CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNERS

Claire’s Zorn’s last book, The Protected, won the 2015 Prime Minister’s literary award, and with this new offering she cements her place in the Australian young-adult landscape. It’s a coming-of-age novel about what life throws at you if you’re 17 and your mum has just died, your dad is AWOL and your life is dictated by the Department of Children’s Services. It is about Sam, a recently bereaved boy who in 1997 is sent to live with his aunt’s family in a small coastal town. Suitable for ages 16 and up.

Darwin writer Johanna Bell, along with illustrator Dion Beasley, takes young readers to Canteen Creek, a community in the Northern Territory where cheeky animals – camels, buffaloes, horses, goats and donkeys – cause all sorts of mayhem. They are searching for water between wet seasons, while the community’s resident and very lazy dogs do nothing. Bell’s words are funny and clever, while Beasley’s illustrations are brimming with life. Clever, rollicking and rambunctious.