The Boy From the Mish
by Gary Lonesborough (Allen & Unwin, 2021)
audiobook read by Meyne Wyatt (Bolinda, 2021)
Lonesborough writes with an engaging voice (especially as narrated in Wyatt’s audiobook reading), presenting small-town Aboriginal culture and family life within the relatable context of YA fiction. While Jackson’s story is told honestly and openly, Lonesborough often cuts away after key experiences.
The Quiet and the Loud
by Helena Fox (Dial Books, 2023)
audiobook read by Kaiya Jones (Bolinda, 2023)
Friendship, trauma, romance, family. Fox ticks all the best YA boxes but in an unobtrusive way, explored by a protagonist with her own real and relatable personality (not merely an everyman observer of others). Jones’s audiobook reading brings home the Australian setting.
Looking for Alibrandi
by Melina Marchetta (Penguin, 1992); audiobook read by Marcella Russo (Bolinda, 2010)
YA exploration of identity and belonging, told from the perspective of a third-generation Italian Australian. The title is apt, as the destination Marchetta has her protagonist arrive at (eschewing more obvious plot lines/resolutions), is the simple need and resolve to keep searching.
An Author Bites the Dust
by Arthur W. Upfield (Doubleday & Co., 1948)
audiobook read by Peter Hosking (Bolinda, 2010)
Bony is particularly energetic this case, the Yarra Valley setting rendering his bushcraft less germane than a bonhomous interest in people and his knack for pursuing odd, imaginative lines of inquiry. Miss Pinkney and Mr Pickwick provide charming evidence of Upfield’s popularism.
Hamlet is Not OK
by R. A. Spratt (Penguin, 2023); audiobook read by R. A. Spratt (Penguin Random House Australia, 2023)
MG masquerading as YA. Though the speculative mechanism alters without explanation (beyond authorial convenience), the mental health aspect is worth its weight, and the protagonist’s small-town backstory makes for a peculiarly Australian point of difference. Viva Hamlet’s sojourn in the real world!
D-E-D Dead!
by Geoffrey McGeachin (Penguin, 2005)
audiobook read by Peter Hosking (Bolinda, 2010)
Rather mis-marketed as a sexy thriller, whereas McGeachin devotes most of the runabout spy plot to taking leisurely snapshots of Australian and Balinese culture, which he does well. The characterisation mostly works, too, but the humour is jarring in its stylised flippancy.
That’d Be Right: A Fairly True History of Modern Australia
by William McInnes (Hachette Livre, 2008); audiobook read by William McInnes (Bolinda, 2008)
By contextualising his personal reminiscences within a potted, three decade–spanning observational history of Australian prime ministers—from Whitlam to Rudd, pitching each PM as emblematic of the national mentality—McInnes paints a gently contemplative picture of social change and maturing self-awareness.
Irreverent
created by Paddy Macrae (Netflix, 2022)
Very Australian, very quirky, if a little too untethered to be a true classic. The premise—duped of his money by a disillusioned priest, an on-the-run Chicago enforcer takes refuge posing as a minister in a remote Australian town—says it all.
Mr Inbetween, Season 1
by Scott Ryan; dir. Nash Edgerton (Fox, 2018)
Six-part crime drama/comedy done the Australian way. Scott Ryan has unique presence as a no-frills hitman balancing work and family life (although this latter aspect is neglected in the final act, which favours regulation black comedy and somewhat squanders the show’s potential).
The Waler: Australia’s Great War Horse
by Russell Vines & Barry Strickland; dir. Russell Vines (ABC, 2015)
documentary narrated / audiobook read by William McInnes (Bolinda, 2015)
A short, solemn documentary about the Australian Light Horsemen who served at Gallipoli (sans horses) and then in the Middle East during the First World War. The Waler horses suffered but endured, underpinning a victorious campaign… only to be shamefully cast aside.