Top picks for Kids and YA book clubs
Below are our top picks for book clubs for young people this month:
For readers aged 5-9
Maku by Meyne Wyatt
Maku has just started at a new school. It’s tricky fitting in, but Maku always tries his best. When his grandparents take him out on country he finds inspiration to make a superhero movie and impress his classmates.
Themes include:
- First Nations culture
- friendship
- family
- bullying
You can find teacher’s notes here.
When Granny Came to Stay by Alice Pung
Pangzi really wants a toy called a Destroyer Disc to play with the other kids at school. His parents won’t let him, but when his grandmother visits from China she does things very differently.
Themes include:
- cultural differences
- family relationships
- peer pressure
- embracing diversity
You can find teacher’s notes here.
Rainbow the Koala by Remy Lai
The first book in an inspiring graphic novel series about the wonders and perils of the natural world - and how we can all do our part to protect it.
Themes include:
- learning about wildlife
- protecting nature
- visual literacy
- climate change
You can find teacher’s notes here.
For readers aged 8-12
All the Little Tricky Things by Karys McEwen
It’s the start of the summer holidays and twelve-year-old Bertie is worried. Next year she’s going to a high school in the city, while all her friends stay behind in the small town she’s lived in all her life.
Themes include:
- change
- friendship
- starting high school
- peer pressure
You can find teacher’s notes here.
How to Spell Catastrophe by Fiona Wood
Nell McPherson is a catastrophe expert, but nothing has prepared her for the impending catastrophe of her mum’s plans to merge families and the biggest catastrophe of them all: climate change!
Themes include:
- worrying and strategies for coping
- blended families
- climate change
- activism
You can find teacher’s notes here.
For readers aged 12 and up
Unlimited Futures edited by Rafeif Ismael & Ellen Van Neerven
This diverse anthology of speculative, visionary fiction from 21 emerging and established First Nations writers and Black writers, reflecting visionary pasts and hopeful futures that would be a compelling study for a book club or class.
Themes include:
- First Nations and Black culture
- impact of colonisation
- racism
- the Stolen Generations
You can find teacher’s notes here.
Sugar by Carly Nugent
A realistic YA novel from the author of The Peacock Detectives, about family, loss and coming to terms with a diagnosis of diabetes as a teen.
Themes include:
- grief
- illness
- family
- words and language
You can find teacher’s notes here.
