coral vass | Lost in a Good Book

#AussieYAChallenge 2025 Wrap Up

Over the course of the two years I have done challenge I have read 24 Aussie YA books. Which is a pretty good bump considering my #LoveOzYA reading had dropped off in recent years. I am still blaming the minimal amount of Aussie YA in audio, but I also have two bookcases choccas with Aussie titles I could pick up at any time so it’s not entirely the fault of the publishing industry.

I was worried I had maybe fallen by the wayside after my September update, but given the new titles on my final list I am pretty pleased with how I’ve ended up. Despite planning on reading 12 books a year I never actually planned the twelve. I was happy if it went over, I was picking stuff up willy nilly, not keeping track of numbers. It’s quite serendipitous that I landed on 12. I get to meet my Nix level reading goal without rushing to make up numbers at the eleventh hour which is a bonus.

Some of my absolute favourites were Impossible Music by Sean Williams and Because of You by Pip Harry. Both these stories took me into a world I knew about but not intimately and seeing the experiences of these characters was beautiful and heartbreaking, not to mention powerful. This is why I love Aussie YA, with such short stories we can really pack an emotional punch and make incredibly memorable stories.

Other choices were some I had been eying off at the library for months before finally picking them up. Tobias Madden knocking it out of the park with fun and interesting stories, and unexpected surprises with new author Clayton Zane Comber, not to mention Shivaun Plozza killing it once again.

Another reason I started this challenge wasn’t only to tick off a list, but to finally pick up the authors I’ve been wanting to read for years. It’s all well and good to say I want to read that, or it’s on my TBR list (700+ strong so what hope do I really have), but now I can actually follow through and share our great authors with everyone and maybe spread a bit of that #LoveOzYA love.

I am keen to see what new books I read next year, some old hopefully, some new definitely. The Aussie YA book world is filled with so many different stories and experiences it is a joy to pick up and fall into that unique Australian voice that makes our books so beloved.

If you participated alongside me I hope your challenge went as successful as you wanted and I hope you join me again with the challenge next year!

The final list:

All I Ever Wanted by Vikki Wakefield

Tin Heart by Shivaun Plozza

Because of You by Pip Harry

Wrong Answers Only by Tobias Madden

100 Remarkable Feats of Xander Maze by Clayton Zane Comber

Take A Bow, Noah Mitchell by Tobias Madden

Surface Tension by Meg McKinlay

Impossible Music by Sean Williams

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

Flip by Rebecca Fraser

The Day the Bridge Fell by Coral Vass

Here’s the Thing by Emily O’Beirne

Sorry Day by Coral Vass

Published: 1st May 2018
Publisher: National Library of Australia
Illustrator: Dub Leffler
Pages: 34
Format: Picture Book
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars

Sorry Day acknowledges the past and shows a willingness to make things right. The story commemorates both the momentous speech made by the Prime Minister of Australia to say sorry to the indigenous people for past abuse and to also recognise the decades of abuse suffered by the Stolen Generation. Told through the eyes of a young girl participating in the ceremony today and, in sepia colours, the eyes of the stolen children in the past.

The anniversary of the apology is actually in February but it is recognised in May as part of National Sorry Day, a day first held on 26 May, 1998. In 2008 then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd gave the apology that indigenous people had been rightly asking for for years, the one that apologised to the stolen generation for the way they had been treated by the government for decades.

I remember vividly watching this on TV, I cried then and I cried now. This is a remarkable book as it celebrates the momentous speech by Kevin Rudd but it also shows the past and the horrors indigenous people had to endure. Vass uses Rudd’s real words and she weaves it into this young girl’s story, not quite understanding the impact, but we see it through her mum and the adults around her.

As one story unfolds about that wonderful February day, it is shadowed by the realities of the history those words represent. The contrast from page to page is a stark reminder and a beautifully heartbreaking juxtaposition about the two eras, and what the importance of the speech means. In the present a young girl loses the hand of her mother and is lost momentarily in the crowd, in the past, young children lose their parents forever.

I loved that each page threw up into a different time in history. From the lawns of Canberra, to the creeks where children hide in terror, then back to watching the speech. It is such a powerful move to bring the voices of the past into the present.

Leffler uses colour to show the differences between eras, colours for the present, with sepia depicting the past. The images are vivid and emotive and coupled with Vass’ words and my own understanding of history, it is incredibly clever to see these two moments side by side.

What I found interesting was the information included at the back about the history from the stolen generation to Prime Minster Keating in the 90s to Rudd in 2008. As I said, Sorry Day is recognised every single year and it is important that people acknowledge and understand what it means.

More people need to remember this speech, remember the impact it had, but also remember why it needed to be said in the first place and wonder just why it took so long to be said. This is the ideal book to tell the story in an impactful yet gentle way and it is certainly one that can spark great discussions.

You can purchase Sorry Day via the following

Booktopia | Dymocks

Wordery | Angus and Robinson

Fishpond | Amazon Aust