There’s nothing quite like sharing the gift of a good book. At Red Kangaroo Books, we take pride in our collection of thousands of books by Australian and First Nations authors, making it the perfect place to find a unique and meaningful gift for the book-lover in your life.
If you're looking for First Nations books to gift, we have hand-picked a selection of stand-out First Nations fiction books that would make excellent gifts. Here are five recommendations from our collection:
TOO MUCH LIP by Melissa Lucashenko
GENRE: FICTION
Winner of the Miles Franklin Award
Themes:
- Family
- Love
- Redemption
Overview:
Too much lip, her old problem from way back. And the older she got, the harder it seemed to get to swallow her opinions. The avalanche of bullshit in the world would drown her if she let it; the least she could do was raise her voice in anger.
Wise-cracking Kerry Salter has spent a lifetime avoiding two things – her hometown and prison. But now her Pop is dying and she’s an inch away from the lockup, so she heads south on a stolen Harley.
Review:
‘In Too Much Lip, Lucashenko has created an iconic Australian regional community, one that you would expect to stumble into while driving through the backroads of northern New South Wales.’ Sydney Review of Books
BLOOD by Tony Birch
GENRE: FICTION
Shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award
Themes:
- Coming-of-age
- Love
- Survival
Overview:
Jesse has sworn to protect his sister, Rachel, no matter what. It’s a promise that cannot be broken. A promise made in blood. But, when it comes down to life or death, how can he find the courage to keep it?
Review:
‘Nothing short of outstanding. Tony Birch could take home a few prizes, deservedly so. Blood is a humanist masterpiece that has been worth the wait.’ Australian Book Review
TERRA NULLIUS by Claire G. Coleman
GENRE: SPECULATIVE FICTION
SHORTLISTED FOR THE STELLA PRIZE
Themes:
- Colonial history
- Science-fiction
- Futuristic
Overview:
Jacky was running. There was no thought in his head, only an intense drive to run. There was no sense he was getting anywhere, no plan, no destination, no future. All he had was a sense of what was behind, what he was running from. Jacky was running.
Review:
Noongar writer Claire Coleman's debut novel, Terra Nullius, envisions a continent disturbingly familiar and worryingly futuristic. Disturbing because it opens with a scenario of settler dispossession; worrying because Coleman's stories serve as a critique of recent history and prophesy a "second wave invasion and a post-colonial future". - Sydney Morning Herald
CARPENTARIA by Alexis Wright
GENRE: FICTION
Winner of the Miles Franklin Award
Themes:
- Mythology
- Family
- Politics
Overview:
Alexis Wright is one of Australia’s finest Aboriginal writers. Carpentaria is her second novel, an epic set in the Gulf country of north-western Queensland, from where her people come. The novel’s portrait of life in the precariously settled coastal town of Desperance centres on the powerful Phantom family, leader of the Westend Pricklebush people, and its battles with old Joseph Midnight’s renegade Eastend mob on the one hand, and the white officials of Uptown and the neighbouring Gurfurrit mine on the other.
Review:
"Despite highly laudatory reviews, Wright’s 500-plus-page tale of the tortured relations between blacks and whites in the sparsely populated desert country around the Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Queensland languished on bookstore shelves."
The New York Times
Burn by Melanie Saward
Themes:
- Prejudice
- First Nations Voice
- Community
Overview:
When a tragic bushfire puts two kids in hospital, Indigenous teenager Andrew knows the police will come after him first. But Andrew almost wants to be caught, because at least it might make his dad come and rescue him from suburban Brisbane and his neglectful mother.
Review:
'A great book - storytelling with heart, and a testimony to truth.' – Tony Birch
