From the Library
It's Book Award Time
Your Library has many award winning young adult books just waiting for you to borrow and read. Check out these winners from this year's Victorian Premiers’ Literary and Indie Book Awards.
2021 Victorian Premiers' Literary Awards
The Victorian Premiers’ Literary Awards were inaugurated by the Victorian Government in 1985 to honour literary achievement by Australian writers.
Prize for Indigenous Writing
Tell Me Why for young adults by Archie Roach
In his inspirational, highly acclaimed memoir - and including reflections from First Nations Elders and young people -Archie Roach tells the story of his life and his music. Only two when he was forcibly removed from his family, and brought up by a series of foster parents until his early teens, Archie's world imploded when he received a letter that spoke of a life he had no memory of. It took him almost a lifetime to find out who he really was. Tell Me Why is an unforgettable story of resilience, strength of spirit and hope.
Winner of the Prize for Young Adult Writing
Metal Fish, Falling Snow by Cath Moore
Dylan and her adored French mother dream of one day sailing across the ocean to France. Paris, Dylan imagines, is a place where her black skin won't stand out, a place she might feel she belongs. But when she loses her mother in a freak accident, Dylan finds herself on a very different journey: a road trip across outback Australia in the care of her mother's grieving boyfriend, Pat. As they travel through remote towns further and further from the water Dylan longs for, she and Pat form an unlikely bond. One that will be broken when he leaves her with the family she has never known.
Highly Commended - Young Adult Writing
The Left-handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
Eighteen-year-old art student Susan Arkshaw arrives in London in search of her father. But before she can question crime boss Frank Thringley he's turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive Merlin. Merlin is one of the youngest members of a secret society of booksellers with magical powers who police the mythic Old World wherever it impinges on the New World. With time running out and the Society of Booksellers in grave danger, Susan and Merlin join forces to find out the truth about their parents and prevent the release of the hordes of the mythic past.
2021 Indie Book Awards
These Awards were established in 2008 with the aim of creating a unique award recognising and rewarding the best Australian writing as chosen by Australian independent booksellers.. WINNER - Children's Category The Grandest Bookshop in the World by Amelia Mellor (Affirm Press)Pearl and Vally Cole live in a bookshop. And not just any bookshop. In 1893, Cole’s Book Arcade in Melbourne is the grandest bookshop in the world, brimming with every curiosity imaginable. Each day brings fresh delights for the siblings: voice-changing sweets, talking parrots, a new story written just for them by their eccentric father.
When Pearl and Vally learn that Pa has risked the Arcade – and himself – in a shocking deal with the mysterious Obscurosmith, the siblings hatch a plan. Soon they are swept into a dangerous game with impossibly high stakes - defeat seven challenges by the stroke of midnight and both the Arcade and their father will be restored. But if they fail Pearl and Vally won’t just lose Pa – they’ll forget that he and the Arcade ever existed.
Write a short story of no more than 300 words for your chance to win a book voucher! Use one of the following prompts:
You’re a superhero with 3 super powers. What are they?
- You visit a magical library. What do you see?
- When you grow up you want to be a…
- You’ve been sucked into the pages of your favourite book! What do you do?
Age categories: 6-8, 9-11, 12-13, and 14-16. Entries close 10 June. Submit to your local branch of Eastern Regional Libraries or submit online.
Flyer details below:
Entertainment Book
Order your Membership online today: www.entbook.com.au/192e818
