Books From Around the World (YA): Oceania

It’s often interesting to get a different perspective on the world. Here are some books set in some far-flung places – and some places close to home – grouped by continent/large body of water with islands in it. The books on this list are (mostly) written by authors from the countries they are about, and in many cases have been translated into English from their mother tongues (the book we’ve chosen for Madagascar, Return to the enchanted island by Johary Ravaloson, is only the second book to have ever been translated from Malagasy into English!).

Not all of the books are in the Young Adult collection, but we’ve tried to make sure that they all at least feature kids or teens in prominent places in the story. Our eventual goal is to have at least one book for every country in the world! Help us out by sending in recommendations if you’ve found one we’ve missed!

This list contains books written by authors from Oceania (including Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia). Please note that this list does NOT include books by New Zealand authors – for those titles, please visit our Aotearoa Fiction list. Check out our lists for authors from Africa, Asia, Europe, North and Central America, and South America for even more recommendations!

Updated June 19, 2024
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Wellington City LibrariesYouth team at Wellington City Libraries
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Obernewtyn
Carmody, Isobelle.
Paper Book
In a world struggling back from the brink of apocalypse, life is harsh. But for Elspeth Gordie, born with enhanced mental abilities that would see her sterilised or burned if discovered, it is also dangerous.
Australia | Australian author
Catching Teller Crow
Kwaymullina, Ambelin
Paper Book
This Victorian Premier's Literary Award winner is a totally addictive ghost story, crime story and thriller, told half in prose and half in verse, from two of the most exciting Aboriginal voices in Australia.

Australia | Australian author

The boy from the Mish
Lonesborough, Gary
Paper Book
A funny and heartwarming queer Indigenous YA novel, set in a rural Australian community, about seventeen-year-old Jackson finding the courage to explore who he is, even if it scares him.

Australia | Australian author

We Didn't Think It Through
Lonesborough, Gary
Paper Book
From the author of the award-winning The Boy from the Mish, comes a compelling coming-of-age YA novel about sixteen-year-old Jamie Langton finding his future and navigating the challenges of racism, family and friendship in a small Australian town.

Australia | Australian author

Looking for Alibrandi
Marchetta, Melina
Paper Book
Melina Marchetta'sstunning debut novel Looking for Alibrandi is one girl's story of her final year at school, a year she sets herself free. Josephine Alibrandi is seventeen and in her final year at a wealthy girls' school. This is the year she meets her father, the year she falls in love, the...

Australia | Australian author

Tomorrow, when the war began
Marsden, John
Paper Book
World War III becomes an unstoppable reality in the action-packed first installment of the Tomorrow series--an international bestseller in an eye-catching new paperback.When Ellie and her friends go camping, they have no idea they're leaving their old lives behind forever. Despite a less-than...

Australia | Australian author

The Upwelling
Rose, Lystra
Paper Book
'A deeply immersive young adult fantasy and an enthralling debut. It's a privilege to walk this new path into the oldest of stories' AMIE KAUFMAN, New York Times-bestselling author A CAPTIVATING YOUNG ADULT DEBUT FROM A BLACK&WRITE! WRITING FELLOWSHIP WINNER...

Australia | Australian author

The book thief
Zusak, Markus
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 BEST YA BOOKS OF ALL TIME * A NEW YORK TIMES READER TOP 100 PICK FOR BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY The extraordinary, beloved novel about the ability of books to feed the soul even in the darkest of times...

Australia | Australian author

Bridge of Clay
Zusak, Markus
Paper Book
From the author of the no.1 New York Times bestselling novel The Book Thief."An amazing talent in Australian literature" Sunday Telegraph The Dunbar boys bring each other up in a house run by their own rules. A family of ramshackle tragedy - their mother is dead, their father has fled - they love...

Australia | Australian author

Miss Ulysses from Puka-Puka : the autobiography of a South Sea trader's daughter
Frisbie, Johnny
Paper Book
Miss Ulysses from Puka-Puka (2nd edition) by Florence (Johnny) Frisbie is the first book written by a Polynesian woman. It tells the amazing story of a young girl growing up on a remote island in the Cook Islands group. Written when Johnny was between the ages of 12 and 14, and published in 1948...

Cook Islands | Cook Islands author

Beats of the pa'u
Samuela, Maria
Paper Book
And in the night time we will dance in the moonlight to the quick, steady beats of the pa'u. The pa'u is the pulse of the Cook Islands, a rhythm carrying narratives of a culture to its people. But beyond the reach of its sound, on another shore, a community is working over the course of decades to...

Cook Islands | Cook Islands author

The collected poems of Alistair Te Ariki Campbell
Campbell, Alistair
Paper Book
The Collected Poems of Alistair Te Ariki Campbell is the definitive edition of one of the most important bodies of work in New Zealand poetry. Based on a spiral-bound manuscript entitled 'Complete Poems 1947-2007' found among Campbell's papers after his death, this is his most...

Cook Islands | Cook Islands-New Zealand poet

The sailmaker's daughter
Johnson, Stephanie
Paper Book
Sent to stay with her childless aunt and uncle on their early twentieth-century Fiji Island sugar plantation while her mother lies dying of the Spanish flu, twelve-year-old Olive grieves while she uncovers well-kept family secrets. 10,000 first printing.

Fiji | New Zealand-Fijian author

Enslaved in paradise : a history of mammoth betrayals of Fijians by the British, chiefs and leaders of Fiji, 1876-2006
Prasad, Rajendra
Paper Book
An historic, cultural and political account of Fiji covering key formative elements and forces of the country during and since the era of Colonisation. Using historical, first-hand and other accounts, the author surveys the Indian "Girmitiyas" (indentured labourers) and their inevitable interaction...

Fiji | Fijian author

A disappearance in Fiji
Rao, Nilima
Paper Book
A charming debut historical mystery set in 1914 Fiji.

Fiji | Fijian-Australian author

Consuming Ocean Island : stories of people and phosphate from Banaba
Teaiwa, Katerina Martina.
Paper Book
Consuming Ocean Island tells the story of the land and people of Banaba, a small Pacific island, which, from 1900 to 1980, was heavily mined for phosphate, an essential ingredient in fertilizer. As mining stripped away the island's surface, the land was rendered uninhabitable, and the...

Kiribati | i-Kiribati author

Sweat and salt water : selected works
Teaiwa, Teresia
Paper Book
On 21 March 2017, Associate Professor Teresia Kieuea Teaiwa passed away at the age of forty-eight. News of Teaiwa's death precipitated an extraordinary outpouring of grief unmatched in the Pacific studies community since Epeli Hau'ofa's passing in 2009. Mourners referenced Teaiwa's nurturing...

Kiribati | i-Kiribati author

Indigenous literatures from Micronesia
Flores, Evelyn
Paper Book
For the first time, poetry, short stories, critical and creative essays, chants, and excerpts of plays by Indigenous Micronesian authors have been brought together to form a resounding--and distinctly Micronesian--voice. With over two thousand islands spread across almost three million square...

Various authors from Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, and Palau

Strangers in their own land : a century of colonial rule in the Caroline and Marshall Islands
Hezel, Francis X.
Paper Book

Marshall Islands | Author is a Jesuit priest who lived and worked in Micronesia for more than 50 years

Legends, traditions and tales of Nauru : a transcript of a series of lectures delivered by native teachers
Detudamo, Timothy.
Paper Book
In a fast globalizing world, group histories,traditions and memories, especially of smaller countries, are at risk of being lost. In 1938, Head Chief Detudamo had the foresight to transcribe and then translate, a series of lectures relating to the legends, customs and tales of Nauru, delivered by...

Nauru | Nauruan author

Tales of Niue nukututaha : in Niuean and English
Feilo, Zora
Paper Book
A collection of twelve stories in both English and Niuean set on the island if Niue, this is the author's reinterpretation of myth, legend and storytelling from her native land. Each story is lavishly illustrated by Niuean artist Lange Taufelila.

Niue | Niuean-New Zealand author

When the moon was big, and other legends from New Guinea
Beier, Ulli.
Paper Book

Papua New Guinea | German author who lived and worked extensively in Papua New Guinea in the 1960s and 70s

Mister Pip
Jones, Lloyd
Paper Book
In a novel that is at once intense, beautiful, and fablelike, Lloyd Jones weaves a transcendent story that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the power of narrative to transform our lives. On a copper-rich tropical island shattered by war, where the teachers have fled...

Papua New Guinea | New Zealand author; book is based partly on his experiences as a journalist during the Bougainville Island civil war (1988-98) and his connections with Papua New Guinean soldiers during that time

A true child of Papua New Guinea : memoir of a life in two worlds
Wilson, Maggie
Paper Book
Maggie Wilson was born in the highlands of Papua New Guinea to Melka Amp Jara, a woman of the highlands, and Patrick Leahy, brother of Australian explorers Michael and Daniel Leahy, who were among the first Australian explorers to encounter people in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, during an...

Papua New Guinea | Papua New Guinean author

The savage coloniser book
Avia, Tusiata
Paper Book
Kneel like a prayer full of lynching This is my God-given white The voices of Tusiata Avia are infinite. She ranges from vulnerable to forbidding to celebratory with forms including pantoums, prayers and invocations. And in this electrifying new work, she gathers all the power of her voice to speak...

Samoa | New Zealand-Samoan poet

Where we once belonged
Figiel, Sia
Paper Book
Thirteen-year-old Alofa Filiga struggles to come to terms with womanhood, her search for identity, and the restrictions of life in her Samoan village.

Samoa | Samoan author

Tama Sa?moa
Malaeulu, Dahlia
Paper Book
"Sione, Lima, Tavita and Filipo are high school friends, uso or brothers. They are part of a special letter-writing project that helps to start a brave new conversation, an open and honest talanoa with themselves starting with the words, Dear Uso ... Here they share the cultural challenges they face...

Samoa | New Zealand-Samoan author

The adventures of Vela
Wendt, Albert
Paper Book
Journey through the many stories and worlds of the immortal Vela - Vela, so red and ugly at birth they called him the Cooked; Vela the lonely admirer of pigs and the connoisseur of feet; Vela the lover of song maker Mulialofa the Boneman. Follow him down through the centuries on his travels,...

Samoa | Samoan author

Telesa? : the covenant keeper
Young, Lani Wendt
Paper Book
When Leila moves to her new home, all she wants is a family, a place to belong. Instead she discovers the local ancient myths of the telesa spirit women are more than just scary stories. The more she finds out about her heritage, the more sinister her new home turns out to be. Embraced by a Covenant...

Samoa | New Zealand-Samoan author

Afakasi woman
Young, Lani Wendt
Paper Book
A collection of stories about the women of the Pacific, their struggles with family, love and the effects of climate change on their world. About the author: Lani Young is a Samoan/Maori author and columnist. In 2018, she was named the ACP Pacific Laureate, selected by the African, Caribbean,...

Samoa | New Zealand-Samoan author

To?fa? Sasa'a : contemporary short stories from Sa?moa
Va'ai, Sina.
Paper Book
This collection contains a selection of stories submitted for entry in the inaugural Telecom Samoa Cellular Short Story Competition organised by the National University of Samoa.

Samoa | Various Samoan authors

"Only the word survives" : the Samoa observer tusitala short stories
Young, Seiuli Seti Ah.
Paper Book

Samoa | Various Samoan authors

Devil-devil
Kent, Graeme.
Paper Book
It's not easy being Ben Kella. As a sergeant in the Solomon Islands Police Force, as well as an aofia, a hereditary spiritual peacekeeper of the Lau people, he is viewed with distrust by both the indigenous islanders and the British colonial authorities. In the past few days he has been cursed...

Solomon Islands | British author who worked for many years in the Solomon Islands

Solomoni : times and tales from Solomon Islands
Webber, Roger.
Paper Book
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. During Roger's 10 year stay as a doctor there, the islands progressed through being a British Protectorate, to self-government and finally gained independence.This book is a story of...

Solomon Islands | Tanzanian author who lived and worked in the Solomon Islands

Island of shattered dreams
Spitz, Chantal T.
Paper Book
Finally in English, Island of Shattered Dreams is the first ever novel by an indigenous Tahitian writer. In a lyrical and immensely moving style, this book combines a family saga and a doomed love story, set against the background of French Polynesia in the period leading up to the first nuclear...

Tahiti (French Polynesia) | Tahitian author

Breadfruit : a novel
Vaite, Ce?lestine Hitiura
Paper Book
When a drunken Pito proposes to Materena, she initially thinks it's just the booze talking. As she nevertheless starts planning, she juggles everyday life only to have Pito act as though he's forgotten his proposal.

Tahiti (French Polynesia) | Tahitian author

Kisses in the nederends
Hau'ofa, Epeli
Paper Book
By turns savage and absurdly comic, this brilliant satire allows Hau'ofa to comment on aspects of life in a small Pacific community perched precariously between traditional and modern ways.

Tonga | Tongan-Fijian author

Becoming Tongan : an ethnography of childhood
Lee, Helen Morton
Paper Book
In this first detailed account of growing up in Tonga, Helen Morton focuses on the influence of anga fakatonga ("the Tongan way") in all facets of Tongan childhood, from the antenatal period to late adolescence. Childhood is a crucial period when cultural identity and notions of tradition are...

Tonga | Tongan-Australian author

Marbles and mangoes = Mapu moe mango
Mangisi, Sione Tapani
Paper Book
This is the first book in a series in written in both English and Tongan about growing up in Tonga in the nineteen fifties and sixties. It's about village children playing marbles including with the hard shell fruit nuts used traditionally as well as the glass and ceramic marbles introduced by...

Tonga | Tongan author

Songs & poems of Queen Sa?lote
Sa?lote Tupou Queen of Tonga
Paper Book
This volume incules a line for line translation into English of 114 compositions, including songs, lullabies, recitals, laments, drama, and Tonga's great dances the Lakalaka and Ma'ulu'ulu, with over 170 illustrations.

Tonga | Tongan author

Tanna times : islanders in the world
Lindstrom, Lamont
Paper Book
Anthropologists like to tell other people's stories but local experts tell them even better. This book introduces the vibrant living culture and fascinating history of Tanna, an island in Vanuatu, Melanesia, through the stories of a dozen interconnected Tanna Islanders....

Vanuatu | American anthropologist specialising in Vanuatu and other Melanesian countries

Sado
Nyman, Mikaela
Paper Book
Sado n. shadow 2. reflection 3. humiliation, dishonour -A New Bislama Dictionary Friday 13 March, 2015: Category 5 Tropical Cyclone Pam makes landfall with devastating consequences. Vanuatu is bruised but not broken. Reeling from the loss of livelihood and struggling to meet basic human needs,...

Vanuatu | Finnish-New Zealand author who lived and worked extensively in Vanuatu

A kind of shelter = Whakaruru-taha
Ihimaera, Witi
Paper Book
Sixty-eight writers and eight artists gather at a hui in a magnificent cave-like dwelling or meeting house. In the middle is a table, the tepu korero, from which the rangatira speak; they converse with honoured guests, and their rangatira-korero embody the tahuhu, the over-arching horizontal ridge...

Pasifika anthology | Contains works by authors from Aotearoa, Hawai'i, and Samoa

Black marks on the white page
Ihimaera, Witi
Paper Book
A stunning collection of Oceanic stories for the 21st century. Stones move, whale bones rise out of the ground like cities, a man figures out how to raise seven daughters alone. Sometimes gods speak or we find ourselves in a not-too-distant future. Here are the glorious, painful,...

Pasifika anthology | Contains works by authors from Aotearoa, Australia, Fiji, Hawai'i, New Caledonia, Samoa and Tonga

Niu voices
Paper Book
Niu Voices: Contemporary Pacific Fiction 1 is a collection of poetry, short stories and novel extracts by selected Pacific writers, edited by Dr. Selina Tusitala Marsh, lecturer in English at the University of Auckland. Niu, the life-giving coconut of Pacific nations, has become...

Pasifika anthology | Contains works by authors from Aotearoa, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Hawai'i, Kiribati, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Wallis & Futuna

Nuanua : Pacific writing in English since 1980
Wendt, Albert
Paper Book
This important anthology of contemporary Pacific writing in English is a successor to Lali, first published in 1980 and widely read and admired. Nuanua, like Lali, edited by distinguished Samoan writer Albert Wendt, shows the growing strength and confidence of Pacific writing in...

Pasifika anthology | Contains works written by authors from the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu

Va? : stories by women of the moana
Eteuati, Sisilia
Paper Book
Stories that tell Covid how we REALLY feel, where a Centipede God watches on with wry humour and wrath, where a sexy Samoan goes on a hot Tinder date in Honolulu, where a New Zealand doctor is horrified to be stuck at her cousin's kava drink up in Fiji, where Moana people travel the stars and...

Pasifika anthology | Contains works written by authors from Aotearoa, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Hawai'i, Papua New Guinea, Rotuma, Samoa, Tonga, and the Torres Strait Islands

Whetu? moana : contemporary Polynesian poems in English
Wendt, Albert
Paper Book
Whetu Moana is a historic work - the first anthology of contemporary indigenous Polynesian poetry in English edited by Polynesians.

Pasifika anthology | Contains works written by authors from Aotearoa, the Cook Islands, Hawai'i, Niue, Rotuma, Samoa and Tonga

Katuivei : Contemporary Pasifika Poetry from Aotearoa New Zealand
Eggleton, David
Paper Book
To write poetry in New Zealand as a Pacific migrant is an act of wayfinding, a creative process of discovery and negotiation between cultural spaces. This collection of 137 poems by 89 Aotearoa-based Pacific poets explores that navigation.This significant collection ranges from long-established...

Anthology of Pasifika writers living in Aotearoa New Zealand


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