Book Quiz: The change of the seasons
We may not yet have reached the Season of the Age of Aquarius, but it certainly appears to be Spring right now, and we figure sooner or later Summer will reach our fair shores. Lets do a quiz to celebrate!…
Young Adult
Book Reviews: Beautiful Mess & Broken Silence
If there is a trend right now in YA publishing, it has to be toward gritty teen drama, usually including the death of somebody close and plenty of angst. Beautiful Mess, by Claire Christian won the 2016 Text Prize, and…
Dare Truth or Promise, Twenty Years On
Today we say ‘Happy Birthday!’ to Paula Boock’s ground-breaking novel for young adults, Dare Truth or Promise, published on this day, twenty years ago. Today Gem Wilder remembers how important it was for her to read as a teenager, and…
Te Atea: ko tenei te wa: Kristin Smith
Ko tēnei Te Wiki o te Reo Māori! Today we have a love letter to Te Ātea, a futuristic Young Adult story about a nuclear holocaust and space travel, all in te reo Māori, by the acclaimed author Dame Katerina…
Hooked on NZ Books: Eirlys Hunter on YA
New Zealand Young Adult fiction is as good as any in the world. So why doesn’t it have a higher profile with young readers in Aotearoa, and what can be done about that? Writer, reviewer and teacher Eirlys Hunter tells…
The Sampling: The Traitor and the Thief
An excerpt from Gareth Ward’s debut steampunk adventure novel and winner of the 2016 Storylines Tessa Duder Award, The Traitor and the Thief. Orphan, urchin and thief, Sin, has just been chased through the streets of Coxford by a sinister old man, Eldritch … Secrets, spies and steampunk gadgets abound in this fantastic adventure story!
Quiz: first lines of classic Kiwi kids’ novels
How well do you know classic New Zealand children’s novels? Do you think you could recognise them from their first sentences? Have a go! Answers are at the bottom of the page. 1. ‘When, suddenly, on an ordinary Wednesday, it…
Book List: Local YA as good as the internationals
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…
The Sampling: Moon Boy
Kat and Eru are new in town and trying to find their way. Not easy when her mum’s in a relationship with his mum, and he’s not your usual sort of guy: Māori with the palest skin and blond dreads and – strangest of all – no ears. More moon than boy …
Book Reviews: Adventure and its Aftermath
Sarah Forster reviews two recent books, both by debut authors, which are tied together by adventure and its aftermath. Both books go deep inside the emotional experience of dramatic, unpredictable death. Into the White is a retelling for children of…