Looking ahead for the Readings Young Adult Book Prize shortlist
How do you follow up reading a great Australian YA book? With another great #LoveOzYA read, of course… Here we take a look at what’s next for the six authors shortlisted for our Readings Young Adult Book Prize.
Read more about the six shortlisted books here. And don’t forget, you can pick up the entire shortlist in a specially priced bundle ($99.99, ).
The first Boone Shepard delighted us with capers, banter and mortal danger galore, so we are pumped that Gabriel Bergmoser has brought Boone and Promethia back for another round of investigative reporting in Boone Shepard’s American Adventure.
In this second book, Boone and Promethia are hiding in 1800s New York, with the reluctant help of Oscar Wilde. When a teenage girl turns up on their doorstep desperate for help, they become embroiled in a wild journey across the old west that might – if they’re lucky – take them home.
Boone Shepard’s American Adventure is out now.
Author Wai Chim (Freedom Swimmer) explores another important piece of history in her next book – Shaozhen: Through My Eyes - Natural Disaster Zones takes a look at the devastating drought in Henan, China.
Shaozhen has no intention of staying in his remote village and becoming another poor farmer. He plans to finish school and then work in a factory in one of the major cities, just like his father. But when Shaozhen returns home for the holidays, he discovers his home is facing the worst drought in over 60 years and that it threatens the crops that the entire village relies on for income.
Shaozhen: Through My Eyes - Natural Disaster Zones will be out in August.
Zana Fraillon (The Bone Sparrow) continues her commitment to exploring important global issues with The Ones That Disappeared, which brings to life issues surrounding child trafficking.
Esra, Miran and Isa work for the Snakeskin gang, tending to plants in the dark and airless basement of a house they are not allowed to leave. They’ve been told that they belong to the Snakeskins, but Esra knows that she belongs to no one, and she is determined to find freedom.
The Ones That Disappeared will be out in July.
Becoming Aurora has an evocative Queensland setting, so it’s great to hear that author Elizabeth Kasmer is currently working another novel set in her home state. It’s going to be for slightly younger readers, and revolves around ‘a river, superstitious river folk, and two friends who live and fish there’.
We can’t wait to see what Elizabeth does next!
We’re so pleased that Mark Smith is continuing the story he began in The Road to Winter with Wilder Country.
Finn, Kas and Willow have survived the winter of storms. Severe winds and cold have kept the Wilders at bay. But now that spring has come, everything has changed. They’re being hunted again, and they won’t be safe while Ramage wants their blood. But Finn and Kas made a promise to Rose – to find her baby and bring her back. And finding Hope also means finding Ramage…
Wilder Country will be out in September.
We loved the heartbreak and humour of Our Chemical Hearts so we’re intrigued by the premise of Krystal Sutherland’s second book, A Semi-definitive List of Worst Nightmares.
Ever since Esther Solar’s grandfather was cursed by Death, everyone in her family has been doomed to suffer one great fear in their lifetime. Esther has avoided learning what hers is by avoiding pretty much everything. Instead, she keeps a record of phobias in a ‘semi-definitive list of worst nightmares’. When Esther’s list is stolen by Jonah Smallwood, an old classmate, he convinces her to try break curse by facing her fears – one by one.
A Semi-definitive List of Worst Nightmares will be out in September.
