Momo celebrating time to read: A little rant about book prices in Australia

Monday, April 15, 2024

A little rant about book prices in Australia

Today I read a review of a new book which will be published later this year (September, 2024). It is by Polly Horvath and I am a HUGE fan of her writing.

Having read the review, I thought - now I need to add this book to my 'to buy/to read' list BUT then I saw the price of over AUS$48. This is a children's middle grade book, and it only has 256 pages, and this is not the first book I have checked with Australian suppliers that have such huge price tags. WHY?

Here is the bookseller blurb for Library Girl: After living in the public library for the last eleven years, Essie must learn to adapt to a world that's not as perfect as the stories she's grown up with in this heartfelt middle grade novel from Newbery Honor author Polly Horvath. Essie has grown up in the public library, raised in secret by the four librarians who found her abandoned as a baby in the children's department. With four mothers and miles of books to read, Essie has always been very happy living there. But now that she is eleven, Essie longs for a little more freedom . . . and maybe a friend her own age. She seems to get her wish when her moms let her go by herself to the mall. On her second trip there, she meets G.E., a mysterious boy who looks so much like her she can't help but think they may be twins. Maybe he was raised by four dads in the appliance section of the department store. Maybe his story is intertwined with hers, and their happy ending is as one big family. But as she gets to know G.E. better, she learns that nothing is as simple as it seems in her stories--not even her own past.

I read and adored Everything on a Waffle, decades ago and even though the small plot details are long forgotten the emotional impact of this story lingers with me. Later when I saw Polly Horvath's name on a book cover, I didn't hesitate to buy it for my school library or for my own shelves.