Sports on the Page

Some people like to play sport, while others prefer to watch. Whether you’re a player or a spectator, don’t miss the books listed below. You’ll find fiction with a focus on sport, as well as biographies and autobiographies of world-famous sportspeople.

The Dogs – Bill Condon

Mick Doohan: Thunder from Down Under – Mat Oxley

Alex – Tessa Duder

Making the Most of It – Lisa Forrest

Deadly Unna? – Phillip Gwynne

Hawk: Occupation Skateboarder – Tony Hawk with Sean Mortimer

Last Wave – Paul Hayden

Lee 2: Lee to the Power of Two – James Knight with Shane and Brett Lee

Lionheart – Jesse Martin

Touch Me – James Moloney

Compiled by the Australian Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria Fabulous Fantasy

‘Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It’s a way of understanding it.’ (Lloyd Alexander, author of The Prydain Chronicles)

You loved Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, but what next? Let the books listed below transport you to other worlds. And don’t forget classics by authors such as Susan Cooper and Alan Garner.

Obernewtyn (The Obernewtyn Chronicles) – Isobelle Carmody

The Seeing Stone (The Arthur Series) – Kevin Crossley-Holland

The Kin – Peter Dickinson

Ferren and the Angel and Ferren and the White Doctor – Richard Harland

A Wizard of Earthsea (The Earthsea Quartet) – Ursula Le Guin

The Changeover and The Haunting – Margaret Mahy

The Wind Singer (The Wind on Fire Trilogy) – William Nicholson

Sabriel and Lirael – Garth Nix

The House of Many Rooms (Doorways Trilogy) – Michael Pryor

Northern Lights (His Dark Materials Trilogy) – Philip Pullman

Compiled by the Australian Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria Imagining the Past

Reading about the past can inform and inspire us, and help us to understand today’s world. As well as the great books listed below, look for the books in the My Story series, published by Scholastic.

Songman – Allan Baillie

Voyage with Jason and Golden Prince – Ken Catran

Strange Objects – Gary Crew

Catherine, Called Birdy – Karen Cushman

Moondyne Kate – Garry Disher

Young Nick’s Head – Karen Hesse

Soldier Boy and Young Digger – Anthony Hill

Pagan’s Crusade (Pagan Quartet) – Catherine Jinks

Whistle Man – Brian Ridden

Poison Under Their Lips – Mark Svendsen

The House That Was Eureka – Nadia Wheatley

Compiled by the Australian Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria Real People

Readers often ask authors like John Marsden, Margaret Clark and Judy Blume, ‘How do you know how I feel?’ Do you like reading about real people? Try these books by Australian writers who can imagine how it feels to stand in someone else’s shoes.

A Dangerous Girl and The Year it all Happened – Catherine Bateson

Night Train – Judith Clarke

Borrowed Light – Anna Fienberg

A Simple Gift – Steven Herrick

Mahalia – Joanne Horniman

The Best Thing – Margo Lanagan

Chain of Hearts – Maureen McCarthy

A Bridge to Wiseman’s Cove – James Moloney

Hot Hits – Bernie Monagle

Grinders – Chris Wheat

Compiled by the Australian Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria SF – Future Worlds

Millions of people have seen the Star Wars films. 2001: A Space Odyssey, another cult movie, was based on a groundbreaking book by Arthur C Clarke, a writer who helped to make SF respectable as well as hugely popular. Try these SF classics as well as some more recent titles.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (Omnibus) – Douglas Adams

Horsehead Boy (Horsehead Trilogy) – Rory Barnes

A Cage of Butterflies – Brian Caswell

Tales from the Wasteland – Paul Collins (ed.)

Eva – Peter Dickinson

Singing the Dogstar Blues – Alison Goodman

Have Spacesuit – Will Travel – Robert A. Heinlein

White Time – Margo Lanagan

The Sterkarm Handshake – Susan Price

Blackout – Michael Pryor

Galax-Arena and Terra Farma – Gillian Rubinstein

Compiled by the Australian Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria Crime – Action – Adventure

Anyone who enjoyed John Marsden’s thrilling Tomorrow series will love the page-turners listed below. If you’re after a quick read, try any of the books in the Crime Wave series, published by Lothian.

Crystal Coffin – Anita Bell

Homebird – Terence Blacker

Tin Soldiers – Ian Bone

Talking to Blue and Blue Murder – Ken Catran

After the First Death – Robert Cormier

The Wanderer – Sharon Creech

Hunters and Warriors – Justin D’Ath

Thunderfish and Under No Flag – Simon Higgins

Monster – Walter Dean Myers

White Fox – Gary Paulsen

Area 7 – Matthew Reilly

Compiled by the Australian Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria