The Midwatch
Title: The Midwatch
Author: Judith Rossell
Publisher: Hardie Grant Children's Publishing
Shortlist: Children's Literature
‘The city was stuffed full of wickedness, everyone knew that...’
Banished to the Midwatch Institute for Orphans, Runaways and Unwanted Girls, Maggie Fishbone is sure she’s in for a life of drudgery. But she quickly discovers there’s more to the Midwatch than meets the eye...
The city shimmers with jewels and secrets, and soon Maggie is thrust into an adventure that takes her deep underground, high above the clouds and face to face with danger itself.
Turn the page and prepare to be drawn into a lavishly illustrated world, brimming with mystery, unlikely heroines and an adventure as big as the sky.
Judges’ report
This novel is an instant classic. Protagonist Maggie Fishbone feels doomed when banished to the Midwatch Institute for Orphans, Runaways and Unwanted Girls, until she discovers it is a front for a spy school. This novel abounds in clever idiosyncratic language, elegant and humorous, adding richness to the already cinematic world building, thanks, in part, to the lavish illustrations throughout. While being classic adventure, Rossell cleverly includes an inventive interactive element with excerpts from Useful Things Every Girl Should Know, allowing the reader to aspire to becoming a Midwatch spy themselves. This book also takes things traditionally used to dismiss and demean girls, like having dolls and being unseen, and transforms them into skills for treasure hunting and catching villains. A glorious celebration of the usefulness of being a girl!
About the Author
Judith Rossell
VPLA book photography by Sarah Walker
The 2025 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards are proudly supported by the Victorian Government through the Community Support Fund and Creative Victoria.