This month I’ll begin in the middle, for a change, with a crop of great new books to feed your eager 9+ year olds.

For kids who like something out of the ordinary – think magical realism meets different periods in history meets a mysterious quest – plus the challenge of multiple storylines, Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan looks really promising and is recommended for (roughly) grades 5-9.

And I’m certain that a lot of people will sit up when I say the words: boarding school murder mystery. If you’re one of them, check out the Murder Most Unladylike series. Now into book two, with book three coming in July, this series delivers everything we love about old-fashioned crime novels for children (food features heavily; you can’t solve crime on an empty stomach), girls running the show (not just laying out the picnic), real murders (in book one it’s the Science teacher) and plot twists that Agatha Christie would be proud of, not to mention wit.

New Boy by Nick Earls, about a kid from South Africa adjusting to a new life in Australia, looks like a moving and funny contemporary story. We’re also really thrilled to see book two of the Mapmaker Chronicles by A.L. Tait: Prisoner of the Black Hawk. The first book in this series is currently shortlisted for the Readings Children’s Book Prize.

I’ve read two of the following YA books, so prepare for me to go into my usual rave mode. With Melbourne writer Gabrielle Williams’ new novel, The Guy, The Girl, The Artist and His Ex, I was hooked from the first page. In fact this is one of the best first chapters in recent memory for YA literature and ensured that ‘The Guy’, who kicks off this story, had my heart for the duration. What a story! The inspiration for it is the real-life theft in the 1980s of Picasso’s ‘Weeping Woman’ from Melbourne’s National Gallery, which all four main characters become involved in, in different ways. This is such a confident, original and witty novel, for over-15s – very, very much over 15, in my case. I think a lot of adult YA readers will love this book.

Simon VS. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli got off to a slower start for me. Perhaps it was the hype overload that left me wondering what I was missing, but I’m so glad I persevered. Once the relationship really got going (between two high school boys who have no idea of each other’s identity, as their only contact is by email), I warmed to Simon and understood him a bit more. For the rest of the book I was in full ‘nobody speak to me, I have to find out what happens’ mode and by the end it was so romantic I had goosebumps. Sweet and funny for all teens, full of sharp observations about family, friendships, high school and identity.

I’m very keen to read We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach, about four high school students facing the possibility that an asteroid may land on Earth in two months’ time. Readers who loved John Green and David Levithan’s Will Grayson, Will Grayson will be keen to get their hands on the spin-off novel (in musical form!): Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story, while those who lean towards fantasy will want Half Wild by Sally Green – especially if they are enjoying the YA rise of the witch. (Green’s new book continues on from her debut, Half Bad.) Also on my list is The Pause by John Larkin, which deals with the mental health of a teenage boy and by all accounts does so with humour, honesty and hope, drawing on the author’s personal experience.

And now to younger readers… Sally Rippin’s Billie B Brown series has such a strong word-of-mouth reputation that we see lots of children who cannot yet read coming into the Readings shops and begging their parents for a Billie book. Well, now there is a new Billie series just for them: Billie’s Underwater Adventure and Billie’s Great Desert Adventure take a slightly younger Billie and places her in imaginative situations, perfect for pre-schoolers and Preps.

These six new picture books (pictured) are all stunning in different ways, with such a variety of style.

First, there’s Thunderstorm Dancing by Katrina Germein and Judy Watson, which is a beautifully layered story of a young girl sheltering from a beach thunderstorm with her rowdy family. I would love to see more from this pair because the marriage of words and pictures here is just perfect. We recently featured this book in a blog post about children’s books to tackle childhood worries. (You can read more here.)

Marc Martin’s A River is his most beautiful picture book to date, and that’s saying something. And then there’s the very sweet Too Much For Turtle; here the artwork was created entirely from hand-sewn creatures.

Tis the season to be talking a lot about AFL, and Why I Love Footy by Michael Wagner and Tom Jellett will be on a lot of kids’ wishlists. It’s a great tribute, revealing an affection for the game and of family-oriented rituals.

Two picture books for your young philosophers now. The King and The Sea by Heinz Janisch and Wolf Erlbruch is one of those left-field picture books that on first reading may strike you as weird (it isn’t one narrative strand but a series of ‘confrontations’ between a king and various objects) but on further study lends itself to philosophical conversations of the kind that 4-7 year olds are so good at. And then It Might Be An Apple follow’s a child’s thought process as they wonder what an apple might be if it is not actually an apple. Simply wonderful.

If picture books never stopped being your favourite way of looking at the world, you definitely need this beautiful object in your life: 100 Great Children’s Picturebooks by Martin Salisbury.

And my final pick is one that adults will love for its ingeniousness and sophistication, and children will love because it helps poor old tedious grammar to (a) come across as actually quite fun, and (b) make sense! Dear Reader, Tohby Riddle’s The Greatest Gatsby: A Visual Guide To Grammar is an essential addition to your bookcase.

Emily Gale