Official Winter Reading Guide 2026

2026 WINTER READING GUIDE

Enjoy the Weickhardt Library’s top winter reading recommendations

Dear Camberwell Grammar community, It is with much pleasure that we bring you this year’s Winter Reading Guide.

This collection of books, mainly new fiction, is aimed at sparking curiosity, supporting learning and fostering a lifelong love of reading in our students.

Reading for pleasure is one of the single greatest indicators of a student’s future success. We encourage you to chat with your child about what they’re checking out this week and engage with them about books.

Students are welcome to visit the library during their scheduled sessions in English classes or during open browsing hours to explore these new titles.

A reminder that our catalogue can be viewed on DEEDS. Thank you for your continued support in fostering a community of readers!

Mrs. J. Pietralla Mrs Janine Pietralla Teacher Librarian

How to use this Guide We’ve added a coloured letter/picture bubble next to each book to tell you what genre or genres they might be – that’s the themes of the story.

Here’s a full list of these bubbles so you can decode them: A

=

Adventure

R

=

Relationships / Realistic Fiction

F

=

Fantasy

H

=

Horror

GN

=

Graphic Novel

=

Humorous

S

=

Suspense

H

=

Historical

SF

=

Science Fiction

VN

=

Verse Novel

A

=

Audiobook

NF

=

Non-Fiction

eBook

=

eBook

Bio

=

Biography

About Weickhardt Library The Weickhardt Library is open for all staff and students from Years 6–12.

We can help you with: Research - finding reliable information, referencing, search strategies Reading recommendations - what to read next, what's new, what's good Borrowing and returning Printing.

Scan this QR Code or visit the Weickhardt Library DEEDS page.

Pocket Bear by Katherine Applegate

A

Born during the throes of WWI, he was designed to fit into the pocket of a soldier’s jacket, eyes sewn a bit higher than normal so that he always gazed upward. That way, glancing at his pocket, a soldier would see an endearing token of love from someone back home, and, hopefully, a good luck charm.

Now, over a century later, Pocket serves as unofficial mayor of Second Chances Home for the Tossed and Treasured, where stuffed toy animals are refurbished and given a fresh opportunity to be loved.

Year 6 - 7

A Dog Called Hero by Katy Birchall Haley has withdrawn from the world and retreated into her shell ever since her police officer dad was killed in the line of duty a year ago. Hero is a young police dog who has been retired early - his handler was injured in the line of duty, and he cannot seem to bond with anyone else.

GN A

A eBook

The Misfits by Lisa Yee When San Francisco is under strange attacks—like earthquakes affecting only two city blocks at a time—who're you gonna call? An elite team of crimefighting underdogs, that's who!

R A eBook

Fia and the Last Snow Deer by Eilish Fisher

F

Born under the same solstice sky thirteen years ago, Fia and her reindeer Solas have a powerful and unbreakable connection...

A eBook

But now, struggling to survive a seemingly eternal winter, Fia's village turn their sights on Solas - for the meat the last remaining reindeer can provide and an ancient prophecy promise that an ultimate sacrifice will return sunlight and life to the world ...

Refusing to allow the worst to happen, Fia and her cousin Mish run from the village with Solas, seeking out the Deer Mother - the mythical being who wakes the sun at the winter solstice and who they believe is their only hope of saving Solas and their village.

The Odenburgh, an old apartment building made of brick and blunt opinions, is the last of its kind in a swiftly changing neighbourhood. After years of putting up with people and their many problems, the Odenburgh knows there’s no point in getting attached.

They all just leave eventually. A truth that comes all too soon when the building is sold and slated for demolition, giving tenants a month to move out. No one is more troubled by the news than eleven-year-old Prue, who refuses to leave her family’s apartment.

GN F

R

Wings of Fire: The Hybrid Prince by Tui T. Sutherland As the youngest sibling of his MudWing hatching, Umber doesn't have the responsibilities of his bigwings, Reed, nor the heroic destiny prophesied for his brother, Clay. He's always been content with his role as the cheerful, goofy little brother. But when his sister, Sora, causes a tragedy at Jade Mountain Academy, Umber finds himself on the run and thrown into a whole new role – that of protector.

Year 6 - 7

Once for Yes by Allie Millington

The Year We Escaped by Suzanne Leal

H

A

e

book

Europe, 1940 With war on their doorstep, German classmates Klara and Rachel, and French brothers Lucien and Paul, are forced to leave their homes. They are taken to Gurs, a French detention camp in the south-west of France. It's a crowded place, with little comfort and even less food.

When Klara and Rachel are promised safe refuge in a remote French village, Lucien and Paul are anxious to join them — and will risk their own lives to get there.

Time Traveling with a Hamster by Ross Welford

Year 6 7 Year 6 - 7

A

My dad died twice. Once when he was thirty-nine and again four years later, when he was twelve. On his twelfth birthday, Al Chaudhury receives a letter from his dead father. It directs him to the bunker of their old house, where Al finds a time machine (an ancient computer and a tin bucket). The letter also outlines a mission: travel back to 1984 and prevent the go-kart accident that will eventually take his father’s life.

Childish by Morris Gleitzman

e

book

Me and Dot reckon it's just a word for being a child.

And having a crack at solving a big problem using only a really good friendship, the world's best dumplings, and a thousand kilos of plasticine.

e

book

Refugee by Alan Gratz GN A

e

book

Snoop by Gordon Korman

S

The story of a boy who's stuck at home with two broken legs... and who starts using cameras and a drone to spy on his classmates, neighbours, and a possible criminal who's come to town.

A

A

e

book

The Lone Husky by Hannah Gold April Wood is no stranger to adventure. After all, she lives in the Arctic and her best friend is a polar bear. But when April finds herself volunteering for the Polar Race – a longdistance dog sled race across the frozen tundra – even she wonders if this may be an adventure too far.

April will need all the help she can get if she’s to make it to the finish line. And competition is fierce – with experienced dog sledders, including new boy Finn, who will go to any lengths to win.

The Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner 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 vandalising a cemetery, he's in big trouble for kicking down some dead old lady's headstone.

But it turns out that the 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.

GN A

e

book

Year 6 - 7 Year 6 - 7

JOSEF is a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world...

ISABEL is a girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing Cuba, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety in America...

MAHMOUD is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a trek toward Europe...

All three must endure harrowing journeys and face unimaginable dangers. But there is always the hope of tomorrow. And although continents and decades separate Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud, shocking connections will tie their stories together in the end.

SF

Red Star Rebels by Amie Kaufman

A

It’s 2067, and the Graves family has transformed Mars from lifeless rock into a chaotic patchwork of settlements—and everybody wants a piece.

e

book

Enter Hunter Graves: handsome, ambitious, and with spectacularly bad timing. He shows up at the United Nations base just as an emergency evacuation sends everyone scurrying for safety.

Except he’s left behind.

Also stranded: Cleo, a sharp-tongued stowaway with no intention of dying today, and even less patience for overconfident trust fund boys. But the enemy of your enemy might just help you survive, so here we are.

Year 8 - 9

The First Year by Matt Goodfellow Nate's eleven and has just finished primary school.

After a challenging final year, life is looking up. His brother has recovered from a life-threatening heart condition, he's got the love of his mum, brothers and Auntie San, and he's off to secondary school with his two best mates.

But while he's making new friends and avoiding the fists of Turner, his old nemesis, and struggling to come to terms with a strict new teacher and a sense of isolation from his brothers, a sudden surprise appearance in Nate's life threatens to throw him completely off course.

And The Beast - the anger he tries so hard to control reappears. Will Nate find a way to keep himself and his family together?

Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald

R

e

book

Against all odds, 18-year-old Finlay has begun his nursing degree at Glasgow University. But coming straight from the care system means he has no support network. How can he write essays, focus on his nursing placement and stop himself from falling in love when he's struggling to feed himself?

Meanwhile, 17-year-old Banjo is trying to settle into his new foster family and finish high school, desperate to hold down his job and the people it contains. But his anger and fear keep boiling over, threatening his already uncertain future.

VN R

A

NF

Atlas of the Invisible: Maps & graphics that will change how you see the world

by James Cheshire and Olive Uberti

Year 8 - 9

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat.

As a ghost, he observes the devastation that is unleashed on his family and community in the wake of this unjust and brutal killing.

Soon, Jerome meets another Emmett Till, a boy from a very different time but similar circumstances. Emmett helps Jerome process what has happened, on a journey toward recognising how historical racism may have led to the events that ended his life. Jerome also meets Sarah, the daughter of the police officer who shot him, as she grapples with her father's actions.

R

A Wreck of Seabirds by Karleah Olson

e

When Briony first meets Ren, he is standing in the freezing sea at the edge of their tiny town. Ren hasn't been home for a decade but has returned to be with his dying father. Briony won't leave, hoping that Sarah, her missing sister, will one day reappear. Sarah and her friend Aria have been stranded on a desolate island far off the coast. The longer they're trapped there, the less alone they seem. How many secrets in this town have been swallowed by the brooding sea?

book

GN S

Year 8 - 9 Year 8 - 9

Transforming enormous data sets into rich maps and cutting-edge visualisations, they uncover truths about our past, reflect on who we are today, and highlight what we face in the years ahead.

Bury your Friends by Benjamin Dean

S

Noah and his best friends are finally graduating from Woodthorn Academy with the world and all its promises laid out before them. To celebrate exam results day, they’re hosting a party weekend at Black Stone, an opulent country estate, for the whole school to attend. But for one night only, the ten friends will have a low-key celebration – after all, it’s how the upper echelons begin their futures.

But things take a sinister turn when they find themselves in the crosshairs of a killer making one simple rule. Every hour, one person must be evicted from the house, or someone inside the house will die.

Year 8 - 9

1000 Minutes of Danger by Jack Heath Thirty deadly dangers to escape in one epic volume.

The countdown is ticking ... Liliana is trapped in a burning building with no way out. Zak is stuck in a shipping container that is slowly sinking. Bea accidentally stumbles across a nest of monsters.

Read thirty dangerous stories of brave kids across 1000 minutes of reading time!

Of Flame and Fury by Mikayla Bridge

F

A

e

book

Seventeen-year-old Kel Varra and her team of underdogs, the Crimson Howlers, are desperate to win the annual races and the fortune that comes with it. But the Howlers need a new rider, which leads Kel to join forces with Warren “Coup” Coupers – an arrogant rival she can’t get out of her head.

As tensions rise on and off the track, Kel's home is mistakenly burned down, and she’s forced to take a job from a mysterious tech mogul with an unsettling interest in her phoenix, Savita. This sets in motion a conspiracy that threatens everyone Kel cares for, especially Coup, for whom her embers of resentment are quickly igniting into something dangerously new.

S

S

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But it’s not a skill that she’s ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking: they’ve begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie.

Connie Ryder is taken from her home in the dead of night and sent to Silver Lake Academy – a remote, high-security facility for ‘troubled’ teens. At Silver Lake, the vulnerable and the violent are locked in together under a brutal regime that aims to improve their behaviour. But when Connie learns she’s been given the bed of a missing girl named Belle, she is drawn deep into a chilling web of secrets and lies.

R

A

We Saw What You Started by Carla Salmon S

e

book

Otto was a star surfer back in California, but now he just wants a fresh start. When fires break out in Red Sands, the locals are suspicious. It's no coincidence that Otto's at the scene every time. Is it? Milly isn't so sure. Small town talk isn't always right - especially when it comes to her 'perfect' brother, who doesn't deserve to become captain of the surf lifesaving club.

What if the new boy is innocent? Can Otto and Milly trust each other to find the truth behind the fires? And what happens when you do the wrong things for the right reasons?

Year 8 - 9 Year 8 - 9

Gone for Good by Sarah Crossan

Daughter of Smoke & Bone

by Laini Taylor

F

Year 10 and Beyond

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands", she speaks many languages - not all of them human - and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that colour.

Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

Perfect Cover by Jennifer Lynn Barnes S Bayport High operates like any other high school. Enter Toby Klein, a sophomore computer hacker, who has zero school spirit, a black belt in karate, and what her guidance counsellor calls an "attitude problem." She's the last person you’d expect to be invited to join the varsity cheerleading squad. But things are different at Bayport. The Squad is actually a cover for the most highly trained group of underage government operatives the United States has ever assembled.

They make it all look easy. Mentally, they're exceptional.

Socially, they're gifted, so they can command and manipulate any situation. And above all, they have the perfect cover, because, beyond herkies and highlights, no one expects anything from a cheerleader.

NF

Where the Lights Gets In by Ben Crowe

A

One of the world's most in-demand mindset coaches, Ben Crowe, reveals the nine simple yet profound perspective shifts that can change the way we see the world and ourselves, helping us to remove pressure and bring more joy, play and purpose into our lives, build confidence and belief in ourselves, and redefine what it means to live a successful life.

eBook

e

book

SF

Tailored Realities by Brandon Sanderson Spanning the genres of fantasy and science fiction, Tailored Realities includes ten works of short fiction from one of our senior boys’ favourite authors. From futuristic detective thrillers to inventive space opera, superhero action, high-tech fantasy, and beyond.

A

Advice on the best of Australia from a family that knows.The family of Bec and Justin Lorrimer have travelled around Australia multiple times and think they can offer advice on the best of the best experiences and sights to make a discerning travel bucket list.

S

e

book

The Killer Question by Janice Hallett Mal and Sue Eastwood were once the kindly landlords of a local village pub, who ran a weekly pub quiz and were well-liked by their customers and colleagues. But now, The Case stands empty, its windows boarded up. What could have happened to Mal and Sue? Did The Case close because it was failing? Was it because of the body pulled from the nearby river? Or was it to do with the quiz? It had always been a quiet affair, five teams of locals battling it out for a small prize pot. Until one day, a mysterious new team of outsiders arrived and started winning every round.

Year 10 and Beyond

Bucket List Experiences by Bec and Justin Lorrimer

NF

S

A

Year 10 and Beyond

eBook

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Sutanto Vera wakes up one morning to find a dead man in the middle of her tea shop. It’s going to take more than a strong Longjing to fix things.

Knowing she’ll do a better job than the police possibly could – because nobody sniffs out wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands – Vera decides it’s down to her to catch the killer.

H

Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson A teen girl travels to an exclusive boarding school located deep within the Scottish moorlands after a deadly incident at her old school, but the wood-paneled halls of Agathion are built over centuries of secrets —including an ancient society which may have ties to demonic magic—in this dark academia fantasy.

SF

A

e

book

A

e

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company. His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realises that an impossible task now confronts him.

book

R

Golden by Jade Timms

e

Golden is a warm-hearted, optimistic story about friends and friendship and art and beauty and the power of letting yourself be loved...

book

When you work in the juice bar of your small coastal town.

When your twin brother is the fun one with all the friends.

When something happened a year ago that you can't talk about, but everything makes you remember it.

When it might have been all your fault.

Six months ago, season four of The Escape Game ended in horror when contestant Alicia Angelos was found murdered on set.

Now season five is underway, and new contestants are ready to put their skills to the test solving the show's trickiest escape rooms.

There's Adi, the cryptographer; Carter, the math whiz; Beck, the wannabe game master, and . . .

Sierra Angelos, the girl who got away with her sister’s murder. Or so everyone believes.

Sierra’s not just here to win.

She’s here for justice.

Bio R

Road Home by Rex Ogle This final, essential chapter in Rex Ogle’s memoir trilogy recounts being forced from his home and living on the streets after his conservative father discovered he was gay.

When Rex was outed the summer after he graduated high school, his father gave him a choice: he could stay at home, find a girlfriend, and attend church twice a week, or he could be gay―and leave. Rex left, driving toward the only other gay man he knew and a toxic relationship that would ultimately leave him homeless and desperate on the streets of New Orleans.

S

A eBook

Year 10 and Beyond

The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer and Tamara Moss

eBooks and Audiobooks through BorrowBox You don’t have to be at school to read these books! Use your school account to log in to our digital platform to read or listen to these books on your phone, computer, or tablet.

Scan the QR Code or click here to visit the Weickhardt Library DEEDS page on using BorrowBox. How to get into Borrow Box. 1.DOWNLOAD the BorrowBox app to your device through the Apple App store or Google Play store.

It looks like this....

2.SIGN IN to create your account, make sure you choose Camberwell Grammar School from the drop down list of Libraries.

3.ENTER in your school username (the first part of your email address) and enter Password: student.

Happy Reading!!!

Notes:

Happy Holidays and Happy Reading

Weickhardt Library Monday to Thursday 8.00am to 6.00pm Friday 8.00am to 4.30pm seniorlibrary@cgs.vic.edu.au