Aurealis Award for best young adult novel
The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and WASFF to published works to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers". To qualify, a work must have been first published by an Australian citizen or permanent resident between 1 January and 31 December of the corresponding year; the presentation ceremony is held the following year. It has grown from a small function of around 20 people to a two-day event attended by over 200 people.
Since their creation in 1995, awards have been given in various categories of speculative fiction. Categories currently include science fiction, fantasy, horror, speculative young adult fiction—with separate awards for novels and short fiction—collections, anthologies, illustrative works or graphic novels, children's books, and an award for excellence in speculative fiction. The awards have attracted the attention of publishers by setting down a benchmark in science fiction and fantasy. The continued sponsorship by publishers such as HarperCollins and Orbit has added weight to the honour of the award.
The results are decided by a panel of judges from a list of submitted nominees; the long-list of nominees is reduced to a short-list of finalists. Ties can occur if the panel decides that both entries show equal merit, however they are encouraged to choose a single winner. The judges are selected from a public application process by the Award's management team.
This article lists all the short-list nominees and winners in the best young-adult novel category, as well as novels that have been highly commended. Three people have won the award twice – Isobelle Carmody, Garth Nix and Scott Westerfeld. Westerfeld holds the record for most nominations with nine, and Rory Barnes has the most nominations without winning, having been a losing finalist five times.
Winners and nominees
In the following table, the years correspond to the year of the book's eligibility; the ceremonies are always held the following year. Each year links to the corresponding "year in literature" article. Entries with a blue background have won the award; those with a white background are the nominees on the short-list.Winners and joint winners
Nominees on the shortlist
has been a finalist on six occasions, winning in 1995 and 2003.|alt=A man facing the right focused on his upper body. He is wearing a light brown jacket, and a white shirt. has won once in 1996 and received a high commendation in 2005.|alt=A woman sitting a table with the shot focusing on her upper body. She is black and blue clothing. has been a short-list nominee twice with his collaborations with Rory Barnes.|alt=A man with the shot focused on his head. He is facing to the left and is wearing a black shirt and top. has been a finalist once in 2000.|alt=A man with the shot focused on his head. He is facing to the right and is wearing a pair of glasses and a green top. has received the most nominations with nine and has been a winner on three of those occasions.|alt=A man with the shot focused on his upper body. He is wearing a dark colored jacket and a white and gray shirt.
| Year | Author | Novel | Publisher | Ref |
| * | Deucalion | UQP | ||
| * | Sabriel | Moonstone | ||
| Ashling | Viking Press | |||
| Witch Bank | Puffin Books | |||
| Pan Macmillan | ||||
| * | Mirror, Mirror | Hodder Headline | ||
| * | Moonstone | |||
| Beyond the Hanging Wall | Voyager Books | |||
| Firedancer | Penguin Books | |||
| Hodder Headline | ||||
| * | Greylands | Puffin Books | ||
| * | Eye to Eye | Puffin Books | ||
| Moonstone | ||||
| & Rory Barnes | Zones | Moonstone | ||
| Shade's Children | Allen & Unwin | |||
| * | Singing the Dogstar Blues | HarperCollins | ||
| Horsehead Boy | HarperCollins | |||
| Killing Darcy | UQP | |||
| Omnibus Books | ||||
| Pan Macmillan | ||||
| * | Omnibus Books | |||
| Horsehead Man | HarperCollins | |||
| & Rory Barnes | Stuck in Fast Forward | HarperCollins | ||
| Into the Dark | Viking Press | |||
| Viking Press | ||||
| * | Thursday's Child | Penguin Books | ||
| Horsehead Soup | HarperCollins | |||
| Ferren and the Angel | Penguin Books | |||
| Omega | Random House | |||
| Hodder Headline | ||||
| * | Angus & Robertson | |||
| Allen & Unwin | ||||
| Lirael | Allen & Unwin | |||
| Penguin Books | ||||
| Terra-Farma | Viking Press | |||
| * | Hodder Headline | |||
| Pan Books | ||||
| Mum, Me, the 19th C | Angus & Robertson | |||
| Fireworks and Darkness | Angus & Robertson | |||
| * | Abhorsen | Allen & Unwin | ||
| * | Dragonkeeper | Black Dog Books | ||
| HarperCollins | ||||
| * | Eos | |||
| Flesh and Blood | HarperCollins | |||
| Undine | Random House | |||
| Hot Nights, Cool Dragons | Allen & Unwin | |||
| * | Alyzon Whitestarr | Penguin Books | ||
| Nightpeople | UQP | |||
| Magic or Madness | Penguin Books | |||
| Peeps | Penguin Books | |||
| Uglies | Simon & Schuster | |||
| * | ' | Omnibus Books | ||
| ABC Books | ||||
| Magic Lessons | Penguin Books | |||
| Wildwood Dancing | Pan Macmillan | |||
| Penguin Books | ||||
| * | Skyfall | UQP | ||
| Taste of Lightning | Allen & Unwin | |||
| Cybele's Secret | Pan Macmillan | |||
| Heart of Gold | Random House | |||
| Extras | Simon Pulse | |||
| * | Finnikin of the Rock | Viking Press | ||
| Viking Press | ||||
| ' | Omnibus Books | |||
| HarperCollins | ||||
| Angus & Robertson | ||||
| * | Leviathan | Penguin Books | ||
| Pan Macmillan | ||||
| Puffin Books | ||||
| Allen & Unwin | ||||
| HarperCollins | ||||
| * | Allen & Unwin | |||
| Black Dog Books | ||||
| Penguin Books | ||||
| Penguin Books | ||||
| Penguin Books | ||||
| * | Only Ever Always | Allen & Unwin | ||
| Shift | Hardie Grant Egmont | |||
| Secrets of Carrick: Tantony | Black Dog Books | |||
| Allen & Unwin | ||||
| Black Glass | Scribe Publications | |||
| * | Dead, Actually | Allen & Unwin | ||
| * | Sea Hearts | Allen & Unwin | ||
| And All the Stars | Andrea K. Hosth | |||
| ' | Walker Books | |||
| Into That Forest | Allen & Unwin | |||
| & Meagan Spooner* | These Broken Stars | Allen & Unwin | ||
| * | Fairytales for Wilde Girls | Random House Australia | ||
| ' | HarperCollins | |||
| Hunting | Andrea K. Hösth | |||
| ' | University of Queensland Press | |||
| * | ' | Pan Macmillan Australia | ||
| Text Publishing | ||||
| Afterworld | Allen & Unwin | |||
| Clariel | Allen & Unwin | |||
| UQP | ||||
| Afterworlds | Penguin Books Australia | |||
| * | In the Skin of a Monster | Allen & Unwin | ||
| Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club | HarperCollins | |||
| ' | HarperVoyager | |||
| Day Boy | Text Publishing | |||
| and Jay Kristoff | Illuminae | Allen & Unwin | ||
| Hush | Penguin Random House Australia | |||
| * | Lady Helen and the Dark Days Pact | HarperCollins Publishers | ||
| Elegy | Penguin Random House Australia | |||
| ' | Penguin Books Australia | |||
| ' | Penguin Random House Australia | |||
| and Jay Kristoff | Gemima: The Illuminae Files 2 | Allen & Unwin | ||
| Goldenhand | Allen & Unwin | |||
| * | In the Dark Spaces | Hardie Grant Egmont | ||
| Ida | Bonnier Publishing Australia | |||
| Frogkisser! | Allen & Unwin | |||
| This Mortal Coil | Puffin UK | |||
| Psynode | Seizure | |||
| ' | Text Publishing | |||
| & Ezekiel Kwaymullina* | Catching Teller Crow | Allen & Unwin | ||
| Small Spaces | Walker Books Australia | |||
| Lifel1k3 | Allen & Unwin | |||
| His Name Was Walter | HarperCollins Publishers | |||
| HarperCollins Publishers | ||||
| Impostors | Allen & Unwin | |||
| The Darkest Bloom | Scholastic | |||
| Ghost Bird | University of Queensland Press | |||
| & Jay Kristoff | Aurora Rising | Allen & Unwin | ||
| Dev1at3 | Allen & Unwin | |||
| The Harp of Kings | Macmillan | |||
| I Heard the Wolf Call My Name | SOV Media |
High commendations
The high commendations are announced alongside the list of finalists for their respected year of eligibility. In the following table, the years correspond to the year of the book's eligibility; the ceremonies are always held the following year. Each year links to the corresponding "year in literature" article.| Year | Author | Novel | Publisher | Ref |
| 2005 | Lothian Books | |||
| 2005 | Breathe | Random House | ||
| 2005 | Pretties | Simon & Schuster |