The Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) celebrate the achievements of authors and publishers in bringing Australian books to readers. The shortlist covers 12 categories and they are
Biography Book of the Year
Back, After the Break by Osher Günsberg (HarperCollins Publishers)
Challenge Accepted! by Celeste Barber (HarperCollins Publishers)
Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee (Allen & Unwin)
Johnathan Thurston: The Autobiography by Johnathan Thurston, with James Phelps (HarperCollins Publishers)
Teacher by Gabbie Stroud (Allen & Unwin)
Book of the Year for Older Children (ages 13+)
Amelia Westlake by Erin Gough (Hardie Grant Egmont)
Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin Kwaymullina and Ezekiel Kwaymullina (Allen and Unwin)
Hive by A.J. Betts (Pan Macmillan)
Jane Doe and the Cradle of All Worlds by Jeremy Lachlan (Hardie Grant Egmont)
Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein (Walker Books)
Book of the Year for Younger Children (ages 7-12)
Lenny’s Book of Everything by Karen Foxlee (Allen & Unwin)
Real Pigeons Fight Crime by Andrew McDonald & Ben Wood (Hardie Grant Egmont)
The 104-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths, Terry Denton (Pan Macmillan Australia)
The Bad Guys Episode 7: Do-You-Think-He-Saurus?! By Aaron Blabey (Scholastic Australia)
Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow: Nevermoor 2 by Jessica Townsend (Hachette Australia)
Children’s Picture Book of the Year (ages 0-6)
All the Ways to be Smart by Davina Bell and Allison Colpoys (Scribble Kids’ Books)
Cicada by Shaun Tan (Hachette Australia)
Claris: The Chicest Mouse in Paris by Megan Hess (Hardie Grant Egmont)
Macca the Alpaca by Matt Cosgrove (Scholastic Australia)
Pig the Grub by Aaron Blabey (Scholastic Australia)
General Fiction Book of the Year
Scrublands by Chris Hammer (Allen & Unwin)
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland (HarperCollins Publishers)
The Nowhere Child by Christian White (Affirm Press)
The Rúin by Dervla McTiernan (HarperCollins Publishers)
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris (Echo Publishing)
General Non-Fiction Book of the Year
Any Ordinary Day by Leigh Sales (Penguin Random House Australia)
Boys Will Be Boys by Clementine Ford (Allen & Unwin)
Dear Santa by Samuel Johnson (Hachette Australia)
No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison by Behrouz Boochani, Omid Tofighian (translator) (Pan Macmillan Australia)
Welcome to Country: A Travel Guide to Indigenous Australia by Marcia Langton (Hardie Grant Publishing)
Illustrated Book of the Year
A Painted Landscape: Across Australia from Bush to Coast by Amber Creswell Bell (Thames & Hudson Australia)
Family: New vegetable classics to comfort and nourish by Hetty McKinnon (Pan Macmillan Australia)
Mirka & Georges by Lesley Harding & Kendrah Morgan (Melbourne University Publishing)
Special Guest by Annabel Crabb and Wendy Sharpe (Murdoch Books)
The Cook’s Apprentice by Stephanie Alexander (Penguin Random House Australia)
International Book of the Year
Becoming by ichelle Obama (Penguin Random House Australia)
CIRCE by Madeline Miller (Bloomsbury Publishing)
Less by Andrew Sean Greer (Hachette Australia)
Lost Connections by Johann Hari (Bloomsbury Publishing)
Ottolenghi SIMPLE by Yotam Ottolenghi (Penguin Random House Australia)
Literary Fiction Book of the Year
Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton (HarperCollins Publishers)
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak (Pan Macmillan Australia)
Shell by Kristina Olsson (Simon & Schuster Australia)
The Shepherd’s Hut by Tim Winton (Penguin Random House Australia)
Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko (The University of Queensland Press)
Small Publishers’ Adult Book of the Year
A Superior Spectre by Angela Meyer (Ventura Press)
Blakwork by Alison Whittaker (Magabala Books)
Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia by Dr Anita Heiss (ed.) (Black Inc Books)
The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted by Robert Hillman (Text Publishing)
The Geography of Friendship by Sally Piper (The University of Queensland Press)
Small Publishers’ Children’s Book of the Year
Black Cockatoo by Carl Merrison and Hakea Hustler (Magabala Books)
I Had Such Friends by Meg Gatland-Veness (Pantera Press)
Rhyme Cordial by Antonia Pesenti (Scribble Kids’ Books)
The Extremely Weird Thing that Happened in Huggabie Falls by Adam Cece (illustrated by Andrew Weldon) (Text Publishing)
Whisper by Lynette Noni (Pantera Press)
The Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year
Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton (HarperCollins Publishers)
The Nowhere Child by Christian White (Affirm Press)
Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee (Allen & Unwin)
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland (HarperCollins Publishers)
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris (Echo Publishing)
Audiobook of the Year
Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton, Narrator Stig Weymss (HarperAudio)
Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia, ed Anita Heiss, Narrators Gregory J Fryer, Tamala Shelton, Lisa Maza, Tony Briggs, Hunter Page-Lochard, Shari Stebbens (Wavesound)
The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton, Narrator Joanne Froggatt (Bolinda)
The Lost Man by Jane Harper, Narrator Steve Shanahan (Wavesound)
The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein, Narrator Rachael Tidd (Audible)
Business Award for Rising Star
Alice Wood (HarperCollins)
Catriona Murdie (Penguin Random House)
Ella Chapman (Hachette)
Mark Campbell (HarperCollins)
Sam Cooney (Brow Books)