Mandy Hager’s latest young adult novel is a family drama bringing together issues of care work, disability, and identity. Elizabeth Heritage reviews. Gracehopper is Mandy Hager’s new YA novel about Grace Murphy, a Taiwanese 18-year-old living in Wellington with her…
Steph Matuku’s latest YA novel grapples with themes of enforced migration, loss, societal expectations, and coloniser violence. Ceridwyn Roberts describes it as ‘unputdownable’, a match for The Hunger Games, and better than other series. I always hesitate to call a…
This year’s NZCYA YA finalists span a huge range of genres, settings, and themes. From the journey of an escaped convict as she tries to forge a life in colonial Tāmaki Makaurau, to a graphic novel about the struggles of…
‘BookTok’, the bookworm subculture of TikTok, has taken the literary and publishing world by storm—but has it been for better or worse? Charlotte Fielding delves into the world BookTok and its influence on the wider reading landscape. BookTok is a…
By Leonie Agnew This Sampling was provided by the publisher for a limited time only. It is no longer available. As part of our Summer Excerpt Series, we are showcasing the junior and YA 2023 Storylines Notable Books, and this…
By Philippa Werry The Sapling is running a Summer Excerpt Series showcasing the junior and young adult titles from the 2023 Storylines Notable Book Awards. As well as being a Notable Book, Iris and Me was the Young Adult Fiction winner in the…
By Tessa Duder The Sapling is running a Summer Excerpt Series showcasing the junior and young adult titles from the 2023 Storylines Notable Book Awards. This week we have the first chapter from Tessa Duder’s The Sparrow. Hannah Marshall put some questions to…
By Lynda Tomalin This installment of our Summer Excerpt Series showcasing the junior and young adult titles from the 2023 Storylines Notable Book Awards features a snippet from Lynda Tomalin’s latest book, Flying and Falling—a touching YA romance that centres teen…
By Eileen Merriman The Sapling is running a Summer Excerpt Series showcasing the junior and young adult titles from the 2023 Storylines Notable Book Awards. Catch a Falling Star (read a review here) is the prequel to Eileen Merriman’s Catch…
High school teacher Briar Lawry deep dives into this compelling journey of a 12-year-old in New Zealand in the 1950s, from her move from South Africa, a rail disaster, and her life and relationships thereafter. There is something quite telling…