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Read something you really liked.            

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India Wimple lives in a small country town nobody outside the town has heard of. Everyone knows India is the best speller in town and maybe even Australia, but India hates standing up and talking in front of anybody, and strangers make it worse. India’s family and the whole town pull together to help India. What do they do? What makes India an excellent speller and a nice person?

I enjoyed the richness of the characters and the dilemmas they had to solve.

Recommended for readers aged eight years and more.

Published by Penguin Random House 2016

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

Dusty was so angry. How could her uncle and father talk about selling her grandmother’s house and cutting down the trees she loved. Who had been in Aunt Meg’s room? No one went in there. Where was the beach in the photo?

Dusty decides she will find Meg and the beach and solve the secrets she’s heard whispered. What does she find? What happened to Aunt Meg?

I enjoyed the fantasy world of the story. What could be in our own backyards?

Recommend for readers eight to ten years.

Published by Hardy Grant 2022

Art by Martina Heiduczek.

Children’s Book Council of Australia Notable book 2023.

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

Sophie was going to die, run over by a car, but she was saved by Fizt. 

Who was Fizt, and where was Sophie now? What was the mystery, and why did she hide her ability to hear voices and read minds? What was the danger? 

Does Sophie find any answers in the world she doesn’t know?

I enjoyed the dilemma the characters faced and how they resolved them.

Recommended for readers ten years or more.

Published by Simon and Schuster. This edition 2020.

Children’s Book Council of Australia Notable Book 2023.

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

This junior reader story is a mix of fact and fiction and tells the story of Sandy, the Waler horse from the Victorian High Country who spent four years overseas in the First World War.

The story starts with the birth of Sandy and follows through until he is a working horse at the beginning of WW1. The Australian forces call for men, nurses and horses to fight for the Mother Country in the Middle East and Europe. The story details the long voyage to the Middle East and the day-to-day struggles of the troops and the horses.

Sandy goes to work in Europe and has several owners. Sandy is the only horse returning to Australia from the 136,000 sent overseas.

There are lots of newspaper clippings and photos too. The story is an excellent source for research on the role of horses in WWI.

I enjoyed the fact/fiction mix and the use of primary sources as illustrations. War does not go well for people or their animals.

Recommended for junior readers aged 8 to 12 years.

Published by Fremantle Press 2022

Illustrated by Brian Simmonds

2023 CBCA Book of the Year Notables

Shelby and Phoenix live years apart, and yet their paths cross. Phoenix lives with his family, and society goes into strict lockdown when illness strikes his little brother. Phoenix develops a severe rash and fever and is taken away by people in white coats. He knows he will be put into status until a cure can be found.

Shelby lives with 700 other people in their closed community. It is self-sustaining, and the motto is tread lightly, care for the world while it heals from a killer virus. What makes their lifepath cross?

I enjoyed the dystopic possibility that is Shelby’s world. Would we put people in status, routinely, awaiting a cure? What if we did?

Recommended for readers ten years and older.

Published by Allen and Unwin 2022

2023 CBCA Book of the Year Notables

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin.

Hero and her bestie, Jaz, become friends with Aria, who doesn't talk. Jaz doesn't stop talking, and Hero wishes she lives up to her name. Hero, Jaz, and Aria do their best to avoid trouble, but Doofus Rufus makes their lives at school miserable until he starts seeing his private diary details plastered around the school. The mystery is, who is tormenting Rufus? 

Jaz and Hero are curious about their friend's story. Why doesn't he talk? And then he says, 'I'll do it' as dinner. They enter a slam poetry competition. What do the friends do so Arai, who doesn't talk much anywhere, can stand in front of a crowd and recite poetry? What does Aria have to say?

This book was a page-turner. The strength and courage all three characters draw on demonstrate love and friendship's impact on resilience.

Recommended for readers aged eight years or more.

Published by Pan Macmillan Australia 2022

2023 CBCA Book of the Year Notables

Read and review by Judy Wollin

Eli’s birthday party is a failure. His cousin Jacob has been arrested for jewellery theft and is in jail. Eli knows his cousin’s innocent, and Andy and Eli set about proving it. 

With their friends Bernie and Fletch, they stake out the marina and discover the loot is with Ruby.

Rubyis not ordinary dingy. She was lost in a severe storm and is lodged halfway up a mangrove in the swamp in Sebastian’s, a huge saltwater crocodile’s territory. 

With the true criminals after them and a nasty saltwater crocodile guarding Ruby,how do Eli and Andy get the evidence they need to prove Jacob is innocent?

I enjoyed the story world. It was so good to read a story set in Far North Queensland. I enjoyed the mystery and the collaboration the characters had to develop to solve the mystery.

Recommended for readers eight years and older.

Published by Text Publishing Company 2022

2023 CBCA Book of the Year Notables

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

Scruffity starts life in the security of his fellow pups, mother fur and teats, but suddenly the young dogs find themselves in a cold-bottomed cage with hardly enough room to move.

A giant human is mean, but the younger human is friendly. Scruffity learns to trust him but finds himself abandoned by the side of the road. Does Scruffity find a home?

This beautiful story is told as a verse novel, adding richness to the story.

Recommended for readers aged eight years and older.

Published by UQP 2022

2023 CBCA Book of the Year Notables

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin.

Penn finds herself banished from the princess she’s sister-tied to. They are not blood sisters, but they do share a powerful link. Most people despise her as the Wintrish were enemies of the Arlyia in the last war.

All Arlyian children are granted an exceptional talent, but not Penn because she’s Wintrish. But her name is called, and she pulls a seed from the unique pot. What does it all mean? What is special about a plain seed?

I enjoyed the complexities of the characters and world.

Recommended for readers ten years and older.

Published by UQP 2022

2023 CBCA Book of the Year Notables

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

Zadie loves writing and telling stories. She has a unique gift that makes some of her stories come true. Zadie and her brother Teddy want a dog, but their mama says no, never. Mama runs the shop since their father came home from the war. He spends lots of time in bed.

Life is tough for the family, and money is short, and Zadie and her mother work hard. New people move in next door, and Zadie makes a friend. But the friendship is tested when Mama finds Zadie keeps a dog next door. 

Zadie is in trouble, and Mama confiscates her story-writing books. She tries to make things up to Mama and sets about cleaning the whole shop. She finds a photo that can only be her mother, but a boy and a dog are in the picture too. How does Zadie manage to find out who they are?

I enjoyed the insights into life in the 1950s, the issues families faced and the hardship many had to overcome.

Recommend for readers aged ten years and older.

Published by Puffin 2022

2023 CBCA Book of the Year Notables

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

I read and I write.            

If you read why not write?            

More reviews coming from me and you.