The Secrets of Magnolia Moon

CBCA award-winning picture book author Edwina Wyatt makes her fiction debut with a whimsical tale of a curious little girl who shares more than just her surname with the moon: They’re both excellent secret keepers.

Magnolia Moon is nine years old, likes Greek mythology, her best friend Imogen May (who understands the importance of questions like, “If you could be one fruit, any fruit, what would you be?”), wishing trees, and speaking crows. She knows instinctively that buffadillos are armadillos crossed with buffalos and believes there are walramingos living in her garden. She’s also the kind of person who can be entrusted with a great many secrets.

Each chapter in this novel, which captures Magnolia’s year of being nine and ends on Chapter Almost 10, reveals a secret that Magnolia is keeping. But the novel also chronicles a year of change for Magnolia. From her best friend moving to the birth of her little brother Finnegan, Magnolia navigates every challenge and secret that comes her way with the kind of authenticity and innocence that comes from being nine years wise.

About the Author

Edwina Wyatt is an Australian children’s author. She grew up in Sydney and worked as a lawyer and a high school teacher before becoming a writer of books for young readers. Her debut junior fiction novel The Secrets of Magnolia Moon (Walker Books) was awarded the CBCA Honour Book of the Year for Younger Readers, and shortlisted for the Readings’ Children’s Book Prize. She has received three CBCA Notables for her picture books, and her novel Tish received a Gold Standard Selection Award from the Junior Library Guild USA.

Edwina lives in country Victoria with her husband, two children, and too many animals. She divides her time between writing and working in youth mental health. She is represented by Lindsay Davis Auld at Writers House.

About the Illustrator

Katherine Quinn lives in Pakipaki {Maori for applause} on a little hill in the New Zealand countryside, with her family and cat Rosie, who is scared of everything except bulls. For as long as she can remember she has loved drawing and making things. She particularly loves to draw whales and fish... she was influenced at an early age by her Dad, who worked at the local Marineland when he first arrived in New Zealand from Canada.  ​