BLOOD

TONY BIRCH

St Lucia, QLD: University of Queensland Press 2011
255 Pages
ISBN: 9780702239274 (pbk.)
AIATSIS call number: B B617.38/B1

A “can’t-put-down” story of brother and sister surviving in an adult world and their courage in adversity.  Jesse and his little sister, Rachel, are always on the move with their Mum, Gwen, as she escapes from one desperate situation to the next.  Jesse has sworn in blood that he will protect his sister, but is he able to do so against Gwen’s latest boyfriend, the thief Ray Crowe?

Shortlisted for the 2012 Miles Franklin Literary Award
Shortlisted for the 2012 Melbourne Prize for Literature

Review / buy online
https://booki.sh/titles/9780702246654

MAZIN GRACE

DYLAN COLEMAN

St Lucia, Qld. : University of Queensland Press, ©2012.
248 pages
ISBN: 9780702249341 (pbk.) : $22.95
AIATSIS call number: B C692.17/M1

Includes glossary of Kokatha words
Dylan Coleman’s first novel is the story of a clever young girl, growing up on the Mission, wondering who her father is and being taunted by her classmates for not knowing. It is an emotional story: a fictionalised account of her mother’s life at the Mission at Koonibba near Ceduna, South Australia. It incorporates the Kokatha language into the text.

Winner of the David Unaipon Award for Indigenous Writing 2011

Review / buy online / ebook at http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/whatsnew.aspx?ID=13

PURPLE THREADS

JEANINE LEANE

St Lucia, Qld. : University of Queensland Press, 2011
157 pages                    
ISBN: 9780702238956 (pbk.)
AIATSIS call number: B L437.52/P1

“Funny, endearing and thought provoking”
Story of Sunny and her sister Star growing up on a farm near Gundagai with their Nan and Aunties and occasional visits from Mum.
Nan and the Aunties are strong women who love and laugh with the girls, educate and protect them.

Winner of 2010 David Unaipon Award for Indigenous Writing
Shortlisted for 2012 Commonwealth Book Prize
Shortlisted for 2012 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing

Review / buy online / ebook at https://booki.sh/titles/9780702246654

THAT DEAD MAN DANCE

KIM SCOTT

Sydney : Picador, 2010.
400 pages
ISBN: 9781405040440 (pbk.)
ISBN: 9781405040433 (hbk.)
AIATSIS call number: B S427.50/T2

Two times Miles Franklin Award winner, Noongar author Kim Scott imagines a different trajectory for the contact history in south west Western Australia.  The story is told through the eyes of a young Noongar man, Bobby Wabalanginy.

Winner of the 2011  Miles Franklin Award
Winner of the 2011 ‘Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Fiction’ and the West Australian and Victorian ‘Premier’s literary award’ for best work of literature/fiction
Winner of the 2012 NSW Premier’s Literature and History Awards, Christina Stead Prize and Best Book of the Year

Review / buy online / ebook at
http://www.panmacmillan.com.au/display_title.asp?ISBN=9781405040440&Author=Scott,%20Kim

CARPENTARIA

ALEXIS WRIGHT

Artarmon, N.S.W. : Giramondo, c2006.
519 pages.
ISBN: 1920882170 (pbk.)
AIATSIS call number: B W947.16/C1

Fictional realism set in the North Queensland coastal town of Desperence. Award winning Waanyi author Alexis Wright gives an epic account of the history of Carpentaria from an Aboriginal perspective. The novel spans generations of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal relations, with a vast array of characters ranging from mystical to activist.

Winner of 2007 Miles Franklin Literary Award

Review / buy online / ebook / audio cd at
http://www.gleebooks.com.au or http://www.giramondopublishing.com/carpentaria

NOT MEETING MR RIGHT

ANITA HEISS

Milsons Point, N.S.W. : Transworld Australia, 2007
342 pages
ISBN: 9781863255110 (pbk)
ISBN: 1863255117 (pbk)
AIATSIS call number: B H473.10/N1

National Year of Reading 2012 Ambassador, Dr Anita Heiss, is a passionate advocate for reading. She writes poetry, fiction, historical fiction and social commentary. Not Meeting Mt Right is a story in the chick lit genre about Alice Aigner’s search for the perfect man – with the help of her friends and her ten point plan.

Winner of 2007 Miles Franklin Literary Award

Review / buy online / ebook at
http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/anita-heiss/not-meeting-mr-right-9781863255110.aspx


Click here to find out more about Dr Anita Heiss >>

MANHATTAN DREAMING

ANITA HEISS

North Sydney, N.S.W. Bantam, 2010.
304 pages
ISBN: 9781741668926 (pbk.)
AIATSIS call number: B H473.10/M2

Story about Lauren, a curator at the National Aboriginal Gallery in Canberra, who is offered a fellowship at the Smithsonian in New York – the chance of a lifetime. Lauren takes up the offer and the story centres around her experiences in the Big Apple and the boyfriend she left behind – or did she?

Winner of the 2010 Deadly Award for Achievement in Literature

Review / buy online / ebook at
http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/anita-heiss/manhattan-dreaming-9781864711288.aspx

SWALLOW THE AIR

TARA JUNE WINCH

St Lucia, Qld. : University of Queensland Press, 2006
201 pages
ISBN: 0702235210
AIATSIS call number: B W758.79/S1

On the death of their mother, May and her brother Billy are not sure of their place in the world. May sets out to find out about her identity. A collection of short stories set in Wiradjuri country. Retells some Wiradjuri creation stories. This debut work of Tara June Winch received wide acclaim.

Winner of the 2010 Deadly Award for Achievement in Literature

Review / buy online / ebook at
http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au

Audio Book at
http://www.fishpond.com.au/product_info.php?ref=2614&id=9780732032555&affiliate_banner_id=1

BUTTERFLY SONG

TERRI JANKE

Camberwell, Vic : Penguin Books, 2005 
291 pages
ISBN: 0143002627
ISBN: 9780143002628
AIATSIS call number B J330.75/B1

Guided by her family history, Terri Janke’s Butterfly Song is a story of a young lawyer taking on her first case to stop the auction of a family heirloom. Set in Sydney, Cairns and Thursday Island the novel evokes rich descriptions of place, culture and race relations in the 1940s and the 1990s.

Available at AIATSIS Library and a Library near you

BITIN' BACK

VIVIENNE CLEVEN

St Lucia, Qld. : University of Queensland Press, 2001
194 pages
ISBN: 0702232491
AIATSIS call number: B C635.35/B1

What should a mother do when her son wakes up one day and insists on wearing her dress and makeup and being called Jean Rhys? The richly drawn characters in this novel address issues of homophobia, racism and stereotyping in regional Australia in a good humoured way.

Winner of the 2000 David Unaipon Award

Review / buy online / ebook at
http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/Book.aspx/583/Bitin

HER SISTER'S EYE

VIVIENNE CLEVEN

St Lucia, Qld. : University of Queensland Press, 2002
233 pages
ISBN: 0702232831
AIATSIS call number: B C635.35/H1

Novel about a small country town and its Aboriginal inhabitants. Supported by strong characters, the novel addresses issues of friendship, love and sibling responsibility.

Winner of 2006 Kate Challis RAKA Award for Bitin’ Back (University of Queensland Press, 2001) and Her Sister’s Eye (University of Queensland Press, 2002).

Review / buy online at
http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/Book.aspx/605/Her%20Sister

HOME

LARISSA BEHRENDT

St Lucia, Qld. : University of Queensland Press, 2004
319 pages
ISBN: 0702234079
AIATSIS call number: B B421.45/H1

“Nothing matters more than family"
Candice returns to her country with her father to find out more about her family. She is faced with racism and prejudice in the search for information about her family.  The story of her grandmother, Garibooli, and her brother at contact provide the background to Candice’s life today.

Winner of the David Unaipon Award for Indigenous writers 2004

Review / buy online / ebook at
http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/whatsnew.aspx?ID=13

EVERY SECRET THING

MARIE MUNKARA

St Lucia, Qld : University of Queensland Press, 2009
181 pages
ISBN: 9780702237195 (pbk.)
AIATSIS call number: B M966.67/E1

“Playful  and sharp”
Rembarrnga author, Marie Munkara, has written a humourous fictional account of life on a remote Catholic mission in far North Australia and the relationships between missionaries and Aboriginal people. 

Winner of the 2008 David Unaipon Award for Indigenous writers

Review / buy online / ebook at
http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/whatsnew.aspx?ID=13

SWEET WATER... STOLEN LAND

PHILLIP MCLAREN

Broome, W.A. : Magabala Books, 2001.
215 pages
ISBN: 1875641777
AIATSIS call no. B M161.78/S4

Historical novel based on Myall Creek massacre and the work of Lutheran missionaries near Coonabarabran.  The story addresses the violence and the paradoxes of contact history and the intertwined lives of Indigenous and non-Indigenous families.

Winner of the 1992 David Unaipon Award

Review / buy online at
http://www.magabala.com/catalog_new/product_info.php?products_id=76

THE BOUNDARY

NICOLE WATSON

St Lucia, Qld. : University of Queensland Press, 2011
271 pages
ISBN: 9780702238499 (pbk.)
AIATSIS call number: B W341.37/B1

A native title claim over Meston Park in Brisbane's West End by the Corrowa people is lodged  following a multi-million dollar development project. The claim fails and the judge who rejects the claim is murdered. Inevitably the native title claimants are suspected.  The murder investigation forces Detective Jason Matthews to confront his Aboriginal heritage, and Aboriginal lawyer Miranda Eversely battles a sense of personal failure at the Corrowa people’s defeat.

Winner of the David Unaipon Award 2009
Shortlisted for 2012 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing

Review / buy online / ebook at
http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/book.aspx/1133/The%20Boundary

BLOKE

BRUCE PASCOE

Camberwell, Vic. : Viking, 2009
272 pages
ISBN: 9780670073672 (pbk.)
AIATSIS call number: B P281.14/B1

“Pascoe is one of our finest writers”
Part crime novel but so much more.  Jim Bloke, wants to turn his life around after a stint in prison but, working as a diver for sea urchins, gets caught up in a scam in the fishing industry. On the run again, Jim begins to discover who he loves and who he is.

Review / ebook at
http://www.coop-bookshop.com.au/bookshop/show/9781742286518

SCREAM BLACK MURDER

PHILLIP MCLAREN

Broome, W.A. : Magabala Books, 2001
181 pages
ISBN: 1875641785
AIATSIS call number: B M161.78/S5
Previously published : Pymble, N.S.W. : HarperCollins, 1995.

Koori detectives, Gary and Lisa, from the Aboriginal Homicide Unit investigate the murder of a young
Aboriginal girl and her boyfriend. The pressure to solve the murders intensifies when there are more murders, including a non-Aboriginal girl. Set in Redfern, Sydney, this story is told from varying points of view: the two detectives, and the serial killer.

Review / buy online at
http://www.fishpond.com.au/product_info.php?ref=1216&id=9781875641789&affiliate_banner_id=1

MARK OLIVE'S OUTBACK CAFE : A Taste of Australia

MARK OLIVE

Mosman, N.S.W. : R.M. Williams Classic Publications, [2006].
123 pages
ISBN: 0977558525 (pbk.)
AIATSIS call number: B O482.15/M1

Bush flavours meet Western cuisine
Bundjalung chef, Mark Olive, gives us his recipes for Kutjera (desert raisins) pasta, Baked wattleseed cheesecake, Seared kangaroo fillet with Illawarra plum sauce, and more. Based on the lifestyle channel program Outback Café, Mark’s book also describes the Outback Pride Project and sources the various ingredients used.

Review/buy online athttp://www.bushtuckershop.com/prod69.htm

ART + SOUL

HETTI PERKINS

Photograpy by Warwick Thornton

Carlton, Vic. : Miegunyah Press, 2010
286 pages
ISBN: 9780522857634 (hbk)
ISBN: 0522857639 (hbk)
AIATSIS call number: RB P448.90/A1

This book is the companion to the major ABC television series. Curator Hetti Perkins introduces us to many wonderful artists from around the country and their rich and varied works.

Review/buy online at https://estore.mup.com.au/items/9780522857634

ISABEL FLICK: The Many Lives of an Extraordinary Aboriginal Woman

ISABEL FLICK & HEATHER GOODALL

Crows Nest, N.S.W. : Allen & Unwin, 2004.
270 pages
ISBN: 1741141230
AIATSIS call number: B F621.37/I1

Isabel Flick teams up with historian Heather Goodall to tell her story of life from the old camp at Collarenebri and Toomelah Mission to her work in her community where she is recognised by both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people alike.

Winner 2005 Magarey Medal for Biography

Review/buy online at http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=94&book=9781741141238

LIFE B'LONG ALI DRUMMOND: A life in the Torres Strait

SAMANTHA FAULKNER & ALI DRUMMOND

Canberra, A.C.T. : Aboriginal Studies Press, 2007
90 pages
ISBN: 9780855755560 (pbk.)
AIATSIS call number: B F263.67/L1

Ali Drummond’s life from the age of fourteen when he went to sea working in the pearling industry
as both a diver and a skipper is lovingly told by his granddaughter, Samantha Faulkner.  During the war Ali’s family was evacuated from Thursday Island to Cairns where he later joined them. The family moved to Mossman where Ali took up work cane cutting.

Review order at
http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/asp/buyabook.html

PRIDE AGAINST PREJUDICE

IDA WEST

Edition: Revised edition
North Hobart : Montpelier Press, 2004.
125 pages
ISBN: 0855751800
AIATSIS call number: B W516.55/P2
General Note: Previously published: Canberra : Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, 1984.

“We have had Europeans writing about us for years”

Tasmanian Aboriginal Elder Ida West jotted down her memories, thoughts and ideas for many years until finally realising she had to bring it all together in a book. Aunty Ida’s book is rich with stories of families, friends and life on Flinders Island and mainland Tasmania.

Available at AIATSIS Library and a library near you

SHADOW LINES

STEPHEN KINNANE

Fremantle, W.A. : Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 2003
414 pages
ISBN: 1863682376
AIATSIS call number: B K553.45/S1

Academic, author and grandson, Steve Kinnane, tells the story of Miriwoong woman Jessie Argyle, born in the remote Kimberley and taken from her family at the age of five, and Edward Smith, an Englishman who had decided to seek his fortune in Australia. Details how, against strong and repeated opposition of the State, they eventually married and maintained their cultural life. 

Winner of the 2006 AIATSIS Stanner Award for Indigenous writing

Read about the re-release of this award winning book in 2013
http://www.fremantlepress.com.au/dreamgirl/filesend/7536/SHADOWLINES%20MR.pd

Available at AIATSIS Library and a Library near you

MY PLACE

SALLY MORGAN

Fremantle, W.A. : Fremantle Press, 2007
494 pages
ISBN: 9781921361227
AIATSIS call number: B M849.92/M3

One of the most popular stories told by an Indigenous author. Autobiography telling the author's process of discovering her Aboriginality. My Place also tells the autobiographical narratives of Sally’s maternal grandmother and grandmother's brother born on Corunna Downs Station.

Review / buy online / ebook at http://www.fremantlepress.com.au/books/906

MY PEOPLES DREAMING

MAX DULUMUNMUN HARRISON

featuring photographs and recordings by Peter McConchie

Warriewood, N.S.W. : Finch Publishing, c2009
160 pages
ISBN: 9781876451967 (hbk.)
AIATSIS number: B H319.68/M1

“The teachings I reveal in this book are the living treasures of my life”
Yuin Elder, Uncle Max Harrison, Dulumunmun, tells of his Yuin country Dreamings, Gulaga and Creation Dreaming, the three principles of learning, the truth of traditional knowledge and more.

Review / buy online at
http://www.boomerangbooks.com.au/My-Peoples-Dreaming/Max-Dulumunmun-Harrison/book_9781876451967.htm

COUNTRY OF THE HEART

DEBORAH BIRD ROSE

With Nancy Daivi, April Bright, Kathy Deveraux and Linda Ford, Photographs by Sharon D'Amico.

Canberra : Aboriginal Studies Press, 2011. 2nd ed.
161 pages
ISBN: 9780855757762 (pbk.)
ISBN: 0855757760 (pbk.)
AIATSIS call number: B R795.51/C3

“Country gives us our identity”
Mak Mak Traditional Owners collaborate with Deborah Bird Rose to tell the story of their country on the floodplains south west of Darwin, their clan, their culture, and their efforts to restore country.

Review / order online at http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/asp/aspbooks/Country.html

CLEARED OUT

SUE DAVENPORT, PETER JOHNSON & YUWALI

Canberra : Aboriginal Studies Press, 2005, 2008.
208 pages + 1 DVD (55 min) DVD of documentary is titled Contact
ISBN 9780855757106
AIATSIS call number: S 06.1/AIAS/7D
AIATSIS call number: B D247.53/C2 DVD
AIATSIS call number: B P371.45/J3

Yuwali’s oral stories form the basis of this account of the first contact between the last remaining group of Martu women in the Western Desert and non-Aboriginal Australians in 1964. Yuwali was 17 when the government was scouring the area to remove Aboriginal people before the testing of 'Blue Streak' rockets across the Western Desert and the extension of the Woomera rocket range.

Review / order online athttp://www.aiatsis.gov.au/asp/aspbooks/clearedout.html

JANDAMARRA & the Bunuba resistance by Howard Pederson

HOWARD PEDERSEN & BANJO WOORUNMURRA

Broome, W.A. : Magabala Books, 2011.
228 pages
ISBN: 9781921248320 (pbk.)
First edition published in 1995

The story of Jandamarra, a resistance hero, is told by Bunaba Elder, Banjo Wonnunmurra, with Howard Pederson. Jandamarra led a three year geurilla war  in Bunuba country in the Kimberley against the European invasion of his country

Review / buy online at http://www.booktopia.com.au/jandamarra-and-the-bunuba-resistance-howard-pedersen/prod9781921248320.html

GRACE BESIDE ME

SUE McPHERSON

Broome, W.A. : Magabala Books, 2012
219 pages
ISBN 9781921248498 (pbk.)
AIATSIS call number: B M172.78/G1

Fuzzy Mac is a teenager, living with her Nan and Pop in a small country town in New South Wales.
Nan and Pop guide her through the ups and downs of teenage life. “Grace beside you always” are Nan and Pop’s comforting words for Fuzzy when she needs to get through the tough times.

Winner State Library of Queensland Indigenous Writing Fellowship 2011

Review / buy online at http://www.magabala.com/catalog_new/product_info.php?products_id=140

TOO FLASH

MELISSA LUCASHENKO

Alice Springs, N. T.  : IAD Press, 2002
207 pages
ISBN: 1864650486
ISBN: 1864650486 :
Audience: For young adults.
AIATSIS call number: B L933.80/T1

Zo and her workaholic Mum are moving to Brisbane. Zo doesn’t want to go and leave her best friend behind. However she soon befriends Missy, though their lives are worlds apart.  Zo struggles with her weight and wants to be a rock star, while Missy is the star mid fielder in the school soccer team. Zo lives alone with her Mum, Missy has a large extended family. Can their friendship survive their differences?

Review / buy online at
http://iadpress.com/shop/too-flash/

WHO AM I?

ANITA HEISS

Gosford, N.S.W. : Scholastic Press, 2010.
199 pages
ISBN: 9781741697261 (pbk.)
Series: (My Australian story)
AIATSIS call number: B H473.10/W2

Fictional diary of a ten year old girl, taken from her family to Bomaderry Home. From the Home she was adopted by a white family. Tells of her experiences with her adopted family and at school. On 26 January 1938 Mary misses the Empire Day celebrations and goes to the Aboriginal Conference in Elizabeth Street instead.

Available at AIATSIS Library and a Library near you

MY GIRRAGUNDJI

MEME MCDONALD & BOORI PRYOR

St. Leonards, N.S.W. : Allen & Unwin, 1998
74 pages
ISBN: 1864488182
Audience: Children 8-12 years
AIATSIS call number: B M135.60/M1

"With my little frog, nothing can hurt me"
Story of a young boy growing up and facing his fears with a green tree frog (girragundji) as his friend and protector. Boori Pryor and Meme McDonald collaborated on this award winning book, the first in a trilogy, and is followed by The Binna Binna Man and Njunjul the Sun (2003 Book of the Year - Older Readers). My Girragundji  and Njunjul the Sun have both been adapted for the stage.

Review / buy online at
http://www.fishpond.com.au/Books/My-Girragundji-Meme-McDonald-Boori-Monty-Pryor/9781864488180


Click here to find out more about Boori Monty Pryor >>

TARABA: TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL STORIES

RETOLD BY ROSEMARY RANSOM

[Hobart, Tas.] : Dept. of Education Community and Cultural Development (Tasmania), 1997
54 pages
ISBN: 0724618139 (corrected)
ISBN: 0724643214
AIATSIS call number: B R212.67/T1

Beautifully illustrated collection of Tasmanian stories.  Taraba is the story of the Tasmanian devil, Tooritta – The wattle bird, Oonah – The platypus, Luina – the blue wren, Publedina – the wombat, and Koonya – the black swan. (Adapted from Touch the Morning, Tasmanian native Legends collected by Jackson Cotton, Hobart, Tas, : O.B.M., 1979)

Available at AIATSIS Library and a Library near you

PAPERBARK: A COLLECTION OF BLACK AUSTRALIAN WRITINGS

EDITED BY JACK DAVIS

St. Lucia, Qld : University of Queensland Press, 1990
369 pages
ISBN: 9780702221804
AIATSIS call number: B D262.22/P2

A classic collection edited by the great Jack Davis. This anthology includes fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and prints by Jimmy Pike and the accompanying stories. Some of the greats included here are, David Unaipon, Paddy Roe, Sally Morgan, Gloria Brennan, Jimmy Everett, Hyllus Maris, Ruby Langford Ginibi, Banjo Worrumarra, William Ferguson, Jimmy Chi, Herbie Laughton, Gerry Bostock, Rob Riley, Pat Dodson, Gary Foley and many more.

Review / buy online at
http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/Default.aspx

BLACK CHICKS TALKING

LEAH PURCELL

Sydney : Hodder Headline, 2002
360 pages
ISBN: 0733610706
AIATSIS call number: B P985.32/B1

Not a true anthology but a great collection of interviews! Nine under-40s Indigenous women discuss their lives, careers and interests with the author, Leah Purcell. A final chapter of conversation over dinner was filmed and is the basis of the DVD.  All interviews address issues in contemporary Australian Indigenous lives.

Review / buy online at http://www.shop.nsw.gov.au/agencypubdetail.jsp?agency=85&publicationId=8303&categoryid=19&subcategoryid=28 Also Available as a DVD at http://www.enhancetv.com.au/shop/product.php?productid=161481&cat=333&page=2

MAQUARIE PEN ANTHOLOGY OF ABORIGINAL LITERATURE

EDITED BY ANITA HEISS AND PETER MINTER, GENERAL EDITOR: NICHOLAS JOSE

Crows Nest, N.S.W. : Allen & Unwin, 2008
260 pages
ISBN: 9781741754384 (pbk.)
AIATSIS call number: B H473.10/M1

From early letters written in the eighteenth and nineteenth century – one by Bennelong - to the writings of civil rights activists of the 1930s, a speech and poetry from the great Oodgeroo, to today’s Indigenous writers, this anthology contains a wide selection of writings to dip into.

Review / buy online at http://www.macquariepenanthology.com.au/abor-home.html

http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=94&book=9781741754384