Robyn Bavati
Author
Within These Walls
New edition out in October 2025
‘Live, Miri. Don’t let the Nazis wipe out our entire family, our entire people … Don’t think of anything but survival …Promise me, Miri. Promise me you’ll try to survive.’
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I nodded slowly. And promised.
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Miri’s happy life is interrupted when the Jew-hating Germans march into Warsaw. Soon, she and her family must move to the ghetto. She hopes that now they will be left alone, but what the Nazis have planned is far worse than she could have ever imagined.
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The first edition of this book was published in 2016. Since October 7, 2023, the number of antisemitic incidents in Australia has grown by over 300%, with increasing incidents of synagogues and Jewish businesses being firebombed, and of Jewish property being vandalised and destroyed. This edition of Within These Walls comes as part of the fight against the growing antisemitism that surrounds us. It is up to us all to educate our children, so that they understand where hatred can lead. See more about the book here
A Weekend With Oscar Wins the Prix Première Victor
The French edition of A Weekend With Oscar, published by Alice Editions in Belgium in 2024, has won the 2024-25 Prix Première Victor for a book for readers aged 12-15. The prize was set up to honour the memory of Victor Van de Woestyne, an avid reader of books who died in 2016 at the age of 13. It is awarded annually by the Victor Fund, and was created by Victor’s parents with the goal of encouraging children to read. The fund’s motto is:, ‘A child who reads is an adult who thinks.’
Each year, of the dozens of books sent in as contenders, a committee selects just 5. These are read over a period of months by students aged 12-15, who then vote for their favourite. This year, over 3,000 students voted.
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You can find out more about the Victor Fund here, or see the announcement of the winner here. ​
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…a deeply moving portrayal of what it is like to have a sibling with a disability…This isn’t a perspective that’s shown very often, and it’s presented in an honest, realistic way…Insightful and sensitive, this is a book that should be read widely.” Rachel le Rossignol, Reading Time
"What a moving book! Bavati has succeeded in writing a warm, engrossing story…This would make an ideal class novel or literature circle book as it raises issues of accountability and dealing with grief. Readers too, will grow in empathy and understanding of children living with a sibling with a disability.” Pat Pledger, Read Plus
"This is a tremendously heart-warming coming of age novel… a great story for teen readers that would also be an ideal text to use with lower to middle secondary students to explore issues of empathy, compassion, disability and grief. It also looks at first love and friendship, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.” Reviewed by Rob, Lamont Books
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"…one of the most delightful YA narratives I’ve read in some time… a beautiful funny and poignant coming-of-age story that will enchant…lower secondary students in particular… it explores the sometimes fraught, but also enriching, experience of having a sibling with a disability… Highly recommended for readers from around Year 7 upwards – it’s just a pure delight.” Sue Warren, Just So Stories
…a subtle first novel about familial loyalties and individuality… It's an intriguing glimpse into a singular culture; the persuasive depiction of Ditty's internal conflicts distinguishes Bavati's debut
If The Parent Trap were set at a dance school, you’d have this story… the separated-at-birth story and plenty of grand pliés make for a winning combination
BIO
Robyn Bavati is the award-winning author of Dancing in the Dark, Pirouette, Within These Walls and A Weekend With Oscar. Shortlisted in several children’s choice awards, Dancing in the Dark was a 2011 CBCA Notable Book, a 2014 Sydney Taylor Honour Book, and was on the Year 8 English curriculum at a number of schools. Within These Walls was a 2017 CBCA Shortlisted Book, winner of the 2018 WAYRBA award, and has been studied by school children around Australia. A Weekend With Oscar won the 2024-25 Prix Première Victor in Belgium. Robyn lives in Melbourne and is the mother of three grown-up children. An experienced presenter and long-term member of Toastmasters International, she enjoys public speaking. She loves visiting schools to run writing workshops and discuss her work.
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