Older Readers (1981-)
Subcategory of West Australian Young Readers' Book Award
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Notes

  • Only works by Australian authors or with Australian themes and settings are listed.

Latest Winners / Recipients

Year: 2024

Indexed selectively. Also shortlisted: international authors including Katie Alender, Jenny Ireland, Holly Jackson, Karen McManus, Rick Riordan, and Victoria Ying.
winner y separately published work icon One Song A. J. Betts , Sydney : Pan Macmillan Australia , 2023 26506979 2023 single work novel young adult

'Aspiring singer-songwriter Eva has one last chance to enter Triple J Unearthed High and break into the music industry.

'But after three failed attempts, she needs some help.

'Cue the band: perfectionist Eva, charismatic Cooper, easy-going Ant and moody Ruby. Plus fly-on-the-wall Mim, who's filming them for her school Media project.

'Five people who have nothing in common but music. One emotionally and creatively charged weekend.

'Can they record the most important song of their lives?' (Publication summary)

Year: 2023

Indexed selectively. Winner: international author Alice Oseman.

Year: 2021

winner y separately published work icon Four Dead Queens Astrid Scholte , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2019 15075135 2019 single work novel fantasy young adult

'Seventeen-year-old Keralie Corrington is one of Quadara's most skilled thieves, but when she steals an unexpectedly valuable package from a messenger she is soon entangled in a conspiracy that leads to all four of Quadara's queens being murdered. With no other choices and on the run from her former employer, Keralie teams up with Varin Bollt, the Eonist messenger she stole from, and together they race to discover who has killed the queens. But when dark secrets threaten their reluctant partnership and put everything at stake, Keralie and Varin must use all their daring to stay alive and untangle the mysteries behind the nation's four dead queens.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Year: 2018

winner y separately published work icon Within These Walls : My Holocaust Story Robyn Bavati , Lindfield : Scholastic Australia , 2016 9148194 2016 single work children's fiction children's historical fiction

'Whatever is coming, we'll face it together, as a family. As long as we're together, we'll be okay. For Miri and her family, life in Warsaw is full of simple joys. The smell of freshly baked challah, the pink flowers that bloom in their courtyard, the promise of summer holidays, and Fridays when everyone comes together to celebrate Shabbat. But the Nazis have a hold on Europe, and have stepped up their discrimination and attacks on Jews. How can Miri's family stay together, when the invading Nazis come to destroy them? Miri's world closes in on her, as she and her family are forced into the ghetto, where they must try to survive, against impossible odds.' (Publication summary)

Year: 2017

winner y separately published work icon The Smuggler's Curse Norman Jorgensen , Fremantle : Fremantle Press , 2016 9659246 2016 single work children's fiction children's

'Red Read’s life takes an alarming turn when his mother sells him to an infamous smuggler plying his trade off the north-west coast in the closing days of the 19th century. From terrifying encounters with cut-throat pirates to battling the forces of nature in a tropical typhoon, Red is in for the adventure of a lifetime.' (Publication summary)

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