Melanie La’Brooy is the author of the multi-award-winning fantasy novel The Wintrish Girl and its sequel, The Lost History. Her middle-grade books are known for mixing exciting action and humour with serious themes such as racism and gender stereotyping.
Melanie has lived in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Her travels have taken her from the highlands of Papua New Guinea to dog sledding across a frozen lake in Finland and her global adventures are woven throughout her storytelling. She previously wrote five novels for adults, which were published in Australia and internationally, before discovering that writing for kids was ten times more fun (and 100 times harder).
Melanie is an experienced presenter whose sessions are very interactive and occasionally get a bit loud! There is a lot of audience participation as she uses games and quizzes to inspire thinking about writing and creativity. She is also passionate about discussing diversity and representation, as The Wintrish Girl was the winner of the DANZ Children’s Book Award, a diversity award supported by the Australian School Library Association.
Schools have consistently described Melanie’s visits as fun, inspiring and engaging and she has pages of testimonials that she can provide if needed! The last thing you may like to know about her is that her surname is pronounced La-Broy, like boy but with an r. It’s confusing, she knows.
AWARDS:
- Winner of the Aurealis Award for Best Children’s Fiction
- Winner of the DANZ (Diversity in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand) Children’s Book Award
- Shortlisted for the Readings Children’s Prize
- 2023 CBCA Notable
