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The Midwatch

By Judith Rossell
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Brief Description
The biggest children's book of the year! The Midwatch is the long-awaited new middle-grade novel from internationally bestselling author–illustrator Judith Rossell, creator of the multi-award-winning novel Withering-by-Sea. ‘The city was stuffed full of wickedness, everyone knew that …’ Banished to the Midwatch Institute for Orphans, Runaways... Read More
Format: Hardback
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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The biggest children's book of the year! The Midwatch is the long-awaited new middle-grade novel from internationally bestselling author–illustrator Judith Rossell, creator of the multi-award-winning novel Withering-by-Sea.

‘The city was stuffed full of wickedness, everyone knew that …’

Banished to the Midwatch Institute for Orphans, Runaways and Unwanted Girls, Maggie Fishbone is sure she’s in for a life of drudgery. But she quickly discovers there’s more to the Midwatch than meets the eye …

The city shimmers with jewels and secrets, and soon Maggie is thrust into an adventure that takes her deep underground, high above the clouds, and face to face with danger itself.

Turn the page and prepare to be drawn into a lavishly illustrated world, brimming with mystery, unlikely heroines and an adventure as big as the sky.

PRAISE FOR THE MIDWATCH

Winner of the 2025 BookPeople Children's Book of the Year Award

Shortlisted for the 2025 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Children’s Literature

Shortlisted for the 2025 Indie Book Awards

Shortlisted for the 2025 Australian Book Industry Awards

Shortlisted for the 2025 Australian Book Design Awards

Finalist in the 2024 Aurealis Awards

‘Gasp-out-loud brilliant! An absolute treasure of a book.’
— KATRINA NANNESTAD, bestselling author of We Are Wolves

‘I was hooked from the beginning ... Move over Lemony Snicket!’
— KAREN FOXLEE, award-winning author of Lenny’s Book of Everything

‘Welcome all treasure-hunters and mystery-solvers to the Midwatch Institute … [where] disobedient girls are not to be underestimated!’
— AMELIA MELLOR, award-winning author of The Grandest Bookshop in the World

‘A cracking concept, sensational characters and absolutely smashing pictures: The Midwatch is the cat’s pyjamas!’
— JACLYN MORIARTY, award-winning author of the Kingdoms and Empires series

‘Cinematic, amusing, and exciting: a slightly subversive, delightfully empowering, all-around winner.’
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

‘Absolutely winning adventure tale brimming with awe-inspiring characters.’
— The Sydney Morning Herald

'[A] subversive and captivating examination of adventure, lifelong learning, and sisterhood ... Action and adventure abound.'
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781761212369

Publisher: Hardie Grant Children's Publishing

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 01 October 2024

Country: Australia

Imprint: Hardie Grant Children's Publishing

Illustration: Black & White

Audience: Children

DIMENSIONS

Width: 153.0mm

Height: 215.0mm

Weight: 541g

Pages: 320

Collections

Best Sellers at Book Hero Children's Books Children's Fiction Children's Historical Fiction Children’s, Teenage and Educational Classic Fiction Historical Fiction In Stock Books In stock Children's Books In Stock Kid's Books Judith Rossell School Holiday Sale School Holiday Sale: Books School Holiday Sale: Fiction Young Adult Young Adult Mystery & Thriller

About the Author

Judith Rossell is the multi-award-winning author-illustrator of the bestselling Stella Montgomery series (Withering-by-Sea, Wormwood Mire and Wakestone Hall). Judith has written fifteen books and illustrated more than eighty. Her work has been published in the US and UK, and translated into more than twenty languages. She has been a Writer in Residence in Heidelberg, Germany, and run illustration workshops with children around the world. She teaches at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and the Australian Writers' Centre. She lives in Melbourne, Australia.

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