Young adult

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Reviewed by Angela Crocombe

This debut thriller is set on a remote island that has been infected by a virus known only as ‘theTox’. It has been eighteen months since the Raxtor Boarding School for Girls was put under quarantine following the outbreak of…

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The Girl Who Came Out of the Woods by Emily Barr

Reviewed by Daniella Robertson

Artemis was raised in a secluded forest in India, part of a tiny community trying to create a place where humans could live together in peace and harmony. Arty grew into a teenager without having any contact with the outside…

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Meat Market by Juno Dawson

Reviewed by Angela Crocombe

For those young readers interested in the glamorous world of fashion and modelling, this novel provides a more realistic look at the far less enticing reality behind the scenes and the dangers inherent for young models.

Sixteen-year-old Jana is hanging…

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River Stone by Rachel Henessy

Reviewed by Joe Murray

In Rachel Hennessy’s vision of the future in River Stone, civilisation has been devastated and humanity has retreated into nature to survive, living off the land and leaving modern technology behind. However, when a plague threatens the existence of…

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Sick Bay by Nova Weetman

Reviewed by Angela Crocombe

In this beautifully written dual-narrative story, two very different Grade Six girls meet in sick bay at school. Meg mostly has to look after herself since her dad died and her mother has sunk into depression. In sick bay, she…

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Shauna's Great Expectations by Kathleen Loughnan

Reviewed by Angela Crocombe

Shauna is a Year 12 student on an Indigenous scholarship at Oakholme College, a prestigious Sydney girls’ private school. She’s suffered endless racist taunts from the school’s number one bully, Keli Street-Hughes, over the years. She has one more year…

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Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Reviewed by Dani Solomon

For five years Tyler has trained hard to earn the privilege of hand-picking his own team of cadets at the Aurora Academy. The night before the big draft he can’t sleep and he convinces the lieutenant to let him take…

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Promise Me Happy by Robert Newton

Reviewed by Mike Shuttleworth

Melbourne writer Robert Newton is well known to teenage readers. His colourful novel Runner, about a boy caught up in Squizzy Taylor’s 1920s underworld, is a staple of early secondary reading lists. More recently, When We Were Two garnered…

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The Boy Who Steals Houses by C.G. Drews

Reviewed by Jackie Tang

Fifteen-year-old Sam and his older brother Avery are struggling to make a better life for themselves on the streets after being abused by every parental figure in their life. Avery, who is autistic, bore the brunt of their father’s abuse…

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Good Selfie: Tips & Tools for Teens to Nail Life by Turia Pitt & Freda Chiu

Reviewed by Dani Solomon

Turia Pitt is a motivational speaker, athlete and burns survivor, and she has written her latest book in such a completely friendly, casual way that from the very first sentence you feel welcomed and wanted, almost like you can sense…

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