What great Australian authors have you discovered this year?
There is nothing we like better here at City of Parramatta Libraries than discussing and recommending Australian authors to our community of readers. Below is just a small selection of some of our current favourites.
Enjoy!
Seven days by Fleur Ferries
Winner of Best Young Adult novel, 2023 Davitt Awards.
When Ben is dumped with his country relatives for the holidays, he starts counting down the days until it is over, loathing every second.
However, Ben’s stay takes a sharp turn when he comes across his great-great grandfather’s journal – the final entry being from one hundred years ago, right after he was shot. With his cousin, Josh, Ben starts unravelling mysteries, lies and shocking crimes. Can the two boys beat the odds to resolve a century of bad blood between two families?
Fleur Ferries diverse background as a Paramedic and Police Officer has provided a unique narrative into current society.
https://www.penguin.com.au/books/seven-days-9781761043352
Stone town by Margaret Hickey
With its gold-rush history long in the past, Stone Town has seen better days. And it’s now in the headlines for all the wrong reasons . . .
When three teenagers stumble upon a body in dense bushland one rainy Friday night, Senior Sergeant Mark Ariti’s hopes for a quiet posting in his old home town are shattered. The victim is Aidan Sleeth, a property developer, whose controversial plan to buy up local land means few are surprised he ended up dead.
However, his gruesome murder is overshadowed by a mystery consuming the entire nation: the disappearance of Detective Sergeant Natalie Whitsed.
Natalie had been investigating the celebrity wife of crime boss Tony ‘The Hook’ Scopelliti when she vanished. What did she uncover? Has it cost her her life? And why are the two Homicide detectives, sent from the city to run the Sleeth case, so obsessed with Natalie’s fate?
Following a late-night call from his former boss, Mark is sure of one thing: he’s now in the middle of a deadly game . . .
Margaret Hickey is a playwright & author who has a strong interest in rural communities.
https://www.penguin.com.au/books/stone-town-9781761048692
The all of it by Cadance Bell
Seven years ago, Ben was loveless, overweight, in debt and living in his parents’ rumpus room, trying to find a way to quietly die. Days passed by in a haze of marijuana smoke and self-loathing. Then, one day, Ben decided not to die. He decided to change everything – starting with the Ben bit. Becoming Cadance would be more than a gender transition. It would be a transition in every way. It would mean leaving behind a rural Mudgee childhood filled with Frogger, hot chips, Godliness, and a forbidden love of Sarah Parker’s My Little Pony; and the violence, drugs and secrecy that plagued her twenties. Choosing to live was just the beginning; what mattered was how she existed.
Cadance Bell is a storyteller whose various pieces have appeared in The Guardian, popular blogs – ‘Rainbow Roo’ and ‘I miss pockets’. Documentaries to explore include ‘Rainbow Passage’ and ‘Who I am’. Candances’ hobbies and interests include playing Pokemon Go and eating burritos.
https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-all-of-it-9781761045028
Believe by Sam Frost
Believe a mental health initiative created by Sam Frost and supported by her sister Krister is an online community forum inclusive to everyone focussing on mental health subjects as depression, anxiety, unhealthy relationships and dealing with the challenges of social media.
Believe has progressed from an online community forum into a great book!
In Believe, Sam shares her own experiences navigating dark mental health periods and, alongside Kristine’s own insights, offers warm, gentle inspiration and tips to help you come through to the other side of your own. Believe is a personal story, a battle cry and a reassurance for the many of Sam’s fans who have struggled as she has.
https://www.believebysamfrost.com/about
https://www.hachette.com.au/book/believe
