Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo A Tale of Two Kitties (The Adventures of Dog Man Book 2) by Dav Pilkey The 91-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton Pig the Star by Aaron Blabey Maybe by Morris Gleitzman The Bad Guys Episode 6: Alien vs Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey Spooky Weird! (Weirdo Book 9) by Anh Do and Jules Faber A Most Magical Girl by Ka…

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Applications for the Readings Foundation grants for the 2018 calendar year are now open. Organisations who work with disadvantaged groups in the Victorian community (especially in the areas of literacy, creativity and the arts) can apply for funding amounts from $1,000 to $20,000.

This past year we’ve been delighted to 11 diverse organisations. This includes Banksia Gardens Community Service’s i…

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Moral Panic 101 (Quarterly Essay 67) by Benjamin Law Extinctions by Josephine Wilson Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson A Legacy of Spies by John le Carré The Dry by Jane Harper The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton The Choke by Sofie Laguna Inglorious Empire by Shashi Tharoor

Our top 10 bestselling b…

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Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films and TV shows we’re watching, and the music we’re listening to. Ellen Cregan is reading Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

This week I’ve been reading Jessica Townsend’s hotly anticipated children’s fiction book. I don’t often get around to reading middle fiction, so when I do, the book has to be ex…

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I haven’t always been a reader of historical fiction and in fact, for much of my reading life I would have told you that I actively disliked it. Fortunately I came to my senses around a decade ago, aided by some top-notch historical YA.

The very best historical YA fiction introduces the reader to young characters they can’t help but relate to on the most fundamental level, nestled into times and…

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It’s been a brilliant year for Australian children’s books. Here is a sample of 12 middle fiction reads (ages 8-12) from exciting, fresh voices to suit young readers with all kinds of interests. Lintang and the Pirate Queen by Tamara Moss

The spirited and determined Lintang dreams of leaving her home to travel the high seas. When she defends her home from a deadly mythie attack on the same …

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Writing from a child’s or teenager perspective might sound simple, but getting it right is notoriously difficult. Here are five new novels that feature compelling and authentic young voices. How Saints Die by Carmen Marcus

How Saints Die portrays adult breakdown through the eyes of a brightly imaginative and irrepressibly curious child. 10-year-old Ellie lives with her fisherman father, Pet…

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The ‘strong female character’ trope is a familiar one. Ass-kicking, gun-toting, take-no-prisoners women like Ripley from Alien or Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games trilogy tend to be where our minds go when we hear the phrase: strong female character.

While characters like Ripley and Katniss are examples of this character type at its best, this trope has also led to characters who are borin…

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The 91-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton A Tale of Two Kitties (The Adventures of Dog Man Book 2) by Dav Pilkey Pig the Star by Aaron Blabey Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo Spooky Weird! (Weirdo Book 9) by Anh Do and Jules Faber Maybe by Morris Gleitzman Whimsy & Woe (Whimsy & Woe Book 1) by Rebecca McRitchie and Sonia Kretschmar The Bo…

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Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh Extinctions by Josephine Wilson Moral Panic 101 (Quarterly Essay 67) by Benjamin Law On Doubt by Leigh Sales A Legacy of Spies by John le Carré What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton The Choke by Sofie Laguna The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz (translated by George Goulding) The Dry by Jane Harper Ostro by Julia Busuttil Nishimura …

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