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. And for Elspeth Gordie, it is also dangerous. That's because Elspeth has a secret: she is a Misfit, born with mysterious mental abilities that she must keep hidden under threat of death. And her worries only multiply when she is...
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

Looking for Alibrandi
Marchetta, Melina
Paper Book

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-tragic...

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
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY * THE WALL STREET JOURNAL The unforgettable, New York Times bestselling family saga from Markus Zusak, the storyteller who gave us the extraordinary bestseller THE...

Australia | Australian author

A disappearance in Fiji
Rao, Nilima
Paper Book
1914, Fiji: 25-year-old Akal Singh would rather be anywhere but this tropical paradise-or, as he calls it, 'this godforsaken island.' After a promising start to his police career in his native India and Hong Kong, Akal has been sent to Fiji as punishment for a humiliating professional mistake....

Fiji | Fijian-Australian 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
The Booker finalist and beloved novel that has taken the world by storm is now a major motion picture starring Hugh Laurie. Thirteen-year-old Matilda lives on a copper-rich tropical island that has been shattered by war, from which the teachers have fled along with everyone else....

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

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


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