Junior Review: Saving Shark Pup

This is the true story about a shark pup that had to leave its mother and gets stuck on a beach. 

But there are always people to help, and help they do. 

Little shark pup washed up on Manley Beach, Sydney, in September 2017. 

Junior Review: Forest of Hearts

Forest of Hearts is an amazing romance fantasy novel for young adults. It has you biting your nails through each twist and turn of the story. 

MA Kuznair doesn't fail to impress as her words whirl around your head and create images of the story as if you were there! 

I loved this retelling of the classic Snow White story and everything in it. I read this book from start to finish without stopping, and then read it all over again! 

This is a fantastic novel, and I recommend it to readers ages 13+.

Title: Forest of Hearts
Author: MA Kuznair 
Publisher: Simon and Schuster, $
Publication Date: 28 October 2025 
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781398551916
For ages: 13+
Type: Young Adult

Junior Review: Valerie: Australia's Bravest Sausage Dog

Valerie: Australia's Bravest Sausage Dog is based on the true story of a little sausage dog who runs away to go on an adventure. 

I wonder where she will go? How far will she go? And most importantly, will she get home? 

Read Valrie's story to find out!

Junior Review: Dropbear

Have you ever seen a drop bear before? If you haven’t, than you better look up as you pass under those old gum trees.

Beware the drop bear! It’s definitely up there!

This is a great book that is sending a message not to always believe in things just because people tell you about them. They may not be true! I like this book because it teaches you that not all rumours are true and there is no point in believing things that are not true.

I would recommend this book to kids aged 3 to 6 but also to adults as well.

Junior Review: Dogs with Jobs

You might think that all dogs do is make their owner happy and chase around balls, but turns out some dogs do other important things. Some dogs have jobs!

Like Ralf. Ralf is a helper at the hospital, and he helps children when they are feeling upset or homesick. 

There are also many other jobs that dogs do too, and Dogs with Jobs will tell you all about them.

Junior Review: My Wild Garden Zoo

My Wild Garden Zoo is a rhyming picture book that invites children to view a garden as a shared habitat rather than a controlled space. 

Through playful language and detailed watercolor illustrations, the book follows a day in which wild animals wander through a family garden, interacting with vegetables, berries, and flowers in humorous ways. 

The story concludes with an evening calm that reinforces themes of observation, coexistence, and respect for nature. 

Junior Review: Maisy Hayes Is Not For Sale

Maisy Hayes Is Not For Sale is a fiercely insightful coming-of-age novel by Allayne L Webster. It delves into the judgement teens face and the price tag labelled upon their worth.

Maisy Hayes feels like the background character of her life. Never the prettiest, the smartest, or the coolest in the room. Never with the newest phone, most expensive shoes, or designer bag. Her special treat only ever came in the form of a dollar slushie from the mall.

Maisy faces a situation no teen, let alone adult, wants to encounter. The Hayes family is deep in financial trouble, struggling to make ends meet. 

With Maisy’s absent father lurking in the back of her mind, she is determined to make a future for herself. She’s not sure what yet — though she is positive she wants anything but a life like her mum's.

She dreams of having enough money not to live paycheck to paycheck. To buy things without thinking of the cost. 

Junior Review: For No Mortal Creature

The novel For No Mortal Creature follows Jia Yi through her adventures in both the real world and the afterlife. Having lived her whole life believing she has no magic, she discovers her ability to travel between the living world and the multi-layered death realm after her own death when she learns her power of resurrection. 

The protagonist is forced to uncover the truth of her powers to save her beloved grandmother, driven into a quest involving ghostly realms, a legendary weapon and allies she trusts, yet remains cautious of, including a deceased childhood friend and a rival prince. 

Inspired by Chinese folklore and Western fantasy tropes, the novel blends gothic fantasy, romance and myth to build a legendary world.

Junior Review: When We Were Monsters

Jennifer Niven’s When We Were Monsters explores the dark depths of ambition and morality. 

The novel follows a group of students, selected to join an exclusive writing workshop. When secrets unravel and tensions rise, the students begin to realise nothing is as it seems.

Centred at The Moss, an isolated estate where the storytelling workshop takes place, the characters explore themes of power, manipulation and pressure. 

Meredith Graffam is an eccentric director, writer and actress and serves as the student’s mentor. Her character portrays the influence of power and highlights the imbalance she holds over the students. 

Effy Green is a central character in the novel, alongside Arlo Ellis-Noon, both ambitious participants throughout the workshop, who, along with the others, are manipulated by Graffam. 

Issac carries a legacy throughout the book, faced with the pressure to live up to his family expectations and Ness, an overlooked wallflower, struggles with belonging. Throughout the novel, the characters confront their past traumas and question what they believe is true.

Junior Review: Who Might You Be?

Who might you be today? Who might you be tomorrow?

Who Might You Be? Written and illustrated by Robert Henderson asks these questions. 

It makes me think I can be anyone I want to be. It makes me wonder what it would be like to be lots of different things and different personalities.

It’s about how you can be a different person tomorrow than the person you are today. 

You do not just have to be one person for your whole life. You can be different every day.

Junior Review: Shmoof

Shmoof is shmoofy. Shmoof is VERY shmoofy. Shmoof might even be the SHMOOFIEST dog there ever was.

The story of Shmoof is a follow up to the well-known book Floof. 

Shmoof is just about to meet Floof and is ready to be friends with Floof. Floof is ready to never be friends with Shmoof.

But then comes the … vacuum cleaner!

Junior Review: Loverboy

The compelling young adult novel Loverboy by esteemed author Ben Tomlinson captures the essence of teenage years, transporting the reader into the life (or should I say love life) of Alfie.

This novel centres Alfie who believes he has found ‘the one’. Meet Maya, his best friend and girl of his dreams. Alfie and Maya share a long, intimate history together. 

They spend both the highs and lows of their life together, their loves and losses, their pains and gains. They share everything, right? Or that’s what they both thought until they discover an underlying romance to their relationship that blurs the line between friends and lovers.

Alfie’s desperate search for love finds him falling for Gwen, one of the close members in their friendship circle and becomes confused when she doesn’t share the same feelings for him. It turns out Gwen was hiding a bigger secret of her own…

Junior Review: Blood Moon Bride

Demet Divaroren’s Blood Moon Bride is a deeply moving and empowering YA fantasy that explores themes of resistance, identity, and the fight against injustices. 

In a world where young women are forced into marriage, auctioned off to the highest bidder, the novel follows teen Rehya, a skilled hunter who is confronted with being sold at the upcoming Blood Moon Ceremony.

With the survival of her valley on the line, Rehya must decide: submit to a life of enslavement or rebel against the system trying to control her fate?

Divaroren’s narrative draws on issues like child marriage, tyranny and gender inequality. The story’s raw portrayal of Rehya’s internal and external battles is resonant, engrossing readers in a world where courage and resilience are the weapons against a discriminative society. 

Junior Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Victor Hugo, unfortunately not related to our protagonist, once said, 'Life is the flower for which love is the honey.' 

Author Taylor Jenkin Reid brings this quote to life in her historical drama, romance novel, which focuses on the glamorous life of former Hollywood hot-shot Evelyn Hugo. 

Through her writing, Reid demonstrates that true love is unsuspecting, taking the reader on a wild rollercoaster ride of Evelyn Hugo’s life from the 1950s to 1980s.

The novel starts off by introducing us to Evelyn Herrera, a young Cuban girl who grew up in Hell’s Kitchen, New York, with no money & just a simple dream to become an actress on the Hollywood stage. 

She left home by marrying neighborhood boy, Ernie Diaz, to chase her sunset dreams but quickly learned that Hollywood doesn’t have any leading roles for brunette Latinas. 

Junior Review: Thirteen Reasons Why

Jay Asher’s 13 Reasons Why is one of those books that stays with you. It’s emotional, haunting, and painfully honest. 

The story dives into the life and death of Hannah Baker, a high school student who takes her own life. But before she does, she leaves behind a series of cassette tapes. Each one is meant for someone who, in her eyes, played a role in her decision.

This innovative narrative draws readers into her mind, allowing us to hear her voice directly and feel the weight of her experiences. It’s raw, personal, and often uncomfortable , but that’s what makes it so effective.

The story begins when Clay Jensen, one of Hannah’s classmates and someone who once quietly admired her, receives the tapes. 

Junior Review: The Grandest Game

Jennifer Lynn Barnes has really hit it off with this one! The return of favourite characters and new additions are back in a brand new spin-off series of the Inheritance Games.

This new young adult novel is exploding with dramatic tension and mystery. Secretive characters, challenging rivals, impossible puzzles and many dark secrets are combined to create an addictive novel, The Grandest Game.

In an annual game run by Avery Grambs and the four Hawthorne brothers, seven tickets are on offer for the chance of a lifetime. 

On an island of dreams, romance is simmering between characters and lives are at stake in this deadly game. Daunting choices are made, creating plot twists until the very last page.

Junior Review: Love Requires Chocolate

Ravynn K Stringfield cleverly weaves French touches throughout the novel, giving the reader a deeper insight into life as a student abroad in Paris.

Core character, Whitney Curry has thoroughly prepared herself for a semester abroad, arming herself with the perfect, yet extensive to-do list in order to experience the Paris magic at its best. 

Wanting to live the life of her idol, Josephine Baker, Whitney aims to set foot in all the places she did. Although she feels prepared for this trip, unexpected locations (and people) may leave her ideal trip up to chance.

Determined to keep her love and school life separate, the line between the two gets blurred and both her head and heart are overwhelmed.

Junior Review: Secret Factopia!

Factopia! is back again, and this one is all about secrets! This book is filled with lots of interesting secret facts. The ones you wouldn’t get in most non-fiction books.

Facts like…

During the Air Guitar world championships in Finland, contestants rock out on instruments that don’t actually exist.

And...

Some companies make underwear with secret pockets that can be used to hide things.

And...

Since the 1950s’ government map makers in Switzerland have hidden tiny drawings in official maps.

Junior Review: The End Crowns All

Love caused this war. At least, that’s what the stories will say…

Bea Fitzgerald’s new novel The End Crowns All is filled to the brim with characters that truly leap off the page in a unique and captivating world, delivered in an innovative perspective of Greek Mythology. 

This touching story features Cassandra, a princess of Troy gifted with the power of prophecy, and Helen, a Spartan princess-warrior who fled her country in the pursuit of love.

When the god Apollo offers Cassandra the gift of prophecy, she seizes the opportunity, along with the power it holds. However, unable to uphold her end of the deal, she is cursed by the god and realises just how far she can fall when no one believes her prophecies. 

Meanwhile, Helen fled Sparta searching for love and a life where she could be valued for more than being a prized possession, although she soon realizes she is exactly that, a prize from Aphrodite to Paris; a prince of Troy. 

Junior Review: White Noise

The beautifully written debut novel, White Noise by author Raelke Grimmer explores themes of autism, mental health, romance, grief, friendship and identity.

Facing the world through the lens of autism, 15-year-old Emma navigates her way through the struggles of grieving by regular runs with her dad around East Point Reserve, the only thing gifting her reprieve. 

When her life does not go as planned, the grief of her mother’s death eventually overcomes her in a tidal wave that is hard to endure.

Emma’s best friend Summer has always strived to be the best at sport, aiming to be honoured with a place in the Sports Institute Program. 

The trial day finally comes, everything Summer has been dreaming of for years, only to find out her best friend Emma has been privileged with the special place on the team, not her! This is not how things were supposed to turn out, yet the repercussions of this decision can make, or break even the strongest of friendships.