Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers:

Feel the fear and read it anyway, Charlie Kaval Wilding

The Traitor and the Thief
Gareth Ward
Walker Books
Pub. 2017

 

October 12, 2021

The Traitor and the Thief by Gareth Ward was published by Walker Books in 2017. Ward won the Storylines Tessa Duder Award for this book. This award goes to a New Zealand author for a book for kids 13 and over.

Sin has lived on the street for most of his life, stealing jewelry and expensive items from the people around his town; that is, until he is chased down and asked to work at a secret spy agency for kids called COG (Covert Operations Group).  Read more

October, 2021 Tanya Prince Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers:

An action-packed, emotional adventure, Kyra Johnson

Black Wolf
Second book in the Black Spiral Trilogy
Eileen Merriman
Penguin Random House New Zealand
Pub. 2021

 

October 12, 2021

Black Wolf is the second book in Eileen Merriman’s Black Spiral Trilogy. It is an action-packed and emotional story for both the readers and the characters themselves, Violet Black and Johnno Fletcher, who are plotting their escape from the torturous Spiral Foundation. The Foundation is a scientific research laboratory which seems legitimate and almost harmless. But Violet and Johnno know better.

After they have escaped, the two drive further and further away from the Foundation. Despite Johnno deeply hurting Violet’s feelings when they were on their mission to Berlin (in book one – Violet Black), the two become much closer.  Read more

October, 2021 Tanya Prince Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers:

A cool and challenging adventure, Sana Sharma

The Unflinching Ash
Angela Armstrong
Norsou Books
Pub. 2021

 

 

October 07, 2021

The Unflinching Ash by Angela Armstrong is the story of an awesome young girl on her way to earning the Queen’s Seal.

The story begins at a magic show. This is no simple magic but a show to try and earn the Queen’s Seal – a badge of honour and immunity. The man performing this stunt is Banyan and he succeeds in everyone’s eyes except for our favourite… Ash, who quickly discovers what he does before the stunt has even been pulled off.

Ash is a wonderfully talented young woman.  Read more

October, 2021 Tanya Prince Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers:

An inspiring story about following your dreams, Caitlin Fuldseth

Learning to love Blue
Saradha Koirala
Record Press
Pub. 2021

 

 

 

October 06, 2021

Learning to love Blue by Saradha Koirala is a well-written book about friendships, adventure, music and following your dreams. The main character is a major inspiration as she never gives up on her dream, not once. She is always working towards it.

Paige, the main character, is an 18-year-old girl who has recently moved from Wellington, New Zealand to Melbourne, Australia. She moved out there to follow her dreams of becoming a well-known bassist playing in a band that she has yet to join. She leaves her home with her bass guitar, a copy of Bob Dylan’s book Chronicles, a Joni Mitchell album called “Blue” and a suitcase with her clothes.  Read more

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A magical story about imagination and belief, Jessica Dowling

Dappled Annie and the Tigrish
Mary McCallum
Gecko Press
Pub. 2014

 

October 4, 2021

Dappled Annie and the Tigrish by Mary McCallum is quite an adventurous and courageous story. It’s the story of Annie, a girl who talks to faces in the hedge.

There is a really big earthquake that brings Annie and her younger brother together. Her father works in a lighthouse, but he does not come home after the earthquake. So she goes out to find what she has lost.

I think the author’s aim of this book was to tell people that there are little things everywhere and we just have to open our eyes and see.  Read more

October, 2021 Tanya Prince Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers:

A beautiful story woven around difficult subjects, Eleanor Bassett

Life as a Casketeer
Francis & Kaiora Tipene
Harper Collins
Pub.  2020

 

 

September 29, 2021

I picked up Life as a Casketeer and started reading at the end of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori 2021. It seemed like fate, and fitting, to start a non-fiction book that integrates the themes and values of language and cultural preservation through familial and cultural generations.

Like people afraid of heights that seek out and ride a roller coaster; as someone who is afraid of dying, I was morbidly curious to read this. Early on, Francis reveals that Kaiora was apprehensive and initially less than enthused about their new professions.  Read more

September, 2021 Tanya Prince Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers:

Action-packed tale of teens in a futuristic world, Savarna Yang

Black Wolf: Book 2 in the Black Spiral Trilogy
Eileen Merriman
Penguin Books
Pub. 2021

 

 

September 28, 2021

“I want to cry. I want to scream.

But I won’t. I can’t. If I fall apart now, then we might as well be dead.”

This is not the first, and definitely not the last, of many life-and-death situations in Black Wolf by Eileen Merriman. Action-packed from beginning to end, prepare yourself for a gripping, and sometimes terrifying story of a futuristic world on the brink of destruction.

Phoenix and Violet are prisoners at the Foundation: a scientific research centre. But this ‘research’ is constructed around tests run on humans – teens that are somehow evolving to gain powers.  Read more

September, 2021 Tanya Prince Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers:

A super-engaging emotional ride, Caitlin Fuldseth

The Burn of a Thousand Suns
Jillian Webster
Book Two of The Forgotten Ones trilogy
Self-published
Pub. 2021

 

September 28, 2021

The Burn of a Thousand Suns by Jillian Webster is the second book in The Forgotten Ones trilogy. This book continues on with the story of Maia and her difficult journey to The Old Arctic Circle.

I can honestly say that it is just as good as the first book and if anything it’s better. The many emotions I felt while reading were unexplainable.

Webster has a way with words. She has written this book in such a way that makes it feel like you are included there in the moment with Maia and Lucas.  Read more

September, 2021 Tanya Prince Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers:

A realistic fantasy with truth factor, Lorenzo Yamamoto

Just Remember
Donna Blaber
Lighthouse Media Group
Pub. 2021

 

 

September 28, 2021

Just Remember by Donna Blaber is quite a gentle and compassionate book that really has some truth factor to it. It is an absorbing story about a young girl called Em whose father dies and then her mother ends up in hospital dealing with the shock. Luckily Em is staying with her grandmother and she is trying to fit in at her new school.

The book has been written in a very interesting way because it can only be viewed from one perspective, Em’s, the main character.  Read more

September, 2021 Tanya Prince Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers:

A true page turning adventure, Amber Cayley

Brasswitch and Bot (#1 The Rise of the Remarkables)
Gareth Ward
Walker Books
Pub. 2020

 

September 08, 2021

“Until today, being called Brasswitch would have got you killed. Now, it might save your life…”

Brasswitch and Bot (#1 The Rise of the Remarkables) by Gareth Ward tells the tale of an orphaned girl called Wrench who is forced to show her magical powers to stop a steam train from a fatal crash.

The only problem is that those powers have got many like her killed by the infamous Regulators. Saved from an untimely death by the mechanical Bot, they must work together to stop the threat of a mysterious aberration.  Read more

September, 2021 Tanya Prince Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers:
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