Only the Wild

By Victor Kelleher, Cover and internal illustration by Lorena Carrington

ISBN 9781764002110, RRP $19.99

Published by Eagle Books, an imprint of Christmas Press, September 2026

About the book:

In a reimagined future Antarctica, the ‘Great Southland’, a vicious war is raging between fiercely determined clans of small farmers and a ferocious band of eco-warriors called the Wilders, whose aim is to eradicate all human presence in the Great Southland and return it to wilderness. But Evan, son of a farming family, dreams of finding a middle way between the warring factions, an unpopular idea on both sides which will lead him into great danger. After rescuing a little girl who’s the sole survivor of an attack on a neighbouring family, he is confronted by a Wilder, a ruthless young woman named Reyne, and only just manages to escape with the child. But now Reyne is on his trail…and what happens next will set the scene for an extraordinary chain of events that will reach across time to change the fate of the Great Southland.

Only the Wild is a brilliant mix of exciting adventure and thought-provoking themes, by one of Australia’s greatest writers for children.

About the author

With many novels to his credit, Victor Kelleher has written successfully for both adults and for young people. Formerly an associate professor of English, he has long since devoted himself full-time to fiction. He is a past winner of the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Book of the Year Award, has twice received the CBCA Honour Award, and has either won or been short-listed for many other such prizes, including the Science Fiction Achievement Award and a short-listing for the Carnegie Medal.  He currently lives in Tasmania with his artist wife. Previous novels of Victor Kelleher’s published by Eagle Books include Wanderer(2022), shortlisted for the 2023 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, The Cave (2024) and The Lastling (2025).

About the illustrator

Lorena Carrington is an illustrator and writer with a background in fine arts, photography and design. Her most recent book, The Giant (with text by Sophie Masson) was published by MidnightSun Publishing in 2025, while a previous picture book, Satin (with text by Sophie Masson) was published in 2023 by MidnightSun Publishing and received a Notable Books listing.  Her first book as an author-illustrator, Leaf Letters, was published by Christmas Press in 2024. Lorena is the recipient of the 2020 Australian Fairy Tale Society Award and a May Gibbs Creative Time Fellowship in 2023.