Proofs of my new middle grade - ‘Shakespeare in the Orchard’ - arrived today. And yes, I still get a little teary when I see all my work in bound-book form ❤️ doubly so when it’s a gorgeous cover designed by @astredhicksdesigncherry with such wonderful details!
It’s middle grade, for readers aged 10-13+ and coming out in July with @hachettekidsanz
🍎 BLURB; 👑
~A coming-of-age story inspired by true events in Australia in World War I that explores the things that separate us and those that bring us together, from an award-winning author.~
Langwarrin, Victoria, 1914.
The whole world is at war. In Langwarrin on the Mornington Peninsula, fourteen-year-old Jack Thorning is the best marksman in military cadet training. His brother, Matt, taught him everything he knew, after their father died. But now Matt has joined the war effort, and it’s up to Jack to hold down the home front and help his mother run the family orchard.
When a group of ‘enemy aliens’ are sent to Langwarrin to be held prisoner at the military base, tensions in the town run high. For Jack and his best friend, Walter, the war feels closer than ever.
Like the rest of the town, Jack and Walter want nothing to do with the German prisoners. But as the war progresses, the inmates at the camp are put to work doing manual labour on the farms around Langwarrin, including Jack’s family orchard, and Jack begins to see that the prisoners are people, too.
What could Jack possibly have in common with the people responsible for keeping his beloved brother at war? And can Shakespeare bring them all together?
🍎👑🍎👑🍎
Inspired by real WWI events in my hometown, and the truly inspiring story of how prisoners turned to art during their confinement … and - I dunno - a story about immigrants being locked up and vilified, children being militarised via propaganda and jingoism of the times, a war in which nobody can quite point to it’s genesis beyond diplomacy breaking down and nationalism gripping the globe … might be relevant today, even though it’s set 1914-1915? 🤷♀️
I can’t wait for everyone to discover #ShakespeareInTheOrchard #DanielleBinks #AusBookstagram #HistoricalFiction #LoveOzMG
I know Christmas is right around the corner, but I’ve already received the best gift this year - from darling @biffy_james , a sticker that is now proudly displayed on my laptop.
Rainbow fish + Twilight = be still my beating heart
🐟 🧛🏻
#Twilight #RainbowFish #StephenieMeyer #ThisIsTheSkinOfAKillerBella
I finally have the chance to collect my thoughts and share this very special moment that I was honoured to take part in: an in-conversation with the indomitable Dr. Randa Abdel-Fattah at @newcastlewritersfestival , talking about her bestselling and award-winning @uqpbooks novel, ‘Discipline.’
Thank you so much @randaafattah , for choosing me talk to you about this beautiful and important book. There was so much goodwill and love in that Hall for you, I felt it and I heard it around the festival too.
I quoted a section from ‘Discipline,’ one of many that gave me goosebumps - “Jamal had learnt to compartmentalise his rage and grief, had learnt a level of self-restraint that can perhaps only come from living through slow-cooked trauma.” - I felt the audience catch their breath, as you spoke of Palestine, Gaza, Israeli occupation and genocide. I felt their anger and deep well of sadness. But I do believe we all came together as an act of resistance and hope too.
I’m going to share what I said in closing;
‘The fact that you’re here at this Writers Festival, feels like no small feat. Another line in your acknowledgements seemed relevant to me; “I acknowledge you for speaking and acting despite the personal costs, and I acknowledge your courage for taking the moral path, not the safe one.” That’s you thanking others, but I think on behalf of everyone here I’d like to thank you too. Another powerful line from Discipline goes; “Solidarity in the shadows isn’t solidarity, it’s cowardice.”’
#RandaAbdelFattah - you show us the way, constantly. @rosemariemilsom and @thatamylovat did too - and those attendees and volunteers of #NWF2026 who refused to cower and capitulate, but celebrated you and your story - I cannot thank them all enough. They wouldn’t seek to silence us, if our words and solidarity didn’t matter so much.
I do believe this closing night session of #NewcastleWritersFestival will be available on their podcast eventually.
And here’s some photos I took from attendees’ socials (🙏) and a collection of others I quoted in the session.
Thank you.
Love you, Randa ❤️
#FreePalestine 🇵🇸 #ReadersAndWritersAgainstTheGenocide
Got new author headshots taken last week - with the ever fabulous @janisalwayshashercamera 🩵 makeup done by the legend that is @makeupbysophieknox !
This dynamic duo did my first author photos back in 2019, but I needed a refresh because I’m 1.) no longer blonde and 2.) older now 😊
And just like last time, when I got home I took some selfies with Murray - looking very flash!
#dogsofinstagram #JanisHousePhotography #MakeupBySophieKnox #DogSelfie #doggo
#CherryBaby 🍒 by #RainbowRowell
I thoroughly enjoyed this - but I enjoy all of Rowell’s books. I feel like I’m a bit of an aficionado of her works now, because reading this I could kinda map the previous plotted pathways that she took to get here …
‘Cherry Baby’ is about a woman (Cherry) whose marriage has just ended, whose husband developed a popular comic-strip about his life that frequently included a female character modeled on his wife (Baby)
It reminded me of Rowell’s other novel ‘Landline,’ that featured a wife who was a TV writer and struggling in her marriage, who discovers a phone that can call back to the past when she and her husband were in the first throes of their romance. Similarly in ‘Cherry Baby,’ - the book begins with Cherry meeting “the one that got away,” from her college days - the guy who ended up dating her best friend, likely tied to reasons of Cherry being fat (her own word) and her friend being conventionally attractive (also: skinny).
I think ‘Cherry Baby’ also follows a similar and lovely pathway as Rowell’s last book ‘Slow Dance’ (which I loved slightly more) - in that it was also about past regrets, and wondering if we’ve done irrevocable harm to our romantic yearnings by not being honest and open, or fighting hard enough. Both books also do Rowell signature move of seamlessly showing the past as we’re grounded in the present.
‘Cherry Baby’ does something new though - even though Rowell has always written fat female characters, in this novel she has Cherry articulating exactly what that means to move through the world as a fat woman. And particularly at a time of Ozempic usage - in Hollywood, and her own family - it’s always been discussed in snippets and small insights of Rowell’s other books, but is gloriously all on the line here. I was electrified by its central inclusion to Cherry’s character and the story itself.
I loved this. I love everything that Rowell writes. I did think the alternate love interest was a little hurriedly deposed and therefore the latter-half didn’t feel fully earned or explored, but … I loved it nonetheless.
4/5
#bookstagram #book #reading
Want to see support for books, creators, and reading prioritised by the Federal Government? Then please join Jacinta and Danielle in making a submission to the policy consultation by 24 May 2026 (‼️‼️‼️)
The Australian Government has launched a national consultation for Australia’s next National Cultural Policy – and they want to hear from you. Building on the achievements of the current policy, ‘Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place,’ this new policy will provide a framework for supporting the creative and cultural sector – including literature, books and reading.
Please visit 👉https://www.arts.gov.au/what-we-do/new-national-cultural-policy👈 to make a submission
Some great organisations that have provided templates or easy to use submission guides and suggestions include; @bookscreateaus , @australiareads , @loveyourbookshopau and the @asauthors . Please check out their websites for some letter-writing inspiration!
#BooksCreateAustralia #AustraliaReads #AusBookstagram #AusPop #LoveOzYA
‘Not to be dramatic, but the quote, “The only people on this planet are women and their children”
permanently altered my brain chemistry’
🌱
#HappyMothersDay #MothersDay #Women #MotherandChild #BartolomeoPinelli
Happy Mother’s Day! 🩷 Seems like a good time for me to rave about @lisamoule6 ’s book …
🩷 #TheMotherofAllCalamities by #LisaMoule 🩵
A relatable, humorous and heartfelt take on contemporary parenting culture, exposing the cracks behind the Instagram gloss.
In Greengully, the perfect suburb with perfect parents, nothing is quite as it seems. Chrissy, the teacher who always has the answers, can’t understand why her clueless male colleague just scored the job she deserved. Jenny, the perennial class mum, is desperate to hide her son’s escalating behaviour from the other parents. Estelle insists her daughter Harmony is a delight-despite mounting evidence to the contrary. And Viv, the quiet one, carries a secret so dark it could destroy everything she loves.
As friendships strain and facades crack, the Greengully school year exposes the lies we tell ourselves and the masks we wear for others. Sharp-eyed and utterly relatable, it asks: What would happen if we all stopped pretending everything was fine? 🩵🩵🩵
#bookstagram #book #read
"I think literacy is the key; it really is the lightning-rod that can change and expand societies. It makes for more engaged and informed citizens, and it has the unique ability of growing empathy (this is also scientifically proven; books make us more empathetic, quite literally asking someone to walk around in a fictional character's shoes for the span of 100+ pages is growing a sustained ability to empathise and see things from someone else's point of view!) I always say; art changes people, and people change the world." - Danielle Binks
#chaptersforchange
Everyone feels this, right? About social media, lately?
Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog from Looney Tunes meme - but instead of “Mornin’ Ralph, Mornin’ Sam,” it’s; “I’m logging off here forever. Okay man. See you tomorrow. Yeah, see you then.”
😪 #RalphWolf #SamSheepdog #MorninSamMorninRalph #SocialMedia #meme
🌾 ‘Yesteryear’ by Caro Claire Burke 🌾
Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle – and has the social media accounts to prove it. Her charming farmhouse on her working ranch is artfully cluttered, her husband is a handsome cowboy, her homemade sourdough boules are each more beautiful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers and industrial-grade ovens behind the scenes? What Natalie’s followers don’t know won’t hurt them.
Then, one morning, Natalie wakes up in a strange, horrible version of reality. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Is this a hoax? A reality show? A test from God? Natalie knows just two things for sure: this isn’t her perfect life, and she must escape, by any means possible.
🌾🌾🌾 Sold 3-3.25 out of 5 for me.
I listened to this on audiobook from my library, but then I also purchased a copy because I do think I’ll want to pass it onto family to read, and talk about it with me 😅
So … I actually preferred my prediction of what I *thought* was happening (mad cow’s disease or hallucinations from drinking unpasteurised milk).
I thought this was a GREAT and timely concept, but it doesn’t *quite* live up to the hype. It drags and doesn’t fully commit to the bit in the ways I’d hoped.
But - y’know - it is such a genuinely great idea that I actually think a film (which I believe Anne Hathaway has got the option for) could be better than the book (even though I also think a film would need to be told from a child’s perspective, to work with all the reveals)
It’s a little M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘The Village’ - aesthetic inspo from Ballerina Farm, but much more commentary lifted from the Ruby Franke case and trial (the Utah mother behind the popular “8 Passengers” YouTube channel who is currently behind bars for child neglect and abuse)
It’s upmarket, book club fiction to a *tee* and even if the blurb is better than the book - I’m glad I read it. And I’m genuinely keen for whatever else Burke writes next!
#Yesteryear #CaroClaireBurke #Book #Bookstagram #Reading
