It's National Reconciliation Week!
Running from 27 May to 3 June 2025, National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia, and to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements.
This year’s theme – ‘Bridging Now to Next’ – encourages all Australians to continue to work together while being guided by the lessons of the past.
We've put together a collection of books that are perfect for National Reconciliation Week (and every other week of the year). With fiction, nonfiction, poetry and a range of young adult and children's books, you're sure to find something to devour and reflect on. But if none of them catch your eye, browse our collection of First Nation's books here or head into one of our wonderful Readings shops for more recommendations.
For fiction readers
Edenglassie
Melissa Lucashenko
'...a rage-informed, joyful, rollicking, straight-talking yarn of the strength and persistence of Goorie people in Brisbane since the coming of the Dagai.'
– Bernard Caleo, Readings bookseller
Edenglassie weaves together two extraordinary Indigenous stories set five generations apart. When Mulanyin meets the beautiful Nita in Edenglassie, their saltwater people still outnumber the British. As colonial unrest peaks, Mulanyin dreams of taking his bride home to Yugambeh Country, but his plans for independence collide with white justice. Two centuries later, fiery activist Winona meets Dr Johnny. Together they care for obstinate centenarian Granny Eddie, and sparks fly, but not always in the right direction. What nobody knows is how far the legacies of the past will reach into their modern lives.
In this multi-award winning novel, Melissa Lucashenko, a Goorie author of Bundjalung and European heritage, torches Queensland's colonial myths, while reimagining an Australian future.
I Am Nannertgarrook
Tasma Walton
'This novel memorialises not only the stories of Walton’s ancestors but also immerses us in continuing Boonwurrung language and culture. We are reminded that this history floods our present day.'
– Teddy Peak, Readings bookseller
From her idyllic life in sea country in Nerrm (now known as Port Phillip Bay, Victoria), Nannertgarrook is abducted and taken to a slave market, leaving behind a husband, daughter and son. Pregnant when seized, she soon gives birth to another son, whom she raises with the children of her fellow captives.
Based on the true story of Boonwurrung writer and actor Tasma Walton’s ancestor, I Am Nannertgarrook is a powerful, heart-wrenching novel about maternal love that endures against pitiless odds. Kidnapped by sealers and enslaved far from her homeland, Nannertgarrook has a spirit that refuses to bow …
For nonfiction readers
Always Was, Always Will Be
Thomas Mayo
The results of the 2023 referendum have left supporters and volunteers asking how they can continue to support Indigenous recognition. Australian human rights advocate and bestselling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander author Thomas Mayo, a leader of the Yes 23 campaign, has written Always Was, Always Will Be to answer that question.
Always Was, Always Will Be is essential reading for those who want to keep the positive momentum going and the number of allies growing. It’s for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who are ready to do everything they can to close the gap. It's a positive rallying cry and will map the path toward next steps on how to create a fairer Australia.
Black and Blue
Veronica Gorrie
The winner of the 2022 Victorian Prize for Literature, Black and Blue is proud Gunai/Kurnai woman Veronica Gorrie's memoir of her 10 years as an Aboriginal police officer in Australia. After watching her friends and family suffer under a deeply compromised law-enforcement system, Gorrie signed up to the force, hoping to make real change. During her time with the police, she witnessed appalling institutional racism and sexism, and fought past those things to provide courageous and compassionate service to civilians in need, many Aboriginal themselves.
With a great gift for storytelling and a wicked sense of humour, Gorrie frankly and movingly explores the impact of racism on her family and her life, the impact of intergenerational trauma resulting from cultural dispossession, and the inevitable difficulties of making her way as an Aboriginal woman in the white-and-male-dominated workplace of the police force. Black and Blue is a memoir of remarkable fortitude and resilience, told with wit, wisdom, and great heart.
For poetry readers
Whisper Songs
Tony Birch
We couldn't have a National Reconciliation Week blog without including author, academic, activist and much-loved Readings local Tony Birch! With four novels, five short fiction collections, two poetry books and a long list of awards, Birch is a must read. Whisper Songs reveals him at his lyrical and intimate best.
In Whisper Songs, Birch invites the reader into a tender conversation with those he loves – and has loved – the most. He also challenges the past to speak up by interrogating the archive, including documents from his own family history, highlighting forcefully the ways in which the personal is also intensely political.
Divided into three sections – Blood, Skin and Water – Whisper Songs address themes of loss (of people and place), the legacies of colonial history and violence, and the relationships between Country and memory.
Dropbear
Evelyn Araluen
The winner of the Stella Prize in 2022 and shortlisted for countless other awards, Dropbear confronts the tropes and iconography of an unreconciled nation with biting satire and lyrical fury.
In Dropbear, Evelyn Araluen mixes poetry and essay, offering an eloquent witness to the entangled present, an uncompromising provocation of history, and an embattled but redemptive hope for a decolonial future. We are eagerly awaiting Araluen's next poetry collection The Rot, publishing in November this year!
For cookbook readers
The Australian Ingredients Kitchen
Elder Bruno Dann and Tahlia Mandie
There is nothing that brings people together better than food. And with climate change, global tariffs and the cost of living, there couldn't be a better time to switch our focus to what grows in our own backyards. By learning about and cooking with bushfoods, we can better respect First Nations knowledge, as well as appreciating the importance of living in harmony with the land.
In this accessible cookbook, bushfoods industry pioneer and Nyul Nyul Elder Bruno Dann and Tahlia Mandie of Kakadu Plum Co. have come together to share recipes and stories as part of Australia's ongoing journey towards reconciliation.
There are 60 everyday dishes drawn from Elder Bruno's camp kitchen and Tahlia's family kitchen, as well as contributor recipes from both First Nations and non-Indigenous cooks, all with the mission to encourage Australian cooks to choose local ingredients over international varieties.
For young adult readers
A Good Kind of Trouble
Brooke Blurton and Melanie Saward
You might recognise the name Brooke Blurton, as the woman who broke records as the first Indigenous and bisexual Bachelorette; a proud Noongar-Yamatji woman, Blurton is also a champion of young people, especially First Nations and queer youth, and all people of colour. In her young adult fiction debut, Blurton has teamed up with writer, editor, and academic Melanie Saward, a proud Bigambul and Wakka Wakka woman.
A Good Kind of Trouble follows Jamie Hunter, a bold Noongar teenager. Jamie used to be worried about playing footy and whether her first kiss would be with a boy or a girl. But when new girl Stella Jones starts at her school, Jamie suddenly gets the courage to stand up to her history teacher and demand the school starts teaching the true history of Australia, with books written by First Nations Australians and not just white historians.
This is a brilliantly warm-hearted new series full of high school longing, friendship, footy matches, and dreams to change the world! For ages 13+.
Sweet Home
Students from Dawurr Boarding, Illustrated by Daydae Yunupingu
'My home is beautiful. Just like how my homeland is beautiful, you will love all the people who live there.'
Sweet Home is a collection of 28 stories by students from Dawurr Boarding, a co-ed boarding facility located on Rirratjingu land that supports students from across the Northern Territory in accessing quality education and wellbeing programs, while remaining close to culture, Country and communities.
Published by the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, each story in Sweet Home is a love letter to the things, places and people that are important to the Dawurr students. Despite coming from 13 unique Communities across the Northern Territory, it becomes clear that they share a love for spending time with their families and out on Country – home sweet home. For ages 14+.
For junior and middle grade readers
Wurrtoo
Tylissa Elisara, illustrated by Dylan Finney
Get ready to fall in love with Wurrtoo the wombat as you follow him on his quest to marry the love of his life, the sky, while facing his fears and learning the importance of friendship along the way.
Winner of the The Readings Children's Prize 2024 and 2025 ABIA Book of the Year for Younger Children, Wurrtoo is a gorgeous middle-grade novel. Drawing from her Narungga, Kaurna and Adnyamathanha heritage, Tylissa Elisara weaves traditional stories and the meaning of Country with a deep appreciation of astronomy, flora, fauna, and distinctly Australian food. Black-and-white line illustrations by Dylan Finney, a proud Marra, Ngalakgan & Yanyuwa descendant, bring Wurrtoo and his adventures to life. For ages 8+.
Spirit of the Crocodile
Aaron Fa'Aoso and Michelle Scott Tucker with Lyn White
Torres Strait Islander film producer, director, screenwriter and actor Aaron Fa'Aoso has teamed up with author Michelle Scott Tucker and editor Lyn White to create this inspiring story of courage, resilience and hope.
Set in today's Torres Strait, Spirit of the Crocodile follows twelve-year-old Ezra, an ordinary boy who lives on Saibai, an extraordinary Australian island. He loves a laugh, he loves his family, and – almost more than anything – he loves a dare. But when one of his dares goes wrong, Ezra realises he needs to make some decisions about helping out and measuring up.
Spirit of the Crocodile highlights how climate change threatens culture, tradition and connection to place. For ages 11+.
Young Dark Emu: A Truer History
Bruce Pascoe
'Young Dark Emu will give your child a thirst for our Indigenous cultures and I cannot think of a better reason to buy a book.'
– Dani Solomon, manager at Readings Kids
Adapted for a younger audience from Yuin, Bunurong and Tasmanian man Bruce Pascoe's award winning Dark Emu, Young Dark Emu was highly awarded upon its original release in 2019. This updated edition brings a fresh look and format to the original content.
Using the accounts of early European explorers, colonists and farmers, Pascoe compellingly argues for a reconsideration of the hunter-gatherer label for pre-colonial Aboriginal Australians. He allows the reader to see Australia as it was before Europeans arrived – a land of cultivated farming areas, productive fisheries, permanent homes, and an understanding of the environment and its natural resources that supported thriving villages across the continent. For ages 7+.
For picture book readers
Welcome To Country
Aunty Joy Murphy and Lisa Kennedy
Learn more about what it means to be welcomed to Country in this beautiful board book, written by Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin, the senior Aboriginal elder of the Wurundjeri People, and illustrated by Indigenous artist Lisa Kennedy.
Welcome to the lands of the Wurundjeri People. The people are part of the land, and the land is a part of them. Aboriginal communities across Australia have boundaries that are defined by mountain ranges and waterways. Traditionally, to cross these boundaries, permission is required. Each community has its own way of greeting, but the practice shares a common name: a Welcome to Country. For ages 3+.
Come Together: Things Every Aussie Kid Should Know about the First Peoples
Isaiah Firebrace, illustrated by Jaelyn Biumaiwai and designed by Keisha Leon
At once accessible and engaging, Come Together will make every Aussie kid proud that Australia is home to the longest continuing culture on Earth!
In 2016, Yorta Yorta and Gunditjmara pop artist Isaiah Firebrace won The X-Factor. Since then, he's been calling for Aboriginal history to be taught in schools around the country. Come Together is inspired by his petition to the Australian Government to make Aboriginal History compulsory as a part of the school curriculum.
Come Together establishes a foundation of First Nations knowledge across 20 key topics. Alongside bright and contemporary illustrations by Mununjali and Fijian artist Jaelyn Biumaiwai, Isaiah connects us to each topic through his own personal story and culture, from the importance of Elders to the Dreaming. For ages 5+.
Is That You?
Gregg Dreise
Written and illustrated by Kamilaroi and Euahlayi man Gregg Dreise, Is that you? is a board book that encourages young readers to learn new verbs and adverbs, while meeting a broad range of Australian animals: frogs bop, snakes slide, lizards hide, Tasmanian devils growl …
Dreise is fully aware that knowing our cultural roots helps strengthen the assortment of unique and proud Australians that we all become, so uses his joyful books to introduce young readers to First Nations cultures. Filled with adorable and distinctive illustrations, Is That You? will delight children from 0 up!
