We all love to ‘try before we buy’ – teenagers are no exception! Here are some wonderful Young Adult fiction writers to listen to. There are an amazing range of issues covered from these authors.
A lot of these are wonderful stories no matter what your age.
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LANCE BALCHIN –Mechanica
Lance Balchin has created a whole new universe in Mechanica which is a beautiful illustrated novel . Here he reads a passage of the birth of the age of Mechanica on the earth.
TRISTAN BANCKS - Two Wolves
Tristan Bancks writes about a family in which the father has a desperate secret . Suddenly they are on the run and their lives have changed forever.
Tristan Bancks - Cop and Robber
What do you do when you love both your parents- but they are on opposite sides of the law? Nash is torn between his sense of what is right and loyalty to his Dad. But is his Mum all she seems ?LOUISA BENNET - Monty and Me
Monty , the dog detective, is based on the author's real life dog – but we have to keep his identity a secret as he is undercover ( or is that just ‘ under the covers?!)
Louisa Bennet - 'The Bone Ranger'
Monty is off on the scent again in this new adventure !Lech Blaine - Car Crash
A young man crashes his car and kills his friends. In a small community, the fallout reverberates for generations through several families. This is a true story, told fearlessly but not without a great deal of pain from all sides.
Recorded at Storyfest 2022
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ISOBELLE CARMODY -Alyzon Whitestarr
Alyzon's family is large and unconventional, but Alyzon considers herself the most' normal' member- but she is blessed with a vivid imagination.
Recorded at the Byron Writers Festival 2019
JANE CARO - Just Flesh and Blood
The tragic execution of Anne Boleyn retold here from her own perspective is the opening prelude to what is a three part series on the life of Elizabeth 1st, told from her own viewpoint. This is from the third book in the series.
Recorded at Somerset Storyfest 2019
Wai Chim - Freedom Swimmer
This is a true story of how Wai Chim's father literally swam to freedom from mainland China to Hong Kong. Yes, there were sharks! It was night and very cold and he was quite young, but he risked all for a free life
Recorded at Somerset Storyfest 2019
.Claire Christian – Beautiful Mess
Ava’s best friend committed suicide- and no-one else wants to acknowledge this fact, leaving her in a world of pain and grieving. Coming back to school turns out to be not a good idea.
Recorded at Somerset Literature Festival 2018
RACHEL CRAW – Spark
Nothing is as intense as first friendships, unless it is first love, then first betrayal.
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FLEUR FERRIS – Black
The Author found this story was so scary to write the she only wrote in a library during daylight! Here the heroine comes upon the classic haunted house in the woods.
KATE FOSTER - The Bravest word
The Bravest Word is a book for kids covering depression, toxic masculinity, anxiety attacks and fear of failure. It follows the life of 11 year old Matt , who suddenly finds he's just not reacting to sport and school like he used to.
Recorded at Byron Writers Festival 2022
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EMILY GALE – The Other Side of Summer
Summer’s Dad announces he has found a way out of his family’s troubles- only it’s a long way away, Summer realises with horror he want them to move from England to Australia.
SCOT GARDNER- Off the Map - Thingless
This book is a collection of short stories centered around rethinking what we really need in life, what really matters. It is thought provoking an particularly relevant for young adults who are still wrestling with personal value systems.
Recorded at Storyfest 2022
SUZANNE GERVAY -Heroes of the Secret Underground
Suzanne Gervay OAM is also a lifetime Social Justice Literature Award winner. In this read we witness the start of the oppression of the Jewish people in one family . Suzanne’s family were Holocaust survivors who escaped to Australia after the war.
Heroes of the Secret Underground
The Edge of Limits
Recorded at Storyfest 2023
VIOLET GRACE -The Girl who Fell
This is the third instalment in the Chess Raven Chronicles and in this read the protagonist finds herself face to face with a fantasy - a flying unicorn!What if Fairies were real and looked just like us? And would they be there to help us or harm us? 'Violet Grace' is the pen name of two people, a husband and wife writing team , Kasey Edwards and Christopher Scanlon. Here Kasey ( Violet) introduces us to this fantastic concept.
Recorded at Somerset Story Fest 2019
ALISON GOODMAN –‘ Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club’
An eighteenth century heroine with superpowers – the author describes it as ‘Pride and Prejudice meets Buffy!”. Part of a hugely popular series, in this read the heroine is terrified a secret inscribed on her fan will be discovered.
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SOPHIE HARDCASTLE – Breathing under water
Sophie knows surfing and the ocean intimately and it shows in this beautiful read about the the thrills of night time surfing.
LIBBY HATHORN - Eventual Poppy Day
Eventual Poppy Day is a book for young adults which vividly brings to life the reality of fighting in the First world war through a series of letters by a soldier to his family.
JACK HEATH - The Cut Out
The Cut Out is a many - layered tale of a young man used against his will for his striking likeness to another , which forces him into a dangerous adventure. For ages 10 and up.
Recorded at the Sydney Writers Festival 2017
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Tracy M. Joyce - RADA
Tracy is one of those authors who loves to create complete world for her readers to enter. But these are not delicate fantasy worlds -this brief scene from the first chapter of ‘Rada’ introduces a number of the dangerous elements of the heroine's world.This book is from the series Tales of Altaica.
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JENNA'S TRUTH BY Nadia King
Photo of Nadia by Louise Allan
Being bullied shouldn’t be part of your school experience- yet sadly it is the ‘truth’ for many young people. So this is a timely novel about one girl’s struggle to resist a campaign of hatred and spite , and emerge unscathed and stronger. Nadia King was recorded by Steve Ingram courtesy of Bunbury 103.7FMWill Kostakis –‘ The Sidekicks’
Is it better to be true to yourself and your real nature, or would it be smarter to hide?
Ryan thinks of swimming as he debates with himself and tries to imagine how he can tell his family and friends he is gay.
Recorded at Somerset Literature Festival 2018
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SUZANNE LEAL - Running with Ivan
Leo's father has remarried two years after the death of his wife and Leo now lives in a blended household. It's okay, but he is not very happy until one day he discovers a music box that used to belong to his mother. Suddenly he finds new, exciting, and possibly dangerous worlds as the music box transports him back in time.
Recorded at BAD Crime Festival Sydney 2023
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JODI McALISTER - Valentine
Three teenagers all share a common birth date, t hey are linked in mysterious ways. But Pearl is more special than she realises. First book in a trilogy.
Recorded at Somerset Story Fest 2019
RWR(Rob) McDONALD - Nancy Business
The Nancy's are attending the funeral for their Father who died in a strange accident. Meanwhile the town of Riverstone is rocked by an explosion that kills three people. But is the accused bomber really guilty, and is there a second bomber? Traversing several cultures from Shanghai to New Zealand, this is the second in the series of three but the author assures me you can read them in any order!
Recorded at BAD Crime Writers Festival Sydney 2023
EBONY McKENNA- '1916ish'
With a heroine travelling back in forth in time to an alternate universe, this is a science fiction romance novel for young adults .
NIKKI McWATTERS - Liberty
Three young women, linked through a common genealogy, fight for justice and freedom across three different periods in history.
Recorded at Somerset Story Fest 2019
NIKKI Mc.WATTERS –Hexen Haus
A novel set in the time of the witch hunts of the middle ages. Here the youthful heroine realises she cannot survive the torture chamber!
OMAR BIN MUSA - Here Come the Dogs
Bushfire is a feared event in Australia and unfortunately all too common. Here is a gripping account of the devastation wrought by fire - delivered in Omar’s urgent style which heightens the drama of the prose.
Recorded at Sydney Writers Festival 2016
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Kate O’Donnell – ‘Untidy Towns’
Adelaide has stuck it out doing her best at boarding school for five years and then one day she chucks it all in and catches a train back to the small sleepy town she grew up in.
Recorded at Somerset Literature Festival 2018
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BRUCE PASCOE - Young Dark Emu
Young Dark emu is a simpler version 'Dark Emu' ,Bruce Pascoe's deeply researched account of the true history of indigenous Australia. Far from being simple hunter gatherers, moving constantly around the continent in search of food, Australia's early inhabitants grew crops, trapped fish, made permanent settlements and had a rich cultural life. Bruce Pascoe sees the future is in the hands of young Australians, to understand this legacy, and what we can all learn from it.
Recorded a the Byron Writers Festival 2019
OLIVER PHOMMAVANH –Con-Nerd
It’s hard enough being a nerd, but with a Chinese mother the pressure can be relentless. Then our hero meets his dream girl, a gorgeous Korean on her first day at school.
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Fin. J Ross - Billings Better Bookstore and Brasserie
If you love words and historical novels this is fun book as Fin. J Ross takes us into 18 century Melbourne and the fictional life of Fedelia Knight, a young, orphaned girl whose sole possession is a Samuel Taylor dictionary. It was a time of great wealth from gold and lots of fabulous entrepreneurs sprang up around the city and this story tells the tale of a fictional bookstore and how a young girl with a passionate love of words transformed her life and other around her. Suitable for all ages over 10!
Recorded by the author.
James Roy and Noel Zihabamwe – One Thousand Hills
This award winning novel was written by James Roy in collaboration with Noel Zihabamwe who was ten years old when the Rwandan massacre occurred in his village. Noel escaped and now lives in Australia . Roy’s protagonist, Pascal, lives in the town and attends mission school and his greatest life ambition is to ring the seminary bell. We know his life is about to change.
Recorded at Somerset Literature Festival 2018
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CRAIG SILVEY - Runt
Craig Silvey is a multi award winner for his past books Jasper Johns (2010) , and Honeybee. (2019) ‘Runt’, a beautiful story of a girl and a dog , was declared Book of the Year and Children’s book of the Year for 2023. In this read we are introduced to Annie Shearer of Upson Downs.
Recorded at Storyfest 2023
MARK SMITH – The Road to Winter
What happens if a mystery illness wipes out your family and your known world? If you are only fifteen, can you survive.? Mark Smith is also a youth worker who believes utterly in the resilience and resourcefulness of teenagers, so his hero finds a way to survive.
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Lisa Walker - 'Paris Syndrome' 'The Girl with the Gold Bikini'
When you grow up in Brisbane, what could be more glamorous and romantic seeming than Paris?
Imagine if you suddenly win a free trip to the city of your dreams - but will all those dreams come true?
Paris Syndrome
The Girl with the Gold Bikini
Who can rock a gold bikini? 19 year old aspiring P.I Olivia Grace knew it was a big stretch given her height and shape- but what the heck, a girl has gotta be professional if she wants to succeed undercover, right?Trouble is my Business
Lisa Walker's fearless girl detective Olivia Grace is on the trail again. Abandoning her law studies at Uni in the Gold Coast, she travels down the seaboard to solve the mystery of what happened to her friend and along the sunny way, meets lots of shady characters!TOMMY WALLACH - Thanks for the Trouble
Parker Sante hangs out in hotels to see what he can find – one day he found Zelda.
Recorded at Sydney Writers Festival 2016
PETER WARGENT - Wealth Ways for the Young
Managing your finances, keeping within a budget, saving for something special- these are all life skills that can start when we are young. If instilled early, good financial habits can lead to a lifetime free of a lot of money worries. Here Peter Wargent gives you 20 tips to start you off so you don't even need to read his whole book ! ( Though you should!)
Recorded at Somerset Story Fest 2019
Jessica Watson – ‘Indigo Blue’
Alex sees something or someone mysterious down by the lake, but when she looks at her photograph she’s not so sure.
Recorded at Somerset Literature Festival 2018
NOVA WEETMAN – Everything is changed
The author said even she found the complexities of this story hard to keep straight when she was writing it! Two teenage boys share a terrible secret, which we will know at the start, but we don’t know why or how it happened .
LILI WILKINSON - Deep is the Fen
Merry and her friends are looking forward to glorious summer holidays when a mystery separates them and they must cope on their own. A wonderful young adult adventure story.
Recorded at the Byron Writers Festival 2024
Gabrielle Williams – My Life as a Hashtag
It’s not often the Victorian railways textile fashions make it into a plot line! And it’s not a good idea to post everything online, sometimes a post can rebound on you!
Recorded at Somerset Literature Festival 2018
PIP WILLIAMS - The Dictionary of Lost Words
A beautifully written novel in which a young girl goes to work in the place where words are collected and filed. Based around the true story of how dictionaries were compiled, it is also a work of fantasy. Suitable for all ages.
Recorded at Storyfest 2022
MICHELLE WRIGHT - Small Acts of Defiance
A young woman watches her world dissolve as the Nazis invade Paris. She finds comfort in small acts of defiance against a mighty enemy.
Recorded at Storyfest 2022