By J. L. Williams J. L. Williams’ gripping historical fiction novel, Holding the Horse, was a Best First Book finalist at this year’s NZCYA Awards. For the next installment of our Summer Excerpt Series, where we’re publishing extracts from the…
Join Fiona Giles as she unpacks the third and fourth instalments of Tim Tipene’s Pipi & Pou series in this latest batch of junior fiction reviews. Pipi & Pou and the Tentacles of the Deep (Pipi & Pou #3) &…
Leila Austin reviews two new junior fiction titles with a strong sense of place. Rarotonga (#4 Elastic Island Adventures), by Karen McMillan The Elastic Island series follows the adventures of Kiri, Jed, Emma and Ethan, who travel via an ‘elastic’…
Claudine Tapsell brings us this latest batch of junior fiction reviews, featuring a splendid standalone novel, a gripping sequel, and the finale to a (locally and internationally) well-loved series! Read on to see what she had to say about them….
Kay Morfett reviews two very different, yet equally intriguing, additions to Aotearoa’s junior fiction genre. Tim Tipene’s The Book That Wouldn’t Read is an inspiring tale that centres children who struggle with reading and Sally Sutton brings all the mayhem…
Sapling co-founder Sarah Forster brings us this latest batch of reviews of junior fiction titles, all featuring animals in some capacity (yes, even extinct ones)! Odd Wolf Out (#1 Faelan the Wolf), by Juliette MacIver I was delighted to see…
We asked Jane Arthur, co-founder of The Sapling and co-owner/manager of GOOD BOOKS, to sell us the junior fiction finalists, and if you haven’t already read them you’ll be running to bookshops and libraries to add them to your and…
It feels like everywhere we look, Isobel Joy Te Aho-White’s illustrations are gracing the covers and insides of some of New Zealand’s best picture books. By our count, she illustrated at least 13 books released in the last 18 months….
By Feana Tu’akoi Check out the opening chapter of Leana Tu’akoi’s latest junior fiction novel, Lopini the Legend. Chapter 1: Taha “Ugh!” yelled Lopini, as soon as they’d got away from school. He booted a stone and watched it skitter…
Bee Trudgeon reviews some mysterious new junior fiction and middle-grade titles that have something for everyone: from the new chapter-book reader who likes plenty of pictures to help break up and decode the text, to the progressing reader who likes…