Fiction Years 7-9
Subcategory of KROC Awards
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Latest Winners / Recipients

Year: 2024

winner y separately published work icon A Little Spark Barry Jonsberg , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2022 24503947 2022 single work children's fiction children's

'From the bestselling multi-award-winning author of My Life as an Alphabet and A Song Only I Can Hear comes another wonderful middle fiction novel that is warm, upbeat, intriguing and wholly absorbing.

'I don't tell Mum and Sam anything about my weekends with Dad. It would be giving them tickets into that world. The world Dad and I have created. And I don't want to do that. It's ours. It's all we have. It's all we've been allowed since my parents got divorced.

'Cate gets to spend every second weekend with her dad, and each time something special and surprising happens. Something that fires the creative spark that Cate channels into her writing.

'And everything is fine until Cate's stepdad, Sam, gets offered his dream job in London and her mum decides they are going to move to England with him?…'

'Cate must decide what she wants for herself. She loves both her parents - but she must choose between them.

'A warm and funny novel full of unexpected twists and turns, joy and heartbreak.' (Publication summary)

Year: 2023

winner y separately published work icon Dragon Skin Karen Foxlee , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2021 22584140 2021 single work children's fiction children's

'From the bestselling and multi-award-winning author of Lenny's Book of Everything comes a magical tale about a girl who saves a dragon and rescues her family.

How to save a dragon:
1) Assemble equipment. Water, Weet-Bix, sugar, syringe, sticky tape, scissors.
2) Believe in everything.

'Pip never wants to go home. She likes to sit at the waterhole at dusk and remember Mika, her best friend. At home her mother's not the same since her boyfriend moved in. They don't laugh anymore and Pip has to go to bed early, turn off her light and pretend she doesn't exist. When she finds a half-dead creature at the waterhole, everything changes. She knows she has to save this small dragon and return it to where it comes from. But how?

'A story about surviving and saving those you love, by the multi-award-winning author of Lenny's Book of Everything.

''I'm in love with this book. Dragon Skin is surprising, beautiful, unique. The characters are wonderfully drawn - tough but vulnerable, hurt but hopeful, damaged but strong. They've lodged themselves in my heart forever.' Katrina Nannestad, award-winning author of We Are Wolves' (Publication summary)

Year: 2022

winner y separately published work icon We Are Wolves Katrina Nannestad , Sydney : ABC Books , 2020 19829486 2020 single work children's fiction children's historical fiction

'Sometimes it's good to be wild.

'Sometimes you have to be wild.

'When the Russian Army marches into East Prussia at the end of the war, the Wolf family must flee. Liesl, Otto and their baby sister Mia find themselves lost and alone, in a blizzard, in the middle of a war zone. Liesl has promised Mama that she will keep her brother and sister safe.

'But sometimes, to survive, you have to do bad things. Dangerous things. Wild things.

'Sometimes to survive, you must become a wolf.' (Publication summary)

Year: 2021

winner y separately published work icon The Art of Taxidermy Sharon Kernot , Melbourne : Text Publishing , 2018 13940872 2018 single work novel young adult

'LOTTIE is fascinated with death. She collects birds, lizards and other small dead animals she finds, trying preserve them, to hold onto the life they once had. Her aunt tries to put a stop to this worrying obsession, but her father can see a scientist’s mind at work, and he introduces her to the art of taxidermy.

'For Lottie, the beauty and tenderness she finds in her preserved creatures provide a way for her to feel close to the mother she lost.

'The Art of Taxidermy is an exquisitely imagined verse novel about sadness and loss, and the way art and beauty can help us make sense of it all.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Year: 2020

winner y separately published work icon A Song Only I Can Hear Barry Jonsberg , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2018 13659130 2018 single work novel young adult

'Introducing Rob Fitzgerald: thirteen years old and determined to impress the new girl at school, but it's a difficult task for a super-shy kid who is prone to panic attacks that include vomit, and genuine terror that can last all day. An anonymous texter is sending Rob challenges and they might just help. Or not.

'Beautifully moving and full of heart and humour, A Song Only I Can Hear is a delightful novel about dreaming big, being brave and marching to the beat of your own drum.' (Source: Publisher's blurb)

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