Brian Falkner

The Mahy Questionnaire: Brian Falkner

You know it, you love it – it’s the Mahy Questionnaire! This month we are featuring award-winning author and internationally acclaimed writing coach Brian Falkner! His most recent title, Andromeda Bond in Trouble Deep (sequel to Brainjack) was a finalist…

2023 NZCYA Young Adult Award Finalists

It’s our final installment of the NZCYA finalists before the winners are announced next week. Briar Lawry gets the downlow from her high school students on what they think of the finalists, with some insightful if not judgemental reckons. The…

Book Awards: Young Adult Finalists

There are some cracking YA reads in the NZCYA finalists this year; there’s realness, drama, history, fantasy and just some downright good storytelling. We love hearing about the process, characters and inspiration, so we have asked our finalists some probing…

Book Reviews: Aotearoa Autumn Young Adult Releases

There’s never a bad time to be a young adult reader, because the world is full of wonderful treats, whether new or old. But it’s an especially good time to be a young adult reader when there are new titles…

THE SAMPLING: Katipo Joe—Blitzkreig

Brian Falkner is the author of over a dozen books for teens and younger readers, published in New Zealand, Australia, the US and the UK. Enjoy this extract from his latest book, first in a series, Katipo Joe: Blitzkreig.

Book List: NZ-focused young reader novels

In response to a request The Sapling put out on Twitter, teacher and author Sarina Dickson has compiled this wonderful list of New Zealand titles for those young readers who have finished Harry Potter and are reading above their age…

Book Reviews: Four Young Adult Titles

Dragons, kick-arse heroines and mystical beings abound in the final round of YA reviews for 2018, reviewed by Kylie Parry. Cassie Clark: Outlaw, by Brian Falkner (OneTree House) Action, adventure, a kick-arse teenage girl hero? Sign me up. I love…

Book List: NZ Junior Fiction v The World

Author Sue Copsey explores the world of New Zealand Junior Fiction, discovering plenty of titles that are just as good as the internationals. Our bestseller lists for kids’ books can make frustrating reading if you’re a New Zealand children’s author….

Brian Falkner: A Superhero for all Eras

In 2007, when I first encountered Brian Falkner, he was at the top of the national request list for the Writers in Schools programme, which I ran at the NZ Book Council. He wrote books about sports, about soft drink…

THE SAMPLING: That Stubborn Seed of Hope

Brian Falkner’s short story collection contains stories which are heartbreaking, inspirational, and eye-opening. You view the world as a bully, a brother and sister, a dementia sufferer and a person living in the world which is in the grip of a deadly pandemic. Most of all, you view the world as the person telling the story.