The Young Adult finalists in the NZCYA Awards encompass a variety of approaches to fantasy, a touch of dystopia, political intrigue and coming of age storytelling. The Young Adult category also happens to be one where the target demographic is…
Sarah Forster reviews another fantastic YA book by Eileen Merriman, and a book by Philippa Werry telling a WW1 story from the perspective of a 14-year-old girl at home, working as a telegram delivery girl. Both books are well-written and…
Eileen Merriman has just published her third YA book, but it is the impending publication of her first adult novel that has her acquaintances impressed. She makes an argument against the false pedestal upon which adult writing sits. Most bookstores…
How does an author not only get their book published, but get their book shortlisted for the Best First Book award? We asked each of this year’s finalists how they went from unpublished amateur to finalist. Eileen Merriman, finalist for…
One summer, so many new books. Briar Lawry reviews three fiction books which serve as a reflection of the state of the broader New Zealand middle reader and young adult fiction world. Catch Me When You Fall is a contemporary…
Eileen Merriman’s and Ella West’s latest books were on the bookshop shelves as we headed to the beach this summer. Catch Me When You Fall is for older teens, and is about 17-year-old Alex in Christchurch who is fighting leukaemia…
A moving novel about learning to find happiness in the face of uncertainty and discovering a love that transcends the boundary between life and death. Seventeen-year-old Alex Byrd is about to have the worst day of her life, and the best. A routine blood test that will reveal her leukaemia has returned, but she also meets Jamie Orange. Both teenagers have big dreams, but also big obstacles to overcome.
I’ve long maintained that our Young Adult authors are world class. But I’ve frequently heard that teens have a touch of what our adults apparently have – cultural cringe; an assumption that NZ means boring, ordinary. We need to read…
Earlier this month we published a short excerpt from Pieces of You, a major new YA novel from a debut Kiwi author. We asked Denis Wright, YA novelist and experienced high school English teacher to give us his verdict. Let…
An excerpt from Eileen Merriman’s Pieces of You, a Young Adult novel centred on Rebecca, a teen who is the victim of a sexual assault after a party in a city she has just moved to. This passage is from the moment that Becs meets the boy-next-door at a dinner party at her home.