The Midwatch

The biggest children's book of the year! The Midwatch is the long-awaited new middle-grade novel from internationally bestselling author–illustrator Judith Rossell, creator of the multi-award-winning novel Withering-by-Sea.
'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.
PRAISE FOR THE MIDWATCH
Shortlisted for the 2025 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Children's Literature
Shortlisted for the 2025 Indie Book Awards
Shortlisted for the 2025 Australian Book Industry Awards
'Gasp-out-loud brilliant! An absolute treasure of a book.'
— KATRINA NANNESTAD, bestselling author of We Are Wolves

'I was hooked from the beginning ... Move over Lemony Snicket!'
— KAREN FOXLEE, award-winning author of Lenny's Book of Everything
'Welcome all treasure-hunters and mystery-solvers to the Midwatch Institute ... [where] disobedient girls are not to be underestimated!'
— AMELIA MELLOR, award-winning author of The Grandest Bookshop in the World

'A cracking concept, sensational characters and absolutely smashing pictures: The Midwatch is the cat's pyjamas!'
— JACLYN MORIARTY, award-winning author of the Kingdoms and Empires series
'Cinematic, amusing, and exciting: a slightly subversive, delightfully empowering, all-around winner.'
– Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
'Absolutely winning adventure tale brimming with awe-inspiring characters.'
– The Sydney Morning Herald
'[A] subversive and captivating examination of adventure, lifelong learning, and sisterhood ... Action and adventure abound.'
– Publishers Weekly (starred review)