Young adult
Sugar by Carly Nugent
I was very excited to read this debut YA novel by Carly Nugent, who won the Readings Children’s Book Prize in 2019 for her middle-grade novel The Peacock Detectives. Sugar is for a much older readership and focuses on…
A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft
Seventeen-year-old Maggie Welty has lived her entire life on the outskirts of Wickdon, a town that has never fully welcomed or accepted her. Her mother Evelyn Welty (an alchemist) left town months earlier on a research trip, leaving Maggie alone…
The Revelry by Katherine Webber
This intriguing horror story is based around a sleepy rural town and a legendary party in the woods. Known as the Revelry, the festivities are shrouded in secrecy and only the graduating class of students are invited to attend.
Though…
Growing Up in Flames by Zach Jones
Kenna’s mother Ava died in a bushfire and she now lives with her uncle and aunt in her mum’s hometown, Kimba. She is trying to understand why her mum left 20 years before and never came back.
Noah’s father abandoned…
League of Liars by Astrid Scholte
Telene is an interesting place. There is a permanent misty cloud that hangs over the city blocking out the sun and diffusing all shadows into a safer shade of soft grey, while the streets and public places are brightly lit…
This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi
Tahereh Mafi has written an enchanting new book for readers to escape into with her latest YA fantasy, This Woven Kingdom. With elegant, alluring prose reminiscent of old fairytales and legends, Mafi draws on Persian mythology to create a…
At the End of Everything by Marieke Nijkamp
Written from the perspective of three different teenagers, this is the story of a group of delinquents that the world has forgotten when a plague takes over society. Grace, Logan and Emerson have all ended up at the Hope Juvenile…
I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys
Ruta Sepetys is renowned for casting a humanitarian lens on real stories of human tragedy, giving voice to those whose stories may otherwise be lost in the cracks of history. Sepetys was awarded the Carnegie Medal for Salt to the…
Only a Monster by Vanessa Len
Local Melbourne-based author Vanessa Len has created a breathtaking debut in Only a Monster, the first in a new trilogy. I was completely absorbed by every detail in this time-travelling wonder, where the main character, Joan Chang-Hunt, is one…
Parachutes by Kelly Yang
Dani is a high-achieving Filipino American scholarship student at American Prep high school in California. When she’s not practising with the debate team and planning her path to Yale, Dani works as a house cleaner alongside her mother and fellow…
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