# David Metzenthen > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/David_Metzenthen > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/David_Metzenthen.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Metzenthen > Source revision: 1323455716 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Australian writer for children and young adults This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. Find sources: "David Metzenthen" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message) David Metzenthen Born 1958 (age 67–68) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Occupation Writer Language English Nationality Australian Notable works Johnny Hart's Heroes, Jarvis 24 **David Metzenthen** (born 1958)[1] is an Australian writer for children and young adults who was born in [Melbourne](/source/Melbourne), [Victoria](/source/Victoria_(Australia)). After completing his schooling in Melbourne, Metzenthen traveled to New Zealand where he held a variety of jobs. After returning to Australia he worked as a copywriter for [Radio 3DB](/source/3DB_(Melbourne)), for Grundy Television and for Myer before deciding to write full-time.[1] He now lives in Melbourne with his wife and two children.[2] ## Bibliography This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (January 2017) ### Novels - Metzenthen, David (1990). *Danger wave*. Sydney: Ashton Scholastic. - *Lee Spain* (1991) - *Johnny Hart's Heroes* (1996) - *Finn and the Big Guy* (1997) - *Falling Forward* (1998) - *Gilbert's Ghost Train* (1998) - *Mick the Mimic* (1998) - *The Red Hot Footy Fiasco* (1998) - *Stony Heart Country* (1999) - *The Colour of Sunshine* (2000) - *Wildlight: A Journey* (2002) - *Boys of Blood and Bone* (2003) - *Tiff and the Trout* (2004) - *Blackwater* (2007) - *Jarvis 24* (2009) - *Tigerfish* (2014) - *Dreaming the Enemy* (2016) ### Novellas - *Roadie* (1995) - *Animal Instinct* (1996) - *Dreaming the Enemy* (2016) - *The Secret History of the Rainbow Trout Private Hotel* (2023) - *The Truth of It* (2025) ### Children's fiction - *Brocky's Bananagram* (1994) - *Cody and Zero* (1997) - *The Diary of Fat Robbie Pile* (1997) - *Lefty Lemon Kicks Goals* (1997) - *Fort Island* (1998) - *Adrian Over the Top* (1999) - *Adrian Goes Out There* (1999) - *The Red Boxing Gloves* (2002) - *The Really Really High Diving Board* (2003) - *Spider!* (2004) - *Time Turns on Spooky Hill* (2004) - *Anton Rocks On* (2004) - *Roller-Coaster* (2005) - *The Really Really Epic Mini Bike Ride* (2006) - *Winning the World Cup* (2007) - *The Really Nearly Deadly Canoe Ride* (2009) - *Hide that Horse!* (2009) - *Squidnapped!* (2010) - *Save Our Sharks* (2012) - *Freda the Free-Range Chook* (2012) - *George Parker Goes Global* (2018) - *Augustin and the Hot Air Balloon* (2022) ### Picture books - *The Rainbirds* (2006) illustrated by [Sally Rippin](/source/Sally_Rippin) - *One Minute's Silence* (2014) illustrated by Michael Camilleri - *One Runaway Rabbit* (2019) illustrated by Mairead Murphy - *Where Will the Sleepy Sheep Sleep?* (2023) illustrated by Jonathan Bentley ### Critical studies and reviews of Metzenthen's work - Kavanagh, Bec (September 2014). "[Untitled review of *Tigerfish*]". *[Australian Book Review](/source/Australian_Book_Review)*. **364**: 44. ## Awards - 1996 winner [New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards](/source/New_South_Wales_Premier's_Literary_Awards) — Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature — The Ethel Turner Prize for Children's Writing — *Johnny Hart's Heroes* - 1997 honour book Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards — Book of the Year: Older Readers — *Johnny Hart's Heroes* - 1998 honour book Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards — Book of the Year: Older Readers — *Gilbert's Ghost Train* - 2003 winner [Victorian Premier's Literary Awards](/source/Victorian_Premier's_Literary_Awards) — Prize for Young Adult Fiction — *Wildlight: A Journey* - 2003 winner [Queensland Premier's Literary Awards](/source/Queensland_Premier's_Literary_Awards) — Best Young Adult Book — *Boys of Blood and Bone* - 2004 honour book Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards — Book of the Year: Older Readers — *Boys of Blood and Bone* - 2007 honour book Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards — Picture Book of the Year — *The Rainbirds* - 2008 honour book Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards — Book of the Year: Older Readers — *Black Water* - 2010 winner Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards — Book of the Year: Older Readers — *Jarvis* - 2015 honour book Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards — Picture Book of the Year — *One Minute's Silence* - 2016 winner [Queensland Literary Awards](/source/Queensland_Literary_Awards) — Griffith University Young Adult Book Award — *Dreaming the Enemy* - 2025 winner [Children's Peace Literature Award](/source/Children's_Peace_Literature_Award) — South Australian Psychologists for Peace — *The Truth of It*[3] ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_1-1) [*Austlit - David Metzenthen*](http://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A7658) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [*Penguin Books - Author Biography*](https://www.penguin.com.au/contributors/1264/david-metzenthen) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Metzenthen wins Children's Peace Literature Award"](https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2025/11/18/319196/metzenthen-wins-childrens-peace-literature-award/). Books+Publishing. 18 November 2025. Retrieved 21 November 2025. v t e Children's Book of the Year Award for Older Readers 1946–1949 The Story of Karrawingi the Emu by Leslie Rees (1946) Shackleton's Argonauts: A Saga of the Antarctic Icepacks by Frank Hurley (1948) 1950–1959 Whalers of the Midnight Sun by Alan Villiers (1950) Verity of Sydney Town by Ruth C. Williams (1951) The Australia Book by Eve Pownall (1952) Aircraft of Today and Tomorrow by James H. Martin & W. D. Martin (1953) Good Luck to the Rider by Joan Phipson (1953) Australian Legendary Tales by K. Langloh Parker (1954) The First Walkabout by Norman B. Tindale and Harold Arthur Lindsay (1955) The Crooked Snake by Patricia Wrightson (1956) The Boomerang Book of Legendary Tales edited by Enid Moodie Heddle (1957) Tiger in the Bush by Nan Chauncy (1958) Devil's Hill by Nan Chauncy (1959) Sea Menace by John Gunn (1959) 1960–1969 All the Proud Tribesmen by Kylie Tennant (1960) Tangara by Nan Chauncy (1961) The Racketty Street Gang by L. H. Evers (1962) Rafferty Rides a Winner by Joan Woodberry (1962) The Family Conspiracy by Joan Phipson (1963) The Green Laurel by Eleanor Spence (1964) Pastures of the Blue Crane by H. F. Brinsmead (1965) Ash Road by Ivan Southall (1966) The Min-Min by Mavis Thorpe Clark (1967) To the Wild Sky by Ivan Southall (1968) When Jays Fly to Barbmo by Margaret Balderson (1969) 1970–1979 Uhu by Annette Macarthur-Onslow (1970) Bread and Honey by Ivan Southall (1971) Longtime Passing by H. F. Brinsmead (1972) Family at the Lookout by Noreen Shelley (1973) The Nargun and the Stars by Patricia Wrightson (1974) Fly West by Ivan Southall (1976) The October Child by Eleanor Spence (1977) The Ice Is Coming by Patricia Wrightson (1978) The Plum-Rain Scroll by Ruth Manley (1979) 1980–1989 Displaced Person by Lee Harding (1980) Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park (1981) The Valley Between by Colin Thiele (1982) Master of the Grove by Victor Kelleher (1983) A Little Fear by Patricia Wrightson (1984) The True Story of Lilli Stubeck by James Aldridge (1985) The Green Wind by Thurley Fowler (1986) All We Know by Simon French (1987) So Much to Tell You by John Marsden (1988) Beyond the Labyrinth by Gillian Rubinstein (1989) 1990–1999 Came Back to Show You I Could Fly by Robin Klein (1990) Strange Objects by Gary Crew (1991) The House Guest by Eleanor Nilsson (1992) Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta (1993) The Gathering by Isobelle Carmody (1994) Angel's Gate by Gary Crew (1995) Foxspell by Gillian Rubinstein (1995) Pagan's Vows by Catherine Jinks (1996) A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove by James Moloney (1997) Eye to Eye by Catherine Jinks (1998) Deadly, Unna? by Phillip Gwynne (1999) 2000–2009 48 Shades of Brown by Nick Earls (2000) Wolf on the Fold by Judith Clarke (2001) Forest by Sonya Hartnett (2002) The Messenger by Markus Zusak (2003) Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta (2004) The Running Man by Michael Gerard Bauer (2005) The Story of Tom Brennan by J. C. Burke (2006) Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan (2007) The Ghost's Child by Sonya Hartnett (2008) Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (2009) 2010–2019 Jarvis 24 by David Metzenthen (2010) The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett (2011) The Dead I Know by Scot Gardner (2012) Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan (2013) Wildlife by Fiona Wood (2014) The Protected by Claire Zorn (2015) Cloudwish by Fiona Wood (2016) One Would Think The Deep by Claire Zorn (2017) Take Three Girls by Cath Crowley, Fiona Wood and Simmone Howell (2018) Between Us by Clare Atkins (2019) 2020–present This is How We Change the Ending by Vikki Wakefield (2020) The End of the World Is Bigger than Love by Davina Bell (2021) Tiger Daughter by Rebecca Lim (2022) Neverlanders by Tom Taylor (2023) Grace Notes by Karen Comer (2024) I'm Not Really Here by Gary Lonesborough (2025) Picture Book (1955–present) Early Childhood (2001–present) Younger Readers (1982–present) Eve Pownall Award for Information Books (1988–present) Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND WorldCat National United States France BnF data Norway Korea People Trove This article about an Australian writer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Australia-writer-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3AAustralia-writer-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Australia-writer-stub) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [David Metzenthen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Metzenthen) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Metzenthen?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.