Karys McEwen is a school librarian, children’s author, bookseller, vice president of the Victorian branch of the Children’s Book Council of Australia, and education advisor for the Melbourne Writers Festival. She is passionate about the role libraries and books can play in the wellbeing of young people, and she is currently writing a Substack newsletter for educators and parents called I Read A Lot. Her debut middle grade novel, All the Little Tricky Things, was published by Text Publishing in 2022, and her second middle grade novel, The Paperbark Tree Committee, is coming out on 1 April, 2025.

Emily Gale has worked in the children’s book industry for 25 years in various roles including in-house editor, consultant to a literary agent, children’s book buyer, reviewer, freelance manuscript assessor, and as a writer-in-residence in a high school library. Some of her books for various ages from YA to early readers include I Am Out With Lanterns, The Other Side of Summer and Aussie Stem Stars: Gisela Kaplan. Her latest novels are Elsewhere Girls and Outlaw Girls, with Nova Weetman, and The Goodbye Year.

You can find Emily on Series 3 of Story Tools, creative writing videos to inspire and instruct children in the art of storytelling. And she has a Substack newsletter called Voracious.

This episode includes a discussion of summer reading recommendations including:
Some Shall Break by Ellie Marney
Eleanor Jones is Not a Murderer by Amy Doak
This Camp is Doomed by Anna Zobel
The Midwatch by Judith Rossell
The First Summer of Callie McGee by A L Tait
The Wedding Forecast by Nina Kenwood
Thunderhead by Sophie Beer
Sandwich by Catherine Newman
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller

Also discussed are:

• This year's Davitt Awards
• Girl books and boy books (and how outdated that concept is)
• Illustrated novels for olders readers
• The importance of adults reading what kids are reading

In the first YA Book Stack interview for 2023, Will Kostakis shares his inspiration for his new novel, We Could Be Something. The book is marketed as a ‘rollercoaster’ about two young men, each on their own journey of discovery. The novel is just that – a heartwarming, fun and funny read for high school students following the lives of two young people, two decades apart in Sydney's Darlinghurst. We Could Be Something sits on the cusp of students’ favourite genres – part coming-out story, part love story, part break-up story, and part family drama. Through the eyes of two characters, Harvey and Sotiris, the novel explores dreams, ambition, family and friendship, and how to manage the weight of possibilities when characters are standing on the edge of the rest of their lives. In this YA Book Stack interview, Will talks about his motivations for the text, including his thoughts on the spate of banning of LGBTQIA+ publications and his recent experiences during school visits, as well as the personal nature of his writing and the immense pride he feels for this publication.

For more on YA Book Stack visit the VATE website.

Will Kostakis is an award-winning author for young adults, best known for his contemporary novels The First Third and The Sidekicks. An advocate for young readers and writers, Will was awarded the 2020 Maurice Saxby Award by the School Library Association of New South Wales for his service to children’s and young adult literature. We Could Be Something is his latest novel.