Hey all,
Amplify Bookstore is currently experienceing a gross harassment campaign. If you don’t know, they stock books by BIPOC authors and illustrators, run events and are just generally a great community hub.
If you are in need of a new book, might I suggest you go grab something from them! Here is some YA that I have enjoyed:
Weaving Us Together by Lay Maloney. My fav of any recent #LoveOzYA!!! This follows Jean through from when they’re a young kid to when they’re in high school (mostly set in the high school times) and is such a beautiful portrayal of family and deep friendship and romance.
Moonlight and Dust by Jasmin McGaughey. This was a great read, had a bit of mystery, bit of romance, a bit of super powers through mysterious potions … it’s got it all. The sense of place was so vivid and I really enjoyed that, Jasmin has such a great way of writing supernatural things and grounding the story in our world.
The Skin I’m In by Steph Tisdell. Layla is in year 12 and she is not having a good time. She is really going through it to figure out who she is and how she wants to be in the world. I loved this, it deals with a lot of dark subject matter but it’s also soooo so funny. Layla’s friendship group really shines in this.
Liar’s Test by Ambelin Kwaymullina. It’s amazing how much worldbuilding Ambelin can pack into this very slim fantasy book. The world was so rich and vivid, a really cool fantasy YA, with a sequel on the way.
Laurinda by Alice Pung. The classic! Beautiful writing. I feel like everyone should have read this but if you haven’t please do. Lucy is starting at her new school, Laurinda, which is very posh and private.
Metal Fish, Falling Snow by Cath Moore. Honestly like no other YA I have read. Dylan’s mother has died and so now she’s on a road trip with her mother’s boyfriend Pat, who works for a beer company and so is travelling out to all these regional towns in Australia. Extremely beautiful, lyrical language. (This does deal with a lot of internalised racism which can get quite intense.)
Tiger Daughter by Rebecca Lim. This is a pretty heavy book about patriarchy, misogyny and mental health, it’s not easy going and Rebecca has done a wonderful job of making this very real, writing with the gravity this all deserves.
The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen. This is a graphic novel and has gorgeous illustrations! This uses fairy tales and stories as Tien, the main character, tries to navigate the language gap between him and his parents.
My Spare Heart by Jared Thomas. Phoebe’s parents have split up, and so she’s moved in with her dad and his new girlfriend. Everything is weighing so hard on Phoebe, who is trying to keep everything together while she deals with moving to a new town as well as her mother’s alcoholism. The characters in My Spare Heart are all so real and I just didn’t want the story to end. I felt a real sense of grief when the book was over because I wanted to spend more time with them!
I’m currently reading Good Young Men by Gary Lonesborough. I’m about 20 pages in but I’m hooked. This is about three Aboriginal teens whose friend has been murdered by a white cop.
A new release that has caught my eye is Bad Queer by Gayathiri Kamalakanthan. This is a verse novel about a nonbinary teen who is going through their first love. I’m a sucker for a verse novel and ofc any YA with a nonbinary MC.
(All of these titles except for Magic Fish and Bad Queer are #LoveOzYA 🙂)
