The shortlist for the 2024 ABIAs (Australian Book Industry Awards) has been announced.

The ABIAs demonstrate the exceptional collaborations occurring between publishers, authors, editors, illustrators, marketers and designers in bringing quality books to Australian and international markets.

The ABIA Academy, comprising more than 250 publishers, booksellers, agents, media and industry representatives, has selected the shortlists from books published over the past calendar year, across 13 categories. It’s fair to say that the quality of work has made selection tough, and every shortlisted title is a worthy contender.

The 2024 shortlist features some of the biggest names in the Australian book industry as well as incredible new talent. The shortlist determines which titles, publishers and authors will be in the running for the 2024 ABIAs.

This year’s star-studded red-carpet Awards Ceremony has moved to Melbourne where the category winners and the overall ‘Book of the Year’ winner will be announced on Thursday, 9 May.

The shortlist for General Fiction Book of the Year is:

• Homecoming, Kate Morton (Allen & Unwin)

• Mr Einstein’s Secretary, Matthew Reilly (Pan Macmillan Australia, Macmillan)

• Green Dot, Madeleine Gray (Allen & Unwin)

• The Bookbinder of Jericho, Pip Williams (Affirm Press)

• Dark Mode, Ashley Kalagian-Blunt (Hardie Grant, Publishing Ultimo Press)

• Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect, Benjamin Stevenson (Penguin Random House Australia, Michael Joseph)

The shortlist for Book of the Year for Younger Children (ages 7–12) is:

• It’s the Sound of the Thing, Maxine Beneba Clarke (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing, HGCP Older Readers)

• Songlines, Margo Neale, Lynne Kelly, Blak Douglas (Thames & Hudson)

• Kimmi, Favel Parrett (Hachette Australia, Lothian Children’s Books)

• The 169-Storey Treehouse, Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton (Pan Macmillan Australia, Pan)

• Custodians: Wylah the Koorie Warrior 2, Jordan Gould and Richard Pritchard (Allen & Unwin, Albert Street Books)

• Ember and the Island of Lost Creatures, Jason Pamment (Allen & Unwin)

Click here to read the full shortlist.