Between
Adele Broadbent
OneTree House
Pub. 2018
August 03, 2021
Between by Adele Broadbent is a thrilling and heart-stopping story that keeps you on your toes. It’s funny and intriguing, as you never know what is going to happen when you turn the page. While the book deals with hard topics like losing a family member at a young age, it shows that it is okay to miss them even if you don’t remember them well. This book, while sad at points, is funny, light-hearted and easy to read. It is a really good book.
The main character’s name is Olly. Read more
The King’s Nightingale
Sherryl Jordan
Scholastic
Pub. 2021
July 20, 2021
Imagine: you are enjoying life in your village, happy amongst your parents, brothers, sisters, and friends. Then, all of a sudden, a swarm of rogue pirates bombard your village. They murder, steal, commit arson. They capture you and your brother. They leave you in filthy conditions for months, with little food and barely any water, before selling you for piles of gold at a slave market.
The King’s Nightingale by Sherryl Jordan is a rich and exciting fantasy adventure about a girl named Elowen who is captured and sold as a slave by pirates, but because of her beautiful singing voice, she becomes the king’s personal singer. Read more
New Zealand Disasters
Maria Gill
Scholastic NZ
Pub. 2020
July 20, 2021
New Zealand Disasters: Our response, resilience and recovery is written by Maria Gill and illustrated by Marco Ivancic, and is a finalist in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. A book like this requires a lot of research because it is full of true facts. Ms. Gill got help from a lot of people and places to get all the information right, like the National Emergency Management Agency and GNS Science and Dr Gill Jolly.
I really enjoyed this book. It taught me a lot about some disasters I knew about and some that I didn’t. Read more
Across the Risen Sea
Bren MacDibble
Allen&Unwin
Pub. 2020
July 20, 2021
Across The Risen Sea by Bren MacDibble is a lovely book about two young people, Neoma and Jaguar, or Jag for short.
This book is written from the perspective of Neoma. The story begins at the beach where they take turns swimming and find some unexpected visitors that have come from the Valley of the Sun. They live in a small community on the high ground living gentle lives until they meet some people who speak a very strange language.
Jag is regularly afraid of stuff, but never leaves Neoma to face things alone. Read more
My New Zealand Story: Journey to Tangiwai
David Hill
Scholastic
Pub: 2003 and 2021
July 20, 2021
My New Zealand Story: Journey to Tangiwai is one of prolific author David Hill’s latest books (republished after its first edition in 2003). With a front page full of bold colours and an interesting adventure title at the top of the page, I’m already intrigued. This novel looks like it includes nature, Scouts and New Zealand history.
“It’s creepy when I think back on it. Here I was, an ordinary guy with an ordinary name (Peter Cotterill), living in an ordinary New Zealand town (Napier). Read more
Fire’s Caress
Lani Wendt Young
OneTree House
Pub. 2020
July 20, 2021
Fire’s Caress by Lani Wendt Young is an action-packed story that kept me engaged and interested.
This is a story about Teuila, an artist who has spent most of her life in a refugee centre. It’s about her journey to protect her home from a new evil.
I think that the author intended to show that greed can never lead to happiness and will always end with someone getting hurt.
I enjoyed getting to know the characters throughout the book. I loved learning about some of the reasons behind their decisions and the small things they do to show how they feel. Read more
Charlie Tangaroa and the Creature from the Sea
T K Roxborogh
Huia
Pub. 2020
July 13, 2021
Charlie Tangaroa and the Creature from the Sea is a novel by T K Roxborogh. This was published by Huia in 2020 and is a finalist for the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young People. Roxborogh writes of a young boy, Charlie, who finds a creature from a fairy tale on the shores of his local beach. This discovery changes his view of the world forever and Charlie is finally able to see the world as it truly is, the creation of the gods above, below and around us. Read more
The Thunderbolt Pony
Stacy Gregg
Harper Collins
Pub. 2017
July 13, 2021
“When the world is falling apart, true friends stay together …”
A cheesy quote on the front page, a story involving horses and a setting near Kaikoura. That sounds like an amazing recipe for an eye glinting, relatable and wow-factor novel! It is also written by the one and only Kiwi author of The Forever Horse… Stacy Gregg.
The Thunderbolt Pony is a novel about Evie Violet Van Zwanenberg, a twelve year old girl living in Parnassus, a small town between Cheviot and Kaikoura.
“I feel the pull of my rituals as if they are magnets and I am iron. Read more
Between Two Worlds
Emma Outteridge
Allen&Unwin
Pub. 2020
July 13, 2021
Between Two Worlds by Emma Outteridge is an autobiography about selfless compassion and learning and tells the story of a bond between two completely different worlds.
Emma Outteridge was born into the America’s Cup world of fame and fortune and grew up on boats sailing around the world. She ran Louis Vuitton’s international sailing hospitality programme in her twenties and worked on the slopes of the Rocky Mountains serving the rich and famous.
Surprisingly it was here that Outteridge got her first taste of Africa. She was watching a movie about the Rwandan genocide, and her shock at what had been happening while she was busy watching sailors race boats and the ghastly way people were treated, spurred her to action and was the first stepping stone on her road to helping in Africa. Read more
The Inkberg Enigma
Jonathan King
Gecko Press
Pub. 2020
July 09, 2021
A mysterious iceberg made of ink, an age-old Antarctic mystery, a dangerous deep-sea monster, and a small fishing town with a big secret. The Inkberg Enigma by Jonathan King has it all.
Miro is a shy introvert of a boy who scavenges valuable items from his attic to sell to pay for his book habit. He only likes adventure in books, which he can enjoy from the comfort of his own home. He would never dream of going on a real adventure, especially not one like the one happening in his own town, right under his nose. Read more
