Children's Book of the Year - Winner

One Would Think The Deep by Claire Zorn

It’s 1997 and seventeen-year-old Sam is mourning the sudden loss of his mum …

Sam has always had things going on in his head that no one else understands, even his mum. And now she’s dead, it’s worse than ever. 

With nothing but his skateboard and a few belongings in a garbage bag, Sam goes to live with the strangers his mum cut ties with seven years ago: Aunty Lorraine and his cousins Shane and Minty. 

Despite the suspicion and hostility emanating from their fibro shack, Sam reverts to his childhood habit of following Minty around and is soon surfing with Minty to cut through the static fuzz in his head. But as the days slowly meld into one another, and ghosts from the past reappear, Sam has to make the ultimate decision … will he sink or will he swim. 

[Blurb from insideadog.com.au]

Mrs Kelleher rates this read:

This book is also on the Short List for the Inky Awards!

Book Review: As Read as Blood by Salla Simukka

Seventeen-year-old Lumikki Andersson keeps to herself. Living on her own, she just wants to finish high school.Until the day she finds find thousands of dollars worth of bank notes washed of blood hanging to dry in the school's darkroom...

Suddenly caught up in a world corruption and danger and the international drugs trade, Lumikki finds herself on the run from the infamous 'Polar Bear'.

Set in Finland, in winter where nighttime lasts over 18 hours, leaving less than 6 hours of light each day. With temperatures are often around -25 degrees C, meaning that getting caught in the cold is just as deadly as not escaping the killers.


The first part of a thrilling new Nordic crime series, AS RED AS BLOOD will have you on the edge of your seat until the last page is turned... and then some.