CELEBRATE TEEN FICTION: Indigo Owl publication day

Today we are celebrating the publication of new teen novel Indigo Owl, the long-awaited second book from Charlie Archbold. Charlie's debut Mallee Boys was awarded Honour Book in the Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards 2018. Indigo Owl is smart, thoughtful YA fiction for modern teens. Equal parts thrilling entertainment and thought-provoking social commentary, Indigo Owl discusses the 'what ifs' around the future of the human race.

#LoveOzYA STUDY GUIDE: Introducing Catch Tilly's teaching video series

Join Australian author (and former teacher) Catch Tilly as she explores themes and ideas, gives writing tips and offers text analysis of her hard-hitting young adult anti-bullying novel, Otherwise Known as Pig.

AUTHOR FEATURE: Catch Tilly's anti-bullying focus

Friday 20 March marked National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence (NDA). With everything else going on in the world at the moment, it passed by with a whisper rather than a bang. Yet, prior to the current pandemic situation, bullying was in the headlines and at the centre of debate. It was also the initial drive for author Catch Tilly when she first began writing her young adult fiction novel, Otherwise Known as Pig.

An Interview With: Poppy Nwosu

In this latest author interview series, work experience student Sian Beatton interviews Poppy Nwosu, author of Making Friends with Alice Dyson. Poppy's story came runner up for the 2018 Adelaide Festival Unpublished Manuscript Award, but here at Wakefield press we thought her story too good to go unnoticed. Poppy's book is a romantic story about rumours, friendship, and discovering who you really are. How do you keep a book interesting? This is a great question! For me, I…

Book Review: Making Friends with Alice Dyson

Our intern Jessica Hartman reviews debut author Poppy Nwosu's Making Friends With Alice Dyson, the first in Wakefield Press's dedicated Young Adult Fiction list led by Margot Lloyd. Whilst reading this text I have fallen in love with, become exasperated by, and completely related to Alice Dyson, the protagonist Poppy Nwosu has so artfully created. The text delves into issues of social anxiety, peer pressure and bullying, self-identity, the feeling of being trapped on a…

Interviews with Amazing Authors: Simon Butters

In early October, work experience student Guthrow interviewed author Simon Butters. Simon's book The Hounded was longlisted for the Children's Book Council of Australia's 2017 Book of the Year for Older Readers, and shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards 2017 Griffith University Young Adult Book Award. The Hounded is a book about depression and working out who you really are, from one of Australia's most prolific children's television writers. Guthrow: Why did you go from…

An extract from The Hounded by Simon Butters

Over two weeks we're sharing summaries of and extracts from some Wakefield Press gems, in blog posts put together by work experience student Maddy. (And yes, we briefly had two Maddys in the office! Never enough Maddys, we say.) In this extract from The Hounded, Monty finds himself alone with beautiful Eliza from next door, and in her bedroom no less … "You enjoyed it, didn't you? Watching her suffer like that?" "What if I did?"…