Esme in the Limelight by Kate Gordon

Esme in the Limelight by Kate Gordon

If you know me, you will know that Kate Gordon is one of my favourite authors and human beings. If you haven’t read any of the books in this beautiful companion series, you must run out now and get them all. Anyone who has read the other books will have been waiting eagerly for this…

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Queenie in Seven Moves by Zanni Louise

Queenie in Seven Moves

Zanni Lousie is a well-known author of many wonderful picture books for children and a supporter of the children’s literary community in Australia. She runs workshops and retreats for writers, hosts a podcast and mentors other writers. Her first middle grade novel, Queenie In Seven Moves, was published by Walker Books in 2023 and Candlewick…

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Protecting our Oceans

Our Nullarbor road trip from SA to WA and back again, more than a decade ago, was one of our best road trips ever. As a lifelong whale lover, the 148 whales in the Bay at the Head of the Bight was the pinnacle for me – Yes, 148! Across my life, I’ve gazed out…

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The First Summer of Callie McGee by A.L. Tait

The First Summer of Callie McGee by AL Tait

The First Summer of Callie McGee by A.L. Tait was an apt read for me over the Christmas-New Year week. Filled with references to summer in Australia, beachside towns, and the tensions between local and tourist kids, this gentle coming-of-age story with a mystery twist, tells the tale of 12-year-old Callie McGee across one week…

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The Letterbox Tree by Rebecca Lim & Kate Gordon

The letterbox tree

The Letterbox Tree is by two of my favourite Australian authors, Rebecca Lim and Kate Gordon. As you’d expect from two such talented writers, this upper middle-grade/lower YA novel takes some extremely difficult and very real topics and wraps them up in a warm story of found friendship, self-belief and hope. The story is centred…

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