^{I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and pay respect to elders past and present. I would also like to recognise the importance of story and culture to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the way that they nurtured and taught their children with story passed from generation to generation.}

Our thanks to those who were able to join us for our SLAV online Book Club on Tuesday July 22nd, 2025, to discuss the topic: Road Trips

As usual, we finished out session with attendees sharing what they have been reading lately.

Thanks to Mia from The Sun Bookshop for her list of books on this topic, including new and upcoming releases.

Our next Online Book Club meeting is on Wednesday September 3rd and the topic of conversation is ‘Banned Books’.

Disclaimer: The lists generated as a result of Book Club discussions are not, by any means, an exhaustive list of all titles or authors for each genre/category discussed. Nor will all titles be suitable for all libraries. We advise staff discretion when referencing these lists, to properly confirm individual title suitability for individual libraries, school and student’s needs. These are suggested titles only, shared by our members and inclusion on, or exclusion from, a list does not suggest SLAV endorsement or rejection of a title.

What is a road trip?

My understanding of the theme Road Trips (helped by Copilot) is a journey “that invites us to wander across pages where maps are optional and courage is essential. Whether we're trekking through mythical landscapes, crossing continents in search of identity, or leaping into the unknown with a backpack of dreams, our chosen stories all share one heartbeat: the thrill of the journey.” Thanks to Copilot for assistance with this introduction.

I think that we could take the theme “road trips” to mean journeys.

Journeys by car, train, boat, ship, plane, helicopter, magic, the mythical, time-travel etc. Do you have others? Perhaps you could add them to the chat.

My first question is “What elements or motifs do we need in this fiction?” Can you write some of them in the chat.

E.g. Maps, landscapes, treks, courage, obstacles, great complications, …….

My next question is ‘What are the genres of books that share this theme?’

I think that we could include adventure, fantasy, mystery and suspense, real life, classics, ……………

What do we mean by adventure?

Adventure books pull us from our comfort zones, challenges our perspectives, and offers a passport to places both real and imagined. Journeys—physical, emotional, or spiritual—drive characters to evolve, and us, as readers as we empathise, to reflect on our own paths.

I have a few more questions to get us thinking about this topic.

· What makes a reading journey transformative? Do you have an example?

· How does fictional adventure shape character?

Picture Books:

Ella and the Ocean by Lian Tanner & Jonathan Bentley

Are We There Yet? by Alison Lester

The Summer Holiday Den by Twinkl Originals

Mr Chicken All Over Australia by Leigh

Walking in Gagudju by Diane Lucas, Ben Tyler & Emma Long

A River by Marc Martin

Everything & Everywhere by Marc Martin

Cooee Mittigar: A Story of Darug Songlines by Jasmine Seymour & Leanne Mulgo Watson

The Boy Who Biked the World (Part 3: Riding Home Through Asia) by Alistair Humphreys

The Explorer by Katherine Rundell

Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney

The Top End: Our Trip Across Australia by Roland Harvey

Mr Chicken Goes To Paris by Leigh Hobbs

Tiwi in Paris by Glen Farmer Illortaminni

Pip's Trip Around The World by Fanny Joly

We Live In A Bus by Dave Petzold

Your Holiday Was The Best! by Maggie Hutchings

An Amazing Australian Road Trip by Jackie Hosking

Middle Grade:

Runt by Craig Silvey

The Land of Lost Things by Andy Griffiths & Bill Hope

Tigg and the Bandicoot Bushranger by Jackie French

Mim and the Baffling Bully (The Travelling Bookshop series) by Katrina Nannestad

Found in Melbourne by Joanne O'Callaghan & Kori Song

Once series by Morris Glietzman

Outlaw Girls by Emily Gale & Nova Weetman

Graphic Novels

Ember and the Island of Lost Creatures by Jason Pamment

Ghost Book by Remy Lai

Hairy Holes by Brenton McKenna

Leaf-Light by Trace Balla

The Odds: The Power of Being Odd by Matt Stanton

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart

Dirt by Sea by Michael Wagner

Scout and the rescue dogs by Dianne Wolfer

Figgy in the World by Tamsin Janu

Runt and the Diabolical Dognapping by Craig Silvey

The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo

The Christmas Pig by J.K. Rowling

We are Wolves by Katrina Nannestad

The War that saved my life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Louisiana's Way Home - Kate DiCamillo (book 2 of a trilogy - the other two are Raymie Nightingale and Beverley, Right Here)

Westfallen by Ann Brashares & Ben Brashares

You & Me and the Peanut Butter Beast by Andy Griffiths

Tiwi Girl Hunters by Tiwi College

Time Lions and the Chrono-Loop by Martin Seneviratne

Oceanforged: The Wicked Ship by Amelia Mellor

The Keeper of the Octopus by Neridah McMullin

Run by Sarah Armstrong

Bravepaw and the Heartstone of Alluria by L.M. Wilkinson

Wylah the Koorie Warrior by Jordan Gould & Richard Pritchard

The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer

Wurrtoo by Tylissa Elisara & Dylan Finney

Young Adult:

Scar Town by Tristan Bancks

Into the Mouth of the Wolf by Erin Gough

The Year the Maps Changed by Danielle Binks

A Wreck of Seabirds by Karleah Olson

Love & Luck by Jenna Evans Welch

Four for the Road by K. J. Reilly

Are You Seeing Me? by Darren Groth

Changing Gear by Scot Gardiner

Road tripping with Pearl Nash by Poppy Nwosu

An abundance of Katherines by John Green

Five Survive by Holly Jackson

Two sparrowhawks lonely sky by Rebecca Lim

Swerve by Phillip Gwynne

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants by Ann Brashares

Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody

Sunny At The End Of The World by Steph Bowe

Wandering Wild by Lynette Noni

Skipshock by Caroline O’Donoghue

Weaving Us Together by Lay Maloney

A Guide to Falling Off the Map by Zanni L. Arnot

When the World Tips Over by Jandy Nelson

Pull of the Moon by Pip Smith

Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel

How to Survive 1985 by Tegan Bennett Daylight

Never Thought I’d End Up Here by Anne Liang

Senior Fiction:

Hitchhikers's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

What Have We Been Reading?

Three Boys Gone by Mark Smith

The Coast Road by Alan Murrin

The Secret Year of Zara Holt by Freeman

Calamity by Brandon Sanderson

The Covenant of Water

loved Eleanor Jones is playing with fire by Amy Doak (YA)

Melaleuca by Angie Faye Martin (adult)

Sonny & Tess by Nova Weetman (MG)

We saw what you started by Carla Salmon (YA)

I am listening to Terciel & Elinor, Book 6 in Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series.

Little Bones by Sandy Bigna

Six summers of Tash & Leopold by Danielle Binks

Speak to me of home by Jeanine Cummins

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

Always Home always homesick by Hannah Kent

The Glassmaker by Tracey Chevalier

Road trip by Beth O'Leary

Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks

The Postcard by Anne Berest

Long Island by Colm Toibin

Caledonian Road by Andrew O'Hagan

Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge

Hannah Kent - Awards - Burial Rites

The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith