August New Release Books
Another month, another stack of new books to choose from!
As always, of course, we understand sometimes the most you get to read when you’re a parent is the instructions on the back of a box of chicken nuggets (why is it so hard to remember what temperature to cook them at and for how long??). But when we do get those hallowed moments to sit down with a book, it better be a page turner.
That’s why in KIDDO Book Club we do all the hard work for you, by putting together our top picks of the new release books each month.
We also always include a few for the kids too, because grubby little fingers love brand new pages to turn too!
Adult Fiction
The German Midwife
Mandy Robotham
Germany, 1944. A prisoner in the camps, Anke Hoff is doing what she can to keep her pregnant campmates and their newborns alive. But when Anke’s work is noticed, she is chosen for a task more dangerous than she could ever have imagined. Eva Braun is pregnant with the Führer’s child, and Anke is assigned as her midwife. Before long, Anke is faced with an impossible choice. Does she serve the Reich she loathes and keep the baby alive? Or does she sacrifice an innocent child for the good of a broken world?
Release date: 05/08/20
RRP: $29.99
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Across the Water
Ingrid Alexandra
In a remote, boat-access-only house, Liz’s lifeline to the real world is her window, where she watches the people who live in the three identical houses that sit side by side across the creek. But it’s the middle house Liz finds herself drawn to most: the beautiful young mother, Dee Waters, and her baby.
When Dee and her baby go missing, last seen by the murky waters of Oyster Creek, it is a suspected murder-suicide. After all, it’s no secret that Dee never wanted children. She wasn’t coping with the baby. Everyone in the town believes she leapt to her death, taking her child with her. Everyone except Liz.
Release date: 05/08/20
RRP: $24.99
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The Comeback
Ella Burman
A deep dive into the psyche of a young actress raised in the spotlight under the influence of a charming, manipulative film director and the moment when she decides his time is up.
At the height of her career and on the eve of her first Golden Globe nomination, teen star Grace Turner disappeared.
Now, tentatively sober and surprisingly numb, Grace is back in Los Angeles after her year of self-imposed exile. She knows the new private life she wants isn’t going to be easy as she tries to be a better person and reconnect with the people she left behind.
But when Grace is asked to present a lifetime achievement award to director Able Yorke—the man who controlled her every move for eight years—she realises that she can’t run from the secret behind her spectacular crash and burn for much longer. And she’s the only one with nothing left to lose.
Alternating between past and present, The Comeback tackles power dynamics and the uncertainty of young adulthood, the types of secrets that become part of our sense of self, and the moments when we learn that though there are many ways to get hurt, we can still choose to fight back.
Release date: 11/08/20
RRP: $45.99
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Olive
Emma Gannon
Olive is many things. It’s OK that she’s still figuring it all out, navigating her world without a compass. But life comes with expectations, there are choices to be made, boxes to tick and – sometimes – stereotypes to fulfil. And when her best friends’ lives start to branch away towards marriage and motherhood, leaving the path they’ve always followed together, Olive starts to question her choices – because life according to Olive looks a little bit different.
Release date: 05/08/20
RRP: $29.99
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People Like Us
Louise Fein
‘I nearly drowned and Walter rescued me. That changes everything.’ A love story set in 1930s Germany. Hetty, daughter of an SS officer, falls in love with Walter, a Jew – but will the steady march of dark forces destroy their world, or can love ultimately triumph?
Release date: 18/05/20
RRP: $32.99
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The Jacaranda House
Deborah Challinor
Polly is living in Sydney’s notorious Kings Cross, working as an exotic dancer. She’s desperate to bring her young daughter, Gina, to live with her, but beneath her brash confidence lie dark secrets which threaten to
drag her under. Rhoda and Star, transgender performers and Polly’s flatmates, bring stability to Polly’s and Gina’s lives. Yet this unlikely little family will find themselves threatened in more ways than one.
Release date: 05/08/20
RRP: $32.99
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Adult Non-Fiction
Laywer X
Anthony Dowsley & Patrick Carlyon
Melbourne’s Gangland War was an era dominated by murders, stings, hits, drug busts, corruption and greed. It took the police a decade to curtail the violence and bring down criminal kingpins Carl Williams and Tony Mokbel, and their accomplices. When the police finally closed the case file, just how they really won the war, with the help of an unlikely police informer, would become a closely guarded secret, and its exposure the biggest legal scandal of our time.
Release date: 20/08/20
RRP: $34.99
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The Altar Boys
Suzanne Smith
Glen Walsh and Steven Alward were childhood friends in their tight-knit working-class community in Newcastle, NSW. Both altar boys at the local Catholic church, they went on to attend the city’s Catholic boys’ high schools. Steven became a journalist; Glen a priest. But when Glen discovered another priest was sexually abusing boys, he reported the offending to police, breaking canon law and his vows to the Catholic ‘brotherhood’ in the process. Just weeks before he was due to give evidence against the highest cleric to ever be charged with covering up child abuse, Father Glen Walsh was dead. Two months later, his friend Steven also died. Ensuing investigations revealed they were among at least 60 men in the region who had taken their own lives. The Altar Boys is a powerful expose of widespread and organised clerical abuse of children in one Australian city, and how the coverup in the Catholic Church extended from parish priests to every echelon of the organisation.
Release date: 20/08/20
RRP: $34.99
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Finding Freedom
Omid Scobie & Carolyn Durand
With unique access and written with the participation of those closest to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Finding Freedom is an honest, up-close, and disarming portrait of a confident, influential, and forward-thinking couple who are unafraid to break with tradition, determined to create a new path away from the spotlight, and dedicated to building a humanitarian legacy that will make a profound difference in the world. As members of the select group of reporters that cover the British Royal Family and their engagements, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand have witnessed the young couple’s lives as few outsiders can.
Release date: 12/08/20
RRP: $34.99
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Children and Young Adult
Pea and Nut: Go for Gold
Matt Stanton
Meet Pea and Nut: best friends and also … best rivals! When a chilled-out panda and a hyperactive flamingo go head to head, there can be only one winner. Pea the panda relaxes by the pool. Nut the flamingo doesn’t do relaxing. It’s time for a race, and this time Nut is going for gold!
The second book in the hilarious bestselling series featuring two adorable oddballs by bestselling author Matt Stanton.
Release date: 05/08/20
RRP: $17.99
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Loveless
Alice Oseman
The fourth novel from the phenomenally talented Alice Oseman – one of the most authentic and talked-about voices in contemporary YA.
This wise, warm and witty story of identity and self-acceptance sees Alice Oseman on towering form as Georgia
and her friends discover that true love isn’t limited to romance.
Release date: 05/08/20
RRP: $17.99
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Marshmallow Pie The Cat Superstar
Clara Vulliamy
A hilarious new series from Clara Vulliamy, the author-illustrator of Dotty Detective, about grumpy cat Marshmallow Pie and his reluctant pursuit of stardom. Perfect for fans of Toto the Ninja Cat or The Secret Life
of Pets.
Marshmallow Marmaduke VanillaBean Sugar-Pie Fluffington-FitzNoodle is a big, fluffy (and grumpy) cat. He LOVES the easy life. His new owner, Amelia Lime, has grand plans to turn Pie into a STAR… But Pie thinks he’s a star already, to be honest!
Release date: 05/08/20
RRP: $9.99
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Bluey: My Dad is Awesome
Bluey and Bingo
Based on the hit ABC KIDS TV show!
Everyone loves Bandit, especially Bluey and Bingo! Find out what makes this true blue dad so special in this hilarious and heartwarming book. A gorgeous hardback book that will make the perfect Father’s Day gift.
Bluey has been a phenomenal success since airing on ABC KIDS in October 2018, amassing legions of dedicated fans and hugely popular ranges of books, toys, clothes, games and more. It holds the coveted position of being the most watched program ever on ABC iView, with over 260 million plays for Series One, and is the winner of an International Emmy for Most Outstanding Children’s Programme.
Release date: 04/08/20
RRP: $16.99
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