy, from Australia's #1-bestselling YA author Lynette Noni.

'She'd failed them. All of them. And now she was paying the price.

'Kiva thought she knew what she wanted - revenge. But feelings change, people change . . . everything has changed.

'After what happened at the palace, Kiva is desperate to know if her friends and family are safe, and whether those she wronged can ever forgive her. But with the kingdoms closer to the brink of war than they’ve ever been, and Kiva far away from the conflict, more is at stake than her own broken heart.

'A fresh start will mean a perilous quest, forcing mortal enemies and uneasy allies together in a race against the clock to save not just Evalon, but all of Wenderall. With her loyalties now set, Kiva can no longer just survive - she must fight for what she believes in. For who she believes in. But with danger coming from every side, and the lives of everyone she loves at risk, does she have what it takes to stand, or will she fall?' (Publication summary)

Year: 2022

Also shortlisted: Welcome to Consent.
winner y separately published work icon The Prison Healer Lynette Noni , Melbourne : Penguin , 2021 20980859 2021 single work novel fantasy young adult

'From bestselling Australian author Lynette Noni comes a dark, thrilling YA fantasy perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Sabaa Tahir.

'Here at Zalindov, the only person you can trust is yourself.

'Seventeen-year-old Kiva Meridan has spent the last ten years fighting for survival in the notorious death prison, Zalindov, working as the prison healer.

'When the Rebel Queen is captured, Kiva is charged with keeping the terminally ill woman alive long enough for her to undergo the Trial by Ordeal: a series of elemental challenges against the torments of air, fire, water and earth, assigned to only the most dangerous of criminals.

'Then a coded message from Kiva’s family arrives, containing a single order: Don’t let her die. We are coming. Aware that the Trials will kill the sickly queen, Kiva risks her own life to volunteer in her place. If she succeeds, both she and the queen will be granted their freedom.

'But no one has ever survived.

'With an incurable plague sweeping Zalindov, a mysterious new inmate fighting for Kiva's heart, and a prison rebellion brewing, Kiva can't escape the terrible feeling that her trials have only just begun.' (Publication summary)

Year: 2021

winner y separately published work icon The Left-Handed Booksellers of London Garth Nix , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2020 19649862 2020 single work novel fantasy young adult

'Eighteen-year-old art student Susan Arkshaw arrives in London in search of her father. But before she can question crime boss Frank Thringley he's turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive Merlin. Merlin is one of the youngest members of a secret society of booksellers with magical powers who police the mythic Old World wherever it impinges on the New World - in addition to running several bookshops, of course! Merlin also has a quest of his own: to find the Old World entity who arranged the murder of his mother. Their investigations attract attention from enemies of the Old and New Worlds. Soon they become involved in an even more urgent task to recover the grail that is the source of the left-handed booksellers' power, before it is used to destroy the booksellers and rouse the hordes of the mythic past. As the search for the grail becomes strangely intertwined with both their quests, they start to wonder… Is Susan's long-lost father a bookseller, or something altogether more mysterious?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Year: 2019

winner y separately published work icon Jane Doe and the Cradle of All Worlds Jeremy Lachlan , Richmond : Hardie Grant Children's Publishing , 2018 14071301 2018 single work children's fiction children's fantasy adventure

'Step inside. Don’t look back. Forward is the only way. His Dark Materials meets Mad Max in this unforgettable blockbuster adventure about the world between worlds.

'When a fierce quake strikes the remote island of Bluehaven, and her father disappears, Jane Doe is thrown headfirst into an epic quest to bring him home. 

'But this ain’t no ordinary rescue mission. Her father is lost in a place between worlds; a dangerous labyrinth of shifting rooms, infernal booby traps and secret gateways. And Jane has to find him fast, because someone else is searching for him, too. A man who knows her father’s secrets. A man who has an army. 

'With a pyromaniac named Violet and a trickster named Hickory by her side, Jane is about to discover that this adventure is even bigger on the inside than it looks...'  

Source: Publication summary.

Year: 2018

winner y separately published work icon Begin, End, Begin : A #LoveOzYA Anthology Danielle Binks (editor), Sydney South : HarperCollins Australia , 2017 10433861 2017 anthology short story

'Bestsellers. Award-winners. Superstars. This anthology has them all. With brilliantly entertaining short stories from beloved young adult authors Amie Kaufman, Melissa Keil, Will Kostakis, Ellie Marney, Jaclyn Moriarty, Michael Pryor, Alice Pung, Gabrielle Tozer, Lili Wilkinson and Danielle Binks, this all-new collection will show the world exactly how much there is to love about Aussie YA.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

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