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Aussie Kids Books
Book Reviews
Welcome to my blog! This blog is a celebration of Australian children's fiction - including young adult, middle grade, junior fiction, and picture books.
Read on for my reviews!
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Wombat, Mudlark & other stories, by Helen Milroy
The enduring power of friendship, and being kind and helpful to others, are themes that link the eight stories in this book together. The...
Sandy
Oct 17, 20202 min read
Say Cheese! by Frances Watts, illustrated by Marjorie Crosby-Fairall
Say Cheese is another picture book that is read regularly in my household (Mr 3 chooses it as his bedtime read almost every night!) If...
Sandy
Oct 17, 20201 min read
Portrayals of mental health in YA fiction
I'm currently participating in an Instagram challenge which celebrates Aussie young adult fiction. There's a challenge prompt every day...
Sandy
Oct 17, 20201 min read
The Long Distance Playlist, by Tara Eglington
The Long Distance Playlist is a book about friendship and family and having the courage to embrace the unknown, set against a backdrop of...
Sandy
Oct 13, 20202 min read
Notes From the Teenage Underground by Simmone Howell
This book has remained one of my favourite young adult reads of all time, since I read it when it was published back in 2006. It has a...
Sandy
Oct 10, 20202 min read
Where's Lucky? by Jacqui Halpin, illustrated by Sandra Severgnini
This beautiful picture book was read every night to Mr 3 when we had it on loan from the library and he didn't want to return it! It is...
Sandy
Oct 10, 20202 min read
Teaser Tuesday! Snippet from my YA manuscript Exposed.
Here is a teaser from my young adult manuscript Exposed! It was well received on my Instagram page so I thought I'd post it here too....
Sandy
Oct 6, 20202 min read
The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling by Wai Chim
This beautifully written own voices young adult novel is narrated by Anna Chui, who is in Year 11 at school. Anna’s teachers are telling...
Sandy
Oct 4, 20202 min read
The Year the Maps Changed, by Danielle Binks
This is a beautifully written and researched novel which will appeal to readers from middlegrade upwards. The highlight of this book for...
Sandy
Oct 2, 20202 min read
Minecraft Diaries
Published by Scholastic Books Australia Anyone else's Minecraft-crazy kids loving these books? Admittedly I was a little dubious when my...
Sandy
Sep 25, 20201 min read
League of Llamas: Undercover Llamas (Book 3), by Aleesah Darlison
Undercover Llamas is book number three in the engaging and hilarious League of Llamas series by Aleesah Darlison. Ari (8) and I loved the...
Sandy
Sep 20, 20202 min read
Found, by Bruce Pascoe, illustrated by Charmaine Ledden-Lewis
Found is a beautifully written and illustrated picture book which on one level can be read as the story of a young calf left alone when...
Sandy
Sep 20, 20202 min read
Derek Dool Supercool: Bust A Move, by Adrian Beck.
Illustrated by Scott Edgar. Derek Dool is one of the most quirky and unique anti-heroes you will come across in middle grade fiction....
Sandy
Sep 7, 20202 min read
Bush Tracks, by Ros Moriarty
Illustrated by Balarinji ‘Bush Tracks’ takes its young readers on a meandering journey along the creek, through the mangroves, past the...
Sandy
Sep 7, 20202 min read
Take Three Girls, by Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell and Fiona Wood
I was incredibly excited when I heard that three of my favourite young adult fiction authors were collaborating to write a book together,...
Sandy
Aug 30, 20202 min read
Bluey - The Creek
Admittedly, when I first came across this book I wasn’t sure how I was going to respond to it – I’m never convinced that books based on...
Sandy
Aug 28, 20202 min read
Taking Down Evelyn Tait, by Poppy Nwosu
Lottie is facing a predicament - her best friend Grace has started dating Lottie's mortal enemy - the sneeringly perfect Evelyn Tait....
Sandy
Aug 22, 20202 min read
Beyond Belief, by Dee White
Everybody should read Beyond Belief by Dee White, which shines a light on the horror experienced by Jewish children in Paris in WWII. I...
Sandy
Aug 15, 20201 min read
Underdog: #LoveOzYa Short Stories, Edited by Tobias Madden, with a foreward by Fleur Ferris
This collection of short stories by new Australian writers has been on my radar for some time now (those of you who know me would know...
Sandy
Jul 28, 20202 min read
Please Don’t Hug Me, by Kay Kerr
I really loved this own voices book, the highlight of it being the voice of seventeen-year-old narrator Erin, who shares with us, through...
Sandy
Jul 19, 20202 min read
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