Eighty-nine questions for after by Ashleigh Barton

"Every moment matters"

Ester is a tidy girl who carefully regulates her life. She is also a girl with so many fears that she seems to be way too cautious. Everything is sanitised and all dangers are avoided if possible. Her mind is filled with questions which she notes down in her book - one on each page - mostly about unsolved mysteries. She is sure these questions will be answered in the afterlife. Once her life was actually carefree, then her Dad and Grandma Maggie died and so now all she can see is danger everywhere. She even avoids a flowering bush in their garden in case there are bees which could sting her.

"She hopped in on Mum's side of the car and climbed across the console to get into her seat, just in case the hot pink flowers were full of bees. Not that Ester had anything against bees in general, but she had never been stung before and didn't want to take the chance that she was allergic. She wasn't willing to risk having an anaphylactic reaction and ending up in a real hospital with actual sick people. Or worse."

Ester is terrified of getting sick so when mum tells her that after school she will need to wait at the hospice where she works, Ester is certain this will be the worst place ever. Luckily, she is able to sit in the almost empty sitting room with a lovely view of the garden and there she meets a boy named Peter who, unlike others in her life, IS interested in her big book of questions. They sit together each afternoon doing homework and talking about the questions. 

Ester does not want to meet any residents but her mum introduces her to Joan and it is Joan who sets Ester on a course to solve a mystery and along the way to gain courage and make two friends. I am mentioning two friends because aside from Peter a new family have moved in next door and they have four kids including a girl named Mackenzie (Mack). Mackenzie has an ambition to become a Private Eye Detective.

What is the mystery? Joan lost her sister 62 years ago. They were circus performers. All she has is a faded photograph and a flyer from the circus. Can these fragments give Ester and Mack enough clues to solve this mystery and reunite the sisters? They will need to hurry because after all Joan is now living in the hospice and so clearly her life is nearing its end. 

(Did you ever read a book called Boss of the Pool by Robin Klein? The scenes in Eight-Nine questions for after where Ester tries to avoid meeting the people who live in Sunflower Cottage reminded me of that book.)

Publisher blurb: Ester Star is a germophobe and hypochondriac and she's convinced she's going to die. To prepare for her imminent and inevitable demise, Ester keeps a list of all the questions she hopes to have answered in the afterlife - things she knows she'll never have the answers to during her lifetime. What really happened to the dinosaurs? Just how big is the universe? Are ghosts real? She's up to eighty-nine questions and counting. When Ester's usual after-school sitters announce they are moving away, her mum comes up with an alternative arrangement that turns her world upside down. 

Every day after school, Ester is to spend her afternoons with Mum at work. At a hospice. Terrified of all the things she might catch at a hospice; Ester is anxious every second she's there. But soon she meets Joan, an elderly lady who used to be in the circus. Joan tells Ester she doesn't believe in the afterlife, but she does have one question she'll regret never having answered while she's alive. Why did her sister disappear all those years ago, after they had been so close growing up in the circus together? With the help of Peter, another kid who spends his afternoons at the hospice, and her new next-door neighbour, a tech whizz named Mackenzie, Ester sets out to have Joan's question answered. Will Ester realise there's more to life than worrying about dying?

Ester is the main character in this story but it is Mack (Mackenzie) who I really wanted to meet and hug. She is so wonderful in the way she seems to understand Ester and all her fears and phobias but at the same time she is always ready to push Ester to try new, and sometimes, very daring things.

"That's the trick about fear,' Mackenzie said. 'If you act like you're not scared, you'll trick your brain into believing that you're not. That's my theory anyway. It's not always possible, but it usually works for me."

If you grew up in Sydney in the 1960s or 1970s you may well remember the African Safari park - it terrified me. The scene from page 162 onwards would be a perfect way to introduce this book to your library group.

You can hear Asheigh Barton reading the opening chapters of her book here (start at 2.38). In this post for Paperbark Words Ashleigh talks about the inspiration for her book and the research she completed. The publisher Hachette have made a set of book club discussion questions to use with Eighty-nine questions for after. 

Both of these reviews have lots of plot details:

This is a tender book, which is equally heartbreaking and joyous, filled with adventure and experiences, and learning to live. Learning to see life as more than dying and asking the big questions. It is also about friendship and acceptance. Peter and Mackenzie accept Ester for who she is. They don’t judge, and they seem to understand she is the way she is, which I thought was beautiful. She was allowed to have her fears and worries, and allowed to grow throughout the novel. The Book Muse

Those important themes of loss, grief, anxiety, mortality are deftly handled and paired with hope, joy, empathy and kindness. Ester’s character arc is handled with such skill as we see her gentle but sure transformation. There is never a second that this becomes trite or mawkish, it is always essentially authentic and the reader cannot help becoming fully immersed in the plot and, most definitely, liking these characters – even the irascible ones. Just So Stories

I've been a bit of a reading slump for a couple of weeks - until today! I don't know why but I was sure Eight-nine questions for after would be a good book - and now it discover it is so much more - it is a fabulous book and an absolute page turner. I read the whole 271 pages in one sitting. This book will be a CBCA 2026 Younger Readers Notable and hopefully also on the shortlist. I love the way this book has Australian place names but the story still feels as though it will easily translate to an audience in the US or UK. 

Eight-nine Questions for After is a book with a big heart. It is story that I am sure will linger with me for a long time. 

Companion books:

Long Road to the Circus

Picasso and the Greatest Show on Earth

The Remarkable Secret of Aurelie Bonhoffen

As Brave as You

The Goldfish boy

Busted

Magnolia Wu Unfolds it all

Snap (this is a very old book and long out of print)

If you want to build on the idea of asking questions - Ester has a book with 89 questions and luckily they are all listed in the back of the book. Ester's questions are used as Chapter titles - I really liked this structure. Here are some other excellent books filled with questions:

Pablo Neruda Book of Questions

Twenty Questions

Where does pepper come from?

Ashleigh Barton goes from strength to strength with her writing. Here is her web page.  Check out my previous posts:

Freddie Spector Fact Collector

How to sail to Somewhere

Island Born by Junot Diaz illustrated by Leo Espinosa

"Mai was from a city so big that it was like its own country. India and Camila were from a stony village at the tippy top of the world. Matteo had lived in a desert so hot even the cactus fainted. Nu was born in a jungle famous for its tigers and poets. And Lola was from the Island."

Lola, who immigrated when she was six years old, does not remember the Dominican Republic, and sets out to fill in her missing memories by talking to members of her family and community. 

I especially love the vibrant illustrations in this book. I can imagine using this book with a class as a jumping off point to talk about family and heritage and also here in Australia to talk about our multicultural community. You could also talk about displacement, refugees, immigrants, sharing memories, adult child relationships and why people move from one country to another.

Publisher blurb: Every kid in Lola’s school was from somewhere else. Hers was a school of faraway places. When Lola’s teacher asks the students to draw a picture of where their families immigrated from, all the kids are excited. Except Lola. She can’t remember The Island—she left when she was just a baby. But with the help of her family and friends, and their memories—joyous, fantastical, heartbreaking, and frightening—Lola’s imagination takes her on an extraordinary journey back to The Island. As she draws closer to the heart of her family’s story, Lola comes to understand the truth of her abuela’s words: “Just because you don’t remember a place doesn’t mean it’s not in you.”

I picked up this book at a recent charity book sale - it is in mint condition with a dust jacket. This book was published in 2018 and I suspect it has been sitting quietly on a family bookshelf for many years. Take a look at this review. 

I have a Pinterest entitled "She looks like me" - this book will be a perfect addition to that collection. 

Awards: 2019 Pura Belpre Illustrator Honor.

Companion book for an older reader:

A Map for Falasteen

Where does Pepper come from? by Brigitte Raab illustrated by Manuela Olten

"Any book that lets kids say, NO so often is bound to be popular" School Library Journal

This book is from 2006 so it is out of print but it might be in your school or local library. I am sure the format of this one will inspire curiosity and give your reading group lots of laughs too. You could use this to write more questions, think of crazy creative answers and then flip the page to read the actual facts.

Where does pepper come from? A pepper mill; a spicy place; the pepper store; a sneezy place; from pepper rocks! Actually, we discover on the next page it comes from the berries of the pepper plant. Most pepper is grown in India, Indonesia, Brazil and Malaysia.

Other questions in this book include; Why do bears hibernate? Why do snail carry houses on their backs?Why are flamingos pink? and Why isn't a whale a fish?

“Why is the sea salty?” “Because a sea captain sprinkled salt on the water”. This humorous picture book asks a series of seven questions and is first given some very creative (but wrong) answers. “Why do snails carry houses on their backs?” “Because they love to go camping!” Readers can then turn the page to see a child saying, No! followed by a concise, correct answer. In a nice twist, the pattern is broken at the end of the book. “Why don't migrating birds get lost when they fly south in the fall?” “Because they have compasses in their beaks!” This seemingly silly answer turns out to be partly true.

The design is playful with cartoon-style illustrations that use soft earth tones combined with subtle humour. This book is a lively and appealing way to encourage children’s curiosity about the natural world. Outside in the World

Where does pepper come from? was originally published in German in 2005 with the title Wo wächst der Pfeffer? 

A book like this could be a terrific addition to your bag of tricks if you are a casual or substitute teacher. Keep your eye out - you might find one in a charity shop.

The library where I volunteer had a display last term of question and answer books. I think my facination with this goes back to books from my childhood like The How and Why Wonder book series and also I had a large format book filled with questions and answers but I have no memory of the title.

The Touchstone by Andrew Norriss

Opening sentence: One morning, as Douglas was leaving for school, he heard a voice calling his name. It was a faint voice, hardly louder than the wind blowing through the trees, but when he looked round to see who was calling, there was nobody there. He was wondering if he might have imagined it, when the voice called again.

The voice is a woman named Kai and she explains:

​‘I do not have much time, so you must listen carefully. Three things.’ She spoke in short bursts, breathing through clenched teeth between each of them. ‘One, my name is Kai and I come from another planet. Two, my mission is to take this...’ she gestured to the case in her lap, ‘...back to my home world and liberate people my people. Three, I am being hunted by the Guardians of the Federation and my only chance of escape is to find someone to hide me for the next forty-eight hours.’ She looked up at Douglas, her dark eyes staring intently into his. ‘Gedrus says you are the only coda I can reach. Will you help me? Please?’

Things to notice - Kai is from another planet. She is hurt and needs help. There is sure to be some danger ahead for Douglas even if we have, at this stage, no idea about the Guardians of the Federation. Also who is Gedrus? More in a minute ...

First you need to know Kai has a box and a mysterious green stone necklace. We later find the box contains more of these stones and that the holder of the stone can contact the librarian named Gedrus. He can answer any question - yes read that again ANY question. Think of the possibilities here - help in a test; help with homework; and what about his mum and dad - Douglas would love some help to bring them back together. BUT of course we know the old adage "be careful what you wish for". 

‘You might like to think of me,’ Gedrus leant forward with his elbows on the desk, ‘as the sort of access point to an encyclopaedia.’ He gestured to the rows of books behind him. ‘A very large encyclopaedia, that contains information about events and people from all corners of the galaxy. Anything you want to know, you hold the stone, ask me, and I give you the answer.’

The complex part of this story comes when we make a discovery about Kai - is she really trying to save her planet? Is she really telling the truth? And what about Gedrus - does he have a motive for giving the answers he supplies and then another character arrives - and he is a Guardian - his name is Quomp.

Back to that first quote. Douglas is a coda:

The C means that you are the sort of person who can absorb new and disturbing information without too much emotion – in other words you don’t panic. The O means you’re someone who likes his privacy, so you’re the sort of person who can keep a secret. The D means you’re honest and dependable, and the A means you have a very trusting personality and you tend to believe what someone tells you as long as it doesn’t contradict common sense or something you already know.’

Along the way, in this crazy tale, Douglas does find a terrific new friend - Ivo. Ivo is crazy about robots and rockets and now there is a way for Douglas to help his new friend because of Gedrus. Douglas will also need money - older readers aged 10+ and adults are sure to find the way Douglas manipulates the stock market rather thrilling. 

Blurb from author webpage: The Touchstone is a pretty remarkable object. You hold it in your hand, ask a question and it gives you the answer. You just have to be a bit careful what you ask... This is the story of how one of the most valuable objects in the galaxy falls into the hands of a very ordinary English schoolboy, Douglas Paterson, and what he decides to do with it. Like so many things that are supposed to make life easier, this one starts off by making everything very difficult! Shortlisted for the Sheffield Children's Book Award, the Solihull Children's Book Award, the West Sussex Children's book Award.

I met a wonderful young reader last Christmas and when she discovered I was a fellow book lover she enthusiastically shared her favourite book which was read to her class in Grade 2 or 3. She explained that in every bookshop she visited with her parents she always asked if they had this special book but so far no one could help her.

Naturally I went back to my motel and Googled the book using the information she had shared and I easily found this book was The Touchstone by Andrew Norris (2021). Sadly it is now out of print but there are copies available from online sellers and also there is an eBook version which is the one I just read.

In books for young children characters rarely if ever die - of course Charlotte's Web and Bridge to Terabithia are two exceptions but I would say they better suit an older child. I am explaining this because my young reading friend told me (huge spoiler alert) that the main character, a boy named Douglas, dies in the story! NO I could not believe that this would happen in a book shared by a class teacher with children aged 7 or 8. Please, please do not worry though - this book does have a happy ending. 

I do still wonder why the teacher selected this book for her class. I think it would better suit readers aged 10+ but perhaps she (unfortunately in my view) wanted to use some existing teaching resources from one of the many commercial online companies.  In any case this book really resonated with the little girl I met. You can see more books by Andrew Norriss here. I read Mike many years ago and Ctrl-Z looks very familiar - we must have had this one in my former school library.

Companion book - this has just been published and I will talk about it in detail in a few days:

Bookseller blurb: 'The world will end at ten thirty-six in the morning, on the fourteenth of March this year.' This is the message aliens send to ten-year-old nerds Harrison (Aitch), Ally and Mo. How do they send it? Via the magnetic letters on Mo's fridge, of course. Aitch and Ally aren't sure what to believe, but soon they're in an alien spaceship travelling at lightspeed to Jupiter's icy moon Europa. Mo is worried his mum will be furious that he boarded an alien craft with strangers. And Aitch is not too happy that they've kidnapped his dog. But maybe the aliens aren't that scary after all? They say they want to save the planet. It's only humans they're not so impressed by... The future of the human race might just be in the hands of three nerds and their lazy dog. What could go wrong?

Other books to look for in your library:

The Strangeworlds Travel Agency

The Book of Wondrous Possibilities

The Library of ever

The Library of Ever by Zeno Alexander

“Do you swear to venture forth bravely and find the answer to any question, 

no matter the challenge?”

If you mashed together Alice in Wonderland and The Phantom Tollbooth you might come close to the plot of this book - such a wild ride. You will turn the pages so quickly as you read this book desperate to see if Lenora can survive all the mayhem.  

The only extra things I would have liked were a library map and perhaps a Dewey decimal chart showing all the library departments where Lenora was sent by the Chief Librarian Malachi. Lenora goes to the calendar room, the map room and the unknown room which actually has information about tardigrades, all the while she is being chased by the enemy who brings darkness. Along the way her status rises and she is awarded new badges. Lenora has to be very mindful of the library motto:

Knowledge is Light

Bookseller blurb: With her parents off traveling the globe, Lenora is bored, bored, bored until she discovers a secret doorway into the ultimate library. Maze like and reality-bending, the library contains all the universe's wisdom. Every book ever written, and every fact ever known, can be found within its walls. And Lenora becomes its newly appointed Fourth Assistant Apprentice Librarian. She rockets to the stars, travels to a future filled with robots, and faces down a dark nothingness that wants to destroy all knowledge. To save the library, Lenora will have to test her limits and uncover secrets hidden among its shelves.

In the chaos of this story there is also commentary on censorship, the role of libraries as providers of free information, the importance of curiosity, and of course the value of libraries as organised repositories of books, maps, charts, ephemera and so much more. Materials from everywhere and every time period.

"The Forces of Darkness wish to control people, and it is every knowledge that prevents them from doing so. ... They can only rule where there is ignorance, they can only create fear where the truth has been hidden, they can only gain power when the light has been snuffed out. Librarians are their greatest enemy, and we have fought them throughout time, and always will fight them as long as that light burns anywhere, no matter how weakly."

I may not have kept reading this book actually because it all became a little too silly for me but then I took a detour last night and glanced at the Kirkus review. Such is the power of their work that the star they gave The Library of Ever spurred me on to stick with this story although I am not so sure I need to read the sequel. I did enjoy Lenora's common sense, determination, perseverance, and her amazing general knowledge. She certainly adapted well to the roles of Assistant Apprentice Librarian and later Assistant Librarian. 

There are moments in this story that made me smile:

"The tardigrade snarled. 'As far as we tardigrades are concerned, Pluto is and always will be a planet. end of discussion. ...Lenora saw no reason to argue. She had always thought that Pluto seemed like a perfectly fine planet, whatever the adults might tell her. She took out her notebook. Pluto is, always will be, a planet. This she underlined firmly."

"I would like to know,' she said, 'how to find Wales.' 'You've found them,' said the whale. 'We are in fact, beluga whales.' 'Oh,' said Lenora. 'I mean Wales, the place, not whales, the mammal. 'Hmph' replied the whale ... And I suppose you think that just because I am a whale, a mammal, that I automatically know the location of Wales, the place?"

Not the first tale to be set in a universal library but unusually clever in the details and commendably accurate in its own way. Kirkus Star review

At its heart, The Library of Ever is a love letter to librarians and an ode to the importance of access to knowledge and information for everyone. The Winged Pen

Here is a fun interview with the author and the web page for Zeno Alexander. I picked up my copy of The Library of Ever at a recent charity book sale for $2. This book was published in 2019 but it is still available as is the sequel:

Bookseller blurb: Lenora returns to the magical Library—which holds every book ever known on its shelves. But she discovers the Library is under new management, its incredible rooms and corridors turned sinister and oppressive. Lenora quickly connects with a secret resistance that’s trying to free knowledge from the darkness threatening it. Her new friends introduce her to an ancient lost city, hang-gliding, and mathematical beings larger than the universe itself.

Companion books:

The 113th Assistant Librarian

Lost in a Book

The Lost History

Escape from Mr Lemoncello's Library

The Lost Library

The Phantom Tollbooth

The Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner

Twelve weeks. 

46 peaks. 

Finish by Labor Day 

and all the charges go away.

A local youth has been arrested for vandalizing St. Mary’s Cemetery over the holiday weekend. Lake Placid Police responded to a complaint of someone kicking headstones shortly after 4:00 p.m. on Friday.

• Why did Finn do this?
• What will be the consequence?
• What do we know about the grave?

School is not easy for Finn either. And now he is told he has to complete catch up work for English and PE. Here is his English assignment:

Poetry Project: What Makes a Hero?   Assignment: Draft, revise, and edit a collection of at least twenty poems about people you consider to be heroes. You may write about anyone who inspires you, living or dead. Your collection should begin with an introduction poem and must include at least five different poetic forms (haiku, sonnet, acrostic, concrete poem, found poem, riddle poem, erasure poem, free verse, magic 9, ode, pantoum, sestina, villanelle). Be sure to make use of poetic devices such as alliteration, onomatopoeia, similes, and metaphors. Have fun!

Finn's dad is famous in this town because there is a photo of him rescuing a girl after the tragedy of 9/11. Of course that was years ago. 

I see that photo in my sleep. 

Every detail. 

Dad’s black coat white with ash. 

His hair. 

His face. 

Like a statue carved in cold gray stone, 

lines chiseled in his forehead, 

around his eyes. 

Muddy tear streak down his cheek 

as he ran from the North Tower. 

He had a survivor! 

He was carrying her in those strong statue arms. 

Her leg was bleeding and she wore 

one red shoe, 

the other lost somewhere 

in the ashes, smoke, and screams.

The punishment for the vandalism is to climb 46 mountains. Finn is angry about his dad - but what has happened? You will adore meeting all the people who climb the mountains with Finn - they are compassionate and wise and quietly help him to make sense of his life and his personal tragedies. Oh and the dog is wonderful! I also loved the way Kate Messner structured this story. 

You will NOT be able to put this book down. It is such a page turner. Highly recommended for readers aged 10+.

Blurb from the author page: Finn Connelly is nothing like his dad, a star athlete and firefighter hero who always ran toward danger until he died two years ago. Finn’s about to fail seventh grade and has never made headlines . . . until now. Caught on camera vandalizing a cemetery, he’s in big trouble for kicking down some dead old lady’s headstone. But it turns out that grave belongs to a legendary local mountain climber, and her daughter makes Finn an unusual offer: climb all forty-six Adirondack High Peaks with her dead mother’s dog, and they can call it even. In a wild three months of misadventures, mountain mud, and unexpected mentors, Finn begins to find his way on the trails. At the top of each peak, he can see for miles and slowly begins to understand more about himself and his dad. But the mountains don’t care about any of that, and as the clock ticks down to September, they have more surprises in store. Finn’s final summit challenge may be more than even a hero can face.

Here are some text quotes:

She’s the prosecutor in charge of my case. There might not be a court appearance after all, she says, and I’m so relieved I miss what comes next but I snap to attention when she rattles off the price of the headstone I busted: $2,600 for a weathered hunk of rock.

It’s called PTSD. (That’s Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, in case you’re wondering.) But if you’re a 9/11 firefighter’s kid you already know those letters, learned them with your ABCs, when you learned not to ask questions in September. When you learned how to make your own lunch and sign your own permission slips, and pretend everything was all right.

Some Awards:

• New York Times Bestseller
• USA Today Bestseller
• National Indie Bestseller
• Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2025
• School Library Journal Best Books of 2025
• Kirkus Best Books of 2025
• Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books, 2025
• 2026-2027 Texas Bluebonnet List Nominee
• 2026 Charlotte Huck Honor
• 2026 NCTE Notable Novels in Verse
• Best Kids’ Books about Mental Health 2025, Child Mind Institute

The first-person narration vividly conveys a disgruntled teenager’s feelings, including moments of humor and contemplation. The novel wrestles with loss and legacy intertwined with weighty events, challenges, and themes—PTSD, alcoholism, toxic masculinity—and their resulting impact on Finn’s emotional well-being. The supporting characters are encouraging adult role models. Characters present white. An adventurous work whose authentic voice celebrates the outdoors and everyday heroism. Kirkus Star review

As I read this book, I was in awe of Messner’s skill. She combines so many disparate elements into a book that feels organic and beautiful. Her use of a verse novel format makes so much sense here, allowing us to feel what Finn does even as he is in denial about much of it. His poetry project weaves its way through the verse, capturing his voice and rage. Finn can’t see himself through most of the book, can’t see the people around him and their support, can’t see his father and the truth about him, can’t find his way through. This is a book about what nature can do for a person who is lost and not looking to be rescued. It is a book about the various ways that heroes enter our lives, the forms they take that are unexpected and sometimes drooling dogs, the connection that can result in shared experiences. It is about so much at once and yet again, is superbly focused and deftly written.  Waking Brain Cells

Companion books:

Not Nothing

Mr Santa by Jarvis

A little boy, or is this a girl, meets Santa - this child has SO many questions and we get to hear all of them. Santa himself is a wise old fellow and so he just smiles and takes his little companion on the adventure of a lifetime but Santa himself never utters a word.

• Dogs or cats, Mr Santa? You have to choose.
• Can reindeer talk?
• Can you eat clouds?
• Do you stop at traffic lights?
• Mr Santa is your belly button inny or out?
• Can I be an elf?

Mr Santa is a new Christmas book for 2025. If you have a young reader in your life this needs to be added to their Christmas stocking. Here is a video of the story so you can see all the illustrations (but please find the actual book to share in your family). My own copy was an early Christmas gift from a friend!

With signature warmth and a gentle visual humor, Jarvis channels the excitement of every child who has dreamed of meeting the jolly, generous old soul who personifies the most magical night of the year. Penguin Random House

The young protagonist’s dogged curiosity makes for a wholly original Yuletide tale, infused with the magic and wonder of Christmas. Kirkus

Companion book:

Thinking about reading with children from Grade 3 and 4

On a social media platform this week a university lecturer posed this important question. She is involved with a course for trainee teachers. I really took this question to heart, BUT I have to say SO many of the 'answers' left me in despair.

Here is the question:

If you were choosing one Australian middle-grade novel (around Grades 3–4 level) to share with a group of young adults who are preparing to be primary teachers—many of whom haven’t read children’s novels for a while—what book would you pick that they simply won’t be able to put down? We’ll be reading part of the book aloud together each week, and they’ll read the rest between classes. I’d love a story that reminds them of the joy and magic of reading and shows the power of a great book in the classroom. What Australian page-turner would you choose?

Before I share my 'long' reply let's just look at some key aspects of this question - things we know and things that lead to more questions:

• The question comes from someone involved in tertiary education here in Australia so that explains the emphasis on 'Australian' - this is okay but I hope the lecturer will also expose these adult students to other books. We speak English here in Australia and so have access to some of the best books from UK, Canada, USA, New Zealand and South Africa.
• Grade 3 and 4 - Is this for a book to read at the beginning of the year when the Grade 3 kids have just moved out of an infants grade. These readers could be aged between 7 and 10 depending on when this project happens. I would argue there is a huge difference between books I would share with a Grade 3 reader aged 7 turning 8 and a Grade 4 reader aged 9 turning 10.
• "Won't be able to put down" - that is actually impossible to predict but it is a worthy goal. These University students may not be 'readers' or they may be avid adult readers, they may have preferred genres, and I have to say finding ONE book feels like a huge responsibility. Perhaps it might be better to use one text for this 'book club' model but also give the students a wide reading list and set a requirement to read a set number of these too.
• "I’d love a story that reminds them of the joy and magic of reading and shows the power of a great book in the classroom" - this is a lofty goal - I do hope a book that fulfils this can be found. If we weren't limited to Australian I would have suggested Wishtree by Katherine Applegate or One Dog and his Boy by Eva Ibbotson.

POST UPDATE - here is a reply from the author of this question. (I would prefer not to name the Facebook group):

• Thank you for your thoughtful post and for sharing it with me. Since I’m the lecturer who posed the original question, I thought it might be helpful to offer a little context.
• Teaching future primary teachers about thoughtful, intentional book selection is just one small part of what they explore in this subject with the teaching team. Over the semester, students look closely at a range of considerations—developmental suitability, reader experience, literary quality, diversity of texts, and how we support children to engage with longer works of fiction in purposeful ways.
• For many pre-service teachers, it has been quite a long time since they’ve read junior–middle fiction, and for some, a long time since they’ve read any long-form fiction at all. Before they can meaningfully evaluate and select texts for children, they need structured opportunities to re-engage with children’s literature as readers.
• As experienced teachers, we know that you cannot “teach” a book unless you have lived with it—read it multiple times, considered it from different angles, and explored its possibilities. Asking the cohort to read one shared text over time allows us to model this process deliberately and to help rebuild reading stamina in a manageable, supportive way.
• I also asked specifically for Australian titles—not because I’m opposed to international literature (far from it), but because we have such exceptional Australian authors and I enjoy highlighting their work. It’s important for future teachers to be familiar with a strong range of local stories as part of their wider reading diet.
• And as for choosing the Year 3–4 range—there was no special reason beyond instinct. I imagined the books might be shorter, and my experience is that while they may be shorter, they are certainly not less mighty or less worth reading. It also meant there was a good chance we would get through the book in the time we have scheduled.

Now back to my response to the original question. This particular forum/Facebook Group does not allow contributors to link to personal blog posts but all of the books I offered as choices (see image below) are discussed here on my blog of course. Here is my reply:

I think it would be good to have a book (if you’re in NSW) that’s not one of the “set” English texts. It would be good to “expand their knowledge. Also grade 3 and 4 kids are very different. If this is now, late in the year, then the grade 3 kids are aged 9 and grade 4 kids are ten but if it’s for term one next year the grade 3 kids are still quite young. 

Also, if I was doing this, I’d seek out a book that doesn’t have existing teachers notes or discussion questions, so these trainee teachers have to think deeply about the text. I also think a shorter book would be good, so the task is not too daunting. And perhaps you could use a verse novel because some of these students may not have encountered that form and they often have very powerful stories. Someone already suggested The Little wave for example. 

Here’s some novels to investigate. 

Pop each title into my search bar for me details

Hopefully you’re able to read a few for yourself so you can give these lucky students a fabulous reading experience. I’ll post a few verse novels too. 

Verse Novels - Pop each title into my search bar for more details

I’m also guessing as well as Australian it needs to be in print. My most favourite book for a project like this would be The Big Bazoohley by Peter Carey but it’s long out of print. I also love another very old book Angie’s ankles by Gary Hurle but that disappeared a long time ago. Can you let the group know which book you do use? Thanks. (Sorry for this long answer but I think this is a very very important topic). AND I would add that the best books we share with students are books we have loved reading ourselves - not texts imposed by curriculum experts or even grade requirements etc. 

Of course, I have no way of knowing about the expertise of the people who shared their own answers to the question I quoted. 

I have organised the books that were listed under my own headings - 

The Good

Leo and Ralph by Peter Carnavas

The Little Wave by Pip Harry

The Kindness Project by Deb Abela

Katrina Nannestad - I would say yes to some of her books but not the World War II titles. The Travelling Bookshop

Polly and Buster by Sally Rippin

The Book of Wondrous possibilities by Deb Abela

The Midwatch by Judith Rossell (but this one is very long)

Wandi by Favel Parrett

Mina and the whole wide world by Sherryl Clark (might be out of print)

Song of a Thousand Seas by Zana Fraillon

Brindabella by Ursula Dubosarsky

Too mainstream - I would love these students to be exposed to 'other books' not the latest 'top of the pops books' even though I did enjoy some of these:

Runt by Craig Silvey (I have four other posts about this book and the sequel)

Blueback by Tim Winton - here in NSW this is a prescribed text

How to be Prime Minister and Survive Grade Five by Carla Fitzgerald

Rowan of Rin by Emily Rodda (1993)

The Naming of Tishkin silk by Glenda Millard (I am a huge fan of this series of seven titles, and I own the whole set but in the first one the baby has died - younger readers might find this distressing). 

Childish by Morris Gleitzman (Take a look at one his less well known titles that I loved)

The Strange choices (in my view) 
YES, these are great books, but I wouldn't suggest them for this project

Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend (this has 450 pages)

The extremely inconvenient adventures of Bronte Mettlestone by Jaclyn Moriarty (494 pages)

Bob by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead illustrated by Nicholas Gannon - this is a fantastic book with an Australian setting BUT the authors are from the US. 

Books I would not read with or to children aged 7-10

Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park (distressing scenes and the main character is a teenager)

Once by Morris Gleitzman (Holocaust setting)

August and Jones by Pip Harry

Books by Tristan Bancks - I love his work - Scar Town; Two Wolves; Detention; and Cop and Robber

The Shop at Hoopers Bend by Emily Rodda

Sick Bay by Nova Weetman

Laugher is the best ending by Mariam Master

A Glasshouse of Stars by Shirley Marr

Harp in the South by Ruth Park (adult title)

His name was Walter Emily Rodda (the characters in this book are teenagers)

Dragon Skin Karen Foxlee (contains domestic violence)

Lenny's book of Everything by Karen Foxlee

Any of the James Aldridge (he died in 2015 and his books are Young Adult titles) I loved The Story of Lilli Stubeck from 1984.

Childstone Cycle by Kerry Greenwood (adult title)

Jackie French Matilda series (Young Adult/Adult series)

Queenie in Seven Moves by Zanni Louise

Does my head look big in this by Randa Abdel Fattah

Out of Print

45 and 47 Stella Street by Elizabeth Honey

The Cabbage Patch Fib by Paul Jennings

The Stupendously Spectacular Spelling bee by Deborah Abela

Benjamin in Blink Beyond by Oona Roach (1983) 

Not Australian

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein

The Miraculous journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster

Books I need to find and read:

Big Magic by Sarah Armstrong

This Camp is Doomed by Anna Zobel

Losing the Plot and Down the Plot Hole by Annaleise Byrd

A Clue for Clara by Lian Tanner

The sugarcane kids and the red-bottom boat by Charlie Archbold

The last Ember by Lily Berlin Dodd (not Australian)

Kip of the Karoo and Kip of the Mountain by Emma Gourlay

SOS: Big Splash: School of Scallywags (SOS) by Cameron Stelzer (there are ten titles in this series)

Samantha Wheeler titles - Turtle Trackers; Wombat Warriors; Devils in Danger

This would be SO perfect - I wish it was still in print.