August & Jones

Meet Jones and August: Jones’s family have had to sell their farm and relocate to Sydney because of the drought, while August’s quirky personality means he feels isolated both at school and at home. August is chosen to show Jones around on her first day at Oakwood Primary and the two quickly become firm friends, bonding over their love of nature and running. Not long into the term, Jones experiences blurred vision and headaches, arousing fears that the cancer that took her left eye as an infant has returned. Meanwhile, August’s athletic older brother is a lot to live up to, especially when August would rather be listening to pop music and knitting with his sister-to the embarrassment of his football-mad father. Getting through the rest of the year will require a lot of trust and strength from these young characters. Pip Harry’s first middle-grade novel, The Little Wave, won awards from the CBCA and Speech Pathology Australia. Inspired by the friendship between two children in Victoria, Harry returns with this big-hearted story about friendship and resilience. August and Jones face many challenges in this novel-illness, family separation, bullying-but together, they support each other and achieve great things. Harry alternates between their perspectives, and her genuine affection and care for each character is incredibly moving, especially combined with a simple writing style. Anyone 10 and up who enjoyed *Wonder *or Sick Bay will fall in love with August & Jones. Annie Waters sells books, writes about books and podcasts about books. *She speaks to Pip Harry about *August & Jones here.

Pip Harry is an Australian author, copywriter and journalist.

Her verse novel The Little Wave won the 2020 Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award for Younger Readers. Pip’s second verse novel, Are You There, Buddha?, was a 2022 Children’s Book Council of Australia Notable Book and was shortlisted for the 2022 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature.

Pip’s novel August & Jones, published by Hachette in 2022, was shortlisted for the CBCA Book of the Year: Younger Readers 2023 and the 2024 YABBA Awards, and won the CBCA Shadow Judging Book of the Year for Younger Readers.

Pip has also written picture books Over or Under? (a CBCA Notable book and shortlisted for the ABIA Picture Book of the Year Award 2025) and The Inside Dog, and verse novel Drift (a CBCA Notable book and shortlisted for the Indie Young Adult Book Award 2026).

She lives on Sydney’s Northern Beaches with her family and energetic rescue kelpie.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.