Born: Established: 1985 Caloundra - Currimundi area, Sunshine Coast, South East Queensland, Queensland, ;
AustLit
BiographyHistory
Bio changes summary
Jessica Townsend lives on the Sunshine Coast in Australia, but has lived on and off in London for a few years. She was a copywriter for eight years, and in a previous role, was the editor of a children's wildlife magazine for Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo.
Most Referenced Works
Awards for Works
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y
Hollowpox : The Hunt for Morrigan Crow
Sydney
:
Lothian
,
2020
16682490
2020
single work
children's fiction
children's
fantasy
'Morrigan Crow and her friends have survived their first year as proud scholars of the elite Wundrous Society, helped bring down the nefarious Ghastly Market, and proven themselves loyal to Unit 919. Now Morrigan faces a new, exciting challenge: to master the mysterious Wretched Arts of the Accomplished Wundersmith, and control the power that threatens to consume her.
'Meanwhile, a strange and frightening illness has taken hold of Nevermoor, turning infected Wunimals into mindless, vicious Unnimals on the hunt. As victims of the Hollowpox multiply, panic spreads. There are whispers - growing louder every day - that this catastrophe can only be the work of the Wundersmith, Ezra Squall.
'But inside the walls of Wunsoc, everyone knows there is a new Wundersmith - one who's much closer to home. With Nevermoor in a state of fear and the truth about Morrigan threatening to get out, the city she loves becomes the most perilous place in the world. Morrigan must try to find a cure for the Hollowpox, but it will put her - and everyone in Nevermoor - in more danger than she could have imagined.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
- 2021 shortlisted REAL Awards — Fiction for Older Readers
- 2021 shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — Australian Book of the Year for Younger Children
- 2021 shortlisted Indie Awards — Children's
-
y
Wundersmith : The Calling of Morrigan Crow
Sydney
:
Lothian
,
2018
13454852
2018
single work
children's fiction
children's
fantasy
'Morrigan Crow may have defeated her deadly curse, passed the dangerous trials and joined the mystical Wundrous Society, but her journey into Nevermoor and all its secrets has only just begun. And she is fast learning that not all magic is used for good.
'Morrigan Crow has been invited to join the prestigious Wundrous Society, a place that promised her friendship, protection and belonging for life. She's hoping for an education full of wunder, imagination and discovery - but all the Society want to teach her is how evil Wundersmiths are. And someone is blackmailing Morrigan's unit, turning her last few loyal friends against her. Has Morrigan escaped from being the cursed child of Wintersea only to become the most hated figure in Nevermoor?
'Worst of all, people have started to go missing. The fantastical city of Nevermoor, once a place of magic and safety, is now riddled with fear and suspicion...'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
- 2020 honour book KOALA Awards — Older Readers
- 2020 shortlisted REAL Awards — Fiction for Older Readers
- 2020 shortlisted West Australian Young Readers' Book Award — Younger Readers
- 2019 shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — Australian Book of the Year for Younger Children
- 2019 shortlisted Indie Awards — Children's
-
y
Nevermoor : The Trials of Morrigan Crow
Sydney
:
Lothian
,
2017
11160400
2017
single work
children's fiction
children's
fantasy
'Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she's blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks–and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday. But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor. It's then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city's most prestigious organisation: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each boasting an extraordinary talent that sets them apart–an extraordinary talent that Morrigan insists she does not have. To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests–or she'll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate.' (Publication summary)
- 2021 nominated Sakura Medal (Japan) — English Chapter Books
- 2020 winner Festival Awards for Literature (SA) — Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature – Premier's Award
- 2020 winner Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature — Award for Children's Literature
- 2019 honour book KOALA Awards — Older Readers
- 2018 selected White Ravens
- 2019 shortlisted REAL Awards — Fiction for Older Readers
- 2019 shortlisted New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Books
- 2019 shortlisted West Australian Young Readers' Book Award — Younger Readers
- 2019 nominated Carnegie Medal (UK)
- 2018 shortlisted Sainsbury's Children's Book Awards — Fiction
- 2018 winner Australian Booksellers Association Awards — Booksellers Choice Award
- 2018 winner Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — Australian Book of the Year
- 2017 winner Indie Awards — Book of the Year
- 2018 winner Waterstone's Children's Book Prize — Younger Readers
- 2018 winner Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — Australian Book of the Year for Younger Children
- 2018 winner Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — The Matt Richell Award for New Writer
- 2018 CBCA Book of the Year Awards — Notable Book — Younger Readers
- 2018 shortlisted The Readings Children’s Book Prize
- 2017 winner Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction — Children's Division
- 2018 winner Indie Awards — Children's