Book of the Year shortlist for older readers
Ask no questions,
by Eva Collins In her memoir Ask No Questions, Eva Collins charts her family’s journey from Poland to Australia during the Cold War. Her restrained tone reflects the threat her parents experienced of the Communist regime and of ubiquitous anti-Semitism. Simply written and deeply moving she captures loss and gain, grief and celebration with great poignancy. With a third of Australians born overseas and half of the population with one migrant parent, Ask No Questions forms a crucial part of our national experience. Its accessible poetry is particularly suited to young adult readers.
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Completely normal (and other lies),
by Biffy James Stella Wilde is secretly in love with the hottest guy in school, Isaac Calder. He seems to love her back, but there’s a problem – he already has a girlfriend, the gorgeous Grace Reyes.
When Isaac is killed in a car accident, the entire school is turned upside down with grief. And while Grace can mourn publicly, Stella has to hide her feelings to stop people from finding out about her and Isaac being more than friends. But how long can Stella keep lying – to herself and everyone else? And when the truth finally comes out, how will it affect her newfound friendship with Grace? |
The greatest thing,
by Sarah Winifred Searle It's the first day of Grade Ten, and Winifred is going to reinvent herself. Now that her two best (and only) friends have transferred to a private school, Win must navigate high school on her own. Luckily, she isn't alone for long. In art class, she meets Oscar and April. They don't look or act like the typical teenagers in her town: they're creative, a little rebellious and seem comfortable in their own skin in a way that Win can only dream of.
But even though Winifred is breaking out of her shell, there's one secret she can't bear to admit to April and Oscar, or even to herself - and this lie threatens everything. Win needs to face her own truths, but she doesn't need to do it alone. Through the healing power of clandestine sleepovers, op-shopping and zine publishing, Win finds and accepts what it means to be herself. |
Neverlanders,
by Tom Taylor Bee and her fellow runaways are their own found family. So when a stranger named Paco saves her life, Bee invites him to join their crew, thinking he's another lost teen. The truth is Paco's not just a lost teen, he's a Lost Boy from Neverland. And he needs Bee and the others to come back with him.
When the group is then spirited away by a foul-mouthed Tinker Bell, they discover that Neverland is not some fun-filled hideaway. It's a war zone under siege by a horde of pirates with a merciless new leader who will stop at nothing to steal the land's magic. Tink leads a fairy army that barely holds them at bay. Peter Pan is gone. And rest of the Lost Boys have been killed. Paco is all that remains ... but he hopes that this group of teens will become the new Lost Ones. These young runaways may be Neverland's only hope - but they're about to learn that it'll take a lot more than happy thoughts to win a war. |
The other side of tomorrow,
by Hayley Lawrence What if you thought you had forever... To live your life. To tell your story. But what if forever was taken from you? When your tomorrows are counted, all you have is this moment. And this story you wish was never yours to tell. When Abby traded her life in the city for a wholesome new life on the coast, it was meant to be a fresh start for her family. Behind them was the sickness and sadness of the past. But sickness doesn't always play by the rules. And as Abby's past threatens to swallow her future, she is forced to decide what is most important. What she will fight for. And she will fight. For however many days she has left.
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What we all saw,
by Mike Lucas Witches only exist in stories. Everyone knows that. But what if the stories are real?
FOUR FRIENDS. FOUR TRUTHS. ONE NIGHTMARE. If you wander into the wood … If you hear scratching sounds from the Old Quarry … If you go too close to the edge … WATCH. OUT. |
Book of the Year shortlist for younger readers
August & Jones,
by Pip Harry Eleven-year-old Jones Kirby has just moved to Sydney from her farm in country New South Wales. She's missing her alpacas and wide-open paddocks and can't get used to her family's tiny city apartment. She's also worried that her vision is blurry - she lost her eye to cancer as a toddler. Could it be another tumour?
Enrolling at her new school, Jones meets shy, awkward August Genting. He loves fun facts, the library and knitting as much as Jones loves rock climbing and being outdoors. Who would have thought they'd become fast friends? At home, August's parents are fighting. And for Jones, the news from the doctor is not good. To cheer themselves up, the pair hatch a brilliant plan: the August and Jones Must-See Bucket List. Together, this brave duo will set out to meet a rare monkey, run across the Harbour Bridge and even climb Australia's highest mountain. After all, with your best friend beside you, anything is possible! |
Evie and Rhino,
by Neridah McMullin A young girl with a tragic past and a rhinoceros facing life in captivity form an unlikely and magical bond after a fateful storm and a shipwreck bring them together. A moving tale about love, connection and the healing power of friendship.
1891 On a stormy night off the coast of southern Australia, a ship transporting a cargo of exotic animals tosses and turns in enormous seas. Rhino senses they are in grave danger. Not far away, ten-year-old Evie and her grandfather shelter in their crumbling, once-grand old home. They know too well how deadly storms can be. When all is calm, Evie treks over the dunes to the sea and makes a discovery that will change her life, and Rhino’s, forever. Will the tragedies of their pasts finally be put to rest? |
The raven's song,
by Zana Fraillon and Ben MacDibble Shelby and her best friend Davy live quiet low-tech lives in a closed community that is made up of exactly three hundred and fifty kind, ethical people living on exactly seven hundred hectares.
When they climb through a hole in the perimeter fence to venture into the surrounding jungle, what they find is more astonishing than anything they could have imagined. And when Shelby realises the terrible danger that is unfolding, it will take all of her daring and determination to ensure the past does not repeat itself. |
Runt,
by Craig Silvey Annie Shearer lives in the country town of Upson Downs with her best friend, an adopted stray dog called Runt. The two share a very special bond.
After years evading capture, Runt is remarkably fast and agile, perfect for herding runaway sheep. But when a greedy local landowner puts her family's home at risk, Annie directs Runt's extraordinary talents towards a different pursuit - winning the Agility Course Grand Championship at the lucrative Krumpets Dog Show in London. However, there is a curious catch: Runt will only obey Annie's commands if nobody else is watching. With all eyes on them, Annie and Runt must beat the odds and the fastest dogs in the world to save her farm. |
The way of the dog,
by Zana Fraillon Scruffity is born into the harsh, grey world of a puppy farm. Taken from his mamma and locked in a concrete cage, what he yearns for most is Family. To belong is The Way of Dog. But no one wants him.
Just as his chances of adoption grow dangerously thin, Scruffity is set free by a boy as unwanted and lonely as he is. Outside, Scruffity learns all about The Way of Dog – it is to run, to dig, to howl and, biggest of all, to love. But when tragedy strikes, Scruffity is suddenly all alone. How does a dog find his way home when he never had one to begin with? |
Xavier in the meantime,
by Kate Gordon Sometimes Xavier wakes up feeling hopeless.
Every new doctor … this will fix it. Removing him from school … this will fix it. The therapy group … this will fix it. And his dad moving out. Maybe, this will fix it. His daily affirmations seem to be helping, yet the black dog never really goes away. But Xavier has a plan. Enlisting the help of best friend Aster, he tries to convince his dad to turn the family hogget farm into a therapy retreat for the group session kids. But he is up against decades of tradition, his parents who are on a “break,” and the spectre of the black dog. Can Xavier learn to cherish the moments in between the struggles—the moments in the meantime? Companion to 'Aster's Good, Right Things'. |
Picture Book of the Year shortlist
Dirt by sea,
by Tom Jellett Daisy lives in inland Australia with her dad and her grandparents. It’s home, and she loves the red dirt land around her. But when her dad realises that she’s never seen the beach and thinks the Australian anthem is about a country ‘dirt by sea’, he sets off to show her the ocean in a once-in-a-lifetime father-daughter trip along the Australian coast, inspired by the first holiday he took with Daisy's mum. Along the way they will learn about Australia and much, much more.
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Farmhouse,
by Sophie Blackall Step inside the dollhouse-like interior of Farmhouse and relish the daily life of the family that lives there, rendered in impeccable, thrilling detail. Based on a real family and an actual farmhouse where Sophie salvaged facts and artefacts for the making of this spectacular work, page after page bursts with luminous detail and joy.
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Frank's red hat,
by Sean E Avery A story about never giving up on your talents, because even though what you do may not be appreciated right now, it may be in time. Possibly by someone you’d least expect.
Frank is a penguin with ideas. Mostly terrible ones. That’s why his fellow penguins are nervous when he shows them his strange new creation. Something they’d never seen or expected to see in their cold and colourless Antarctic world — a red hat. |
My strange shrinking parents,
by Zeno Sworder It goes without saying that all children believe their parents to be strange.
Mine were unusual for a different reason… One boy’s parents travel from far-off lands to improve their son’s life. But what happens next is unexpected. What does it mean when your parents are different? What shape does love take? And what happens when your parents sacrifice a part of themselves for you? |
Our dreaming,
by Dub Leffler Goodjagah, little one,
walk with me... I want to tell you our Dreaming as the Elders told it to me |
Paradise sands: A story of enchantment, by Levi Pinfold
Washed clean in his pool, we fall under his rule
Away from what is, for we are now his. When a young girl and her brothers step into the ghostly Paradise Sands hotel, they fall under the rule of the mysterious Teller. She makes a deal with him to free them all from his haunting paradise. But can she hold up her side of the bargain? |
The Eve Pownall Award shortlist
Entries in this category should be books which have the prime intention of documenting factual material with consideration given to imaginative presentation, interpretation and variation of style.
A is for Australian reefs,
by Frané Lessac Along the coastline of Australia, underwater reefs are bustling with the most amazing sea creatures living on the planet! A deep dive into the biodiversity of Australia’s remarkable coastline from sharks to octopuses to dolphins and manta rays and seahorses - and the most famous reef of all – the Great Barrier Reef.
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Amazing animal journeys,
by Jennifer Cossins Did you know that Arctic terns have the longest migration of all birds, flying from the Arctic to Antarctica and back each year? Or that the wildebeest migration in east Africa is so vast it can be seen from outer space?
Come along on these amazing animal journeys! |
Come together: Things every Aussie kid should know about the First Peoples, by Isaiah Firebrace
In this essential book, Isaiah, a Yorta Yorta and Gunditjmara man, establishes a foundation of First Nations knowledge with 20 key topics.
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DEEP: Dive into hidden worlds,
by Jess McGeachin What hidden worlds lie beneath your feet? Or in the deepest parts of the ocean, where not even sunlight can reach? Come on a journey to meet glowing deep-sea creatures, zombie-making fungi and the trillions of tiny workers that live inside your own body. But be warned, things can get a little strange in the deep...
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Opal and Dart,
by Vianne Brain Opal and Dart, beautiful swallows, met as fledglings learning to fly. Together they must travel incredible distances, fend off malevolent sparrows, and build their nest so that future generations can follow their journey.
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Wild Australian life,
by Leonard Cronin More than one million animal species make their homes in Australia - from the deepest oceans to the tops of mountains and the harshest deserts. But just how do they survive? Discover the remarkable stories behind some of the world's most extraordinary animals in this must-have collection for every Australian family.
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CBCA Award for new illustrator
Australia: From dawn to dusk,
illustrated by Brentos It’s a new day in Australia. Let’s follow the sun!
Wake up with kookaburras on Arakwal Country (Byron Bay), bask with wombats on wulinantikala (Cradle Mountain), watch black and red cockatoos flying over Anangu Country, scratch the Daintree Rainforest floor with cassowaries on Kuku Yalanji Country, and go to sleep as quokkas wake up on Whadjuk Noongar Country (Rottnest Island). |
The best hiding place,
illustrated by Sylvia Morris One, two, three,
four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten … Coming, ready or not! Archie has found the best hiding place. But after a while, it feels too quiet. Is the game still on? Has Archie been forgotten? |
Naturopolis,
illustrated by Ingrid Bartkowiak Look closer, look with care
And you may find a forest… Among the steel and stone canyons of the city, nature flourishes in tiny, tenacious ways. Follow the ant (Iridomyrmex purpureus) to discover the scraps of wilderness hiding in plain sight in this lyrical celebration of urban flora and fauna. |
Tiny wonders,
illustrated by Sally Sowoel Han April thinks if her town was a colour, it would be grey. Everyone is too busy to stop and look around. How can she help them slow down?
When she remembers the happiness that dandelions brought her grandmother, April comes up with a plan... |
There's no such book,
illustrated by Jake A. Minton It's the night before the Book Week parade and Ellie announces that she needs a costume by the morning. Mum, who is taken by surprise, desperately tries to piece together a costume from what’s lying around the house …
They went into the bathroom. ‘Hmm,’ said Mum. ‘Don’t I remember once reading you a book about a monster whose skin looked like it was made of bright green towels?’ ‘No,’ said Ellie. ‘There is no such book.’ Ellie heads to bed only with Mum's promise that she’ll have a costume sorted by the morning. Mum stays true to her word, but perhaps not in the way that Ellie was hoping. |
We are Australians,
illustrated by Jandamarra Cadd For those born in Australia, it’s easy to take citizenship and its responsibilities for granted. But there is much more to being an Australian citizen than having a passport and the right to vote.
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We have also been promoting the KOALA awards, where the shortlists are chosen by the readers themselves. Here are the 2023 shortlisted titles...
Years 7-9 shortlist
Borrow on the Inaburra eLibrary...
Across the risen sea
Rabbit, soldier, angel, thief
The dog runner
The secrets we keep
The way of dog
Across the risen sea
Rabbit, soldier, angel, thief
The dog runner
The secrets we keep
The way of dog
Older readers shortlist (upper primary school, Years 7-8)
Picture books shortlist
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