The Pōrangi Boy
Shilo Kino
Huia
Pub. 2020
June 28, 2021
The Pōrangi Boy’s blurb is deceiving. Shilo Kino’s novel, a finalist in this year’s NZ Book Awards, has so many more intricate and nuanced elements than just, ‘is it crazy to believe in taniwha?’ Here, the taniwha in residence is a metaphor for so much more. This book bridges a literature gap in New Zealand young adult novels.
The Pōrangi Boy is somewhere between a traditional European writing of an archetypal ‘journey’, and the abstract ideas, shown through a literal abstract novel structure, that Kino uses to showcase the Māori perspective. Read more
Shackleton’s Endurance: An Antarctic Survival Story
Joanna Grochowicz
Allen&Unwin
Pub. 2021
June 28, 2021
I don’t know a lot about Antarctic expeditions, but I am very interested in Antarctica, so I was excited when I got the opportunity to read the book Shackleton’s Endurance: An Antarctic Survival Story by Joanna Grochowicz.
This is a factual retelling of Ernest Shackleton’s famous expedition, where he hoped to “cross the Antarctic continent from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea.” The text introduces the reader to Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton and his ship, the Endurance, as well as his crew of 27. The most famous crew members, Frank Wild, Frank Hurley, Alexander Macklin, George Marston, Tom Crean and Frank Worsley, had all been on previous Antarctic missions. Read more
Katipo Joe: Spycraft
Brian Falkner
Scholastic
Pub. 2021
June 24, 2021
“There were times during the war when I lost myself… I risked becoming the person I was playing, and that person was a Nazi.”
Joseph (Joe) St George is 15 years old. A schoolboy. But unlike most schoolboys, he also happens to be a spy for MI5.
It’s the middle of World War Two and he has just found out he is being sent on a mission. He’s told that his mother, also a spy, has gone missing in Germany and that he has to rescue her.
Joe is parachuted into Germany and makes his way to a rendezvous with an accomplice. Read more
Don’t Panic. Keep Breathing.
TNT Trilogy (book 2)
Sarah Delany
Self-published 2020
June 22, 2021
Don’t Panic. Keep Breathing. by Sarah Delany is the second book in the TNT Trilogy series. This book is an emotional roller coaster that keeps you on your toes. Just when you think it’s heading in one direction, it does a 180 and goes the opposite way. Don’t Panic. Keep Breathing. continues the story of Tamsyn and Tate, who still have some of the same problems and mental health issues but some have been resolved. Tamsyn and Tate are learning to live life with the pains of their past and to keep moving forward despite new and unexpected events. Read more
Bullseye Bella
James T. Guthrie
Scholastic
Pub. 2019
June 22, 2021
“The crowd had gone silent.
She threw the dart.
It hit the target.”
Bella Kerr loves darts. She’s good at it too. Some people call her a prodigy, others call her a “little girl”. But whatever she is, she isn’t going to back down. In Bullseye Bella by James T. Guthrie, Bella is a 12-year-old darts player. She’s been playing since she was five, when her Dad first put some darts in her hand (not proper ones of course), and hasn’t stopped since. Playing darts connects her to her father, who left long ago. Read more
Just Remember
Donna Blaber
Pub. 2021
June 18, 2021
To her dismay, Em Rogers (or Emilia, but as she points out; just because her mother likes the name doesn’t mean she has to) has a detention. But, really, it isn’t all her fault that she was talking at the same time as her teacher. It happens to everyone, right?
Nevertheless, Em is stuck in detention after school and – like any other student – she texts Mum to come and pick her up. What she doesn’t know is that she has inadvertently become part of a small chain of events that will lead to something much bigger. Read more
A Naturalist’s Guide to the Birds of New Zealand
Oscar Thomas
John Beaufoy Publishing Ltd
Pub. 2020
June 18, 2021
Oscar Thomas’ first book is A Naturalist’s Guide to the Birds of New Zealand. This book’s goal is to inform the readers about the birds of New Zealand. Thomas is an author and wildlife photographer specialising in New Zealand birds, and has achieved his goal through use of fantastic photos and descriptions.
Thomas gives a description of what each bird looks like, and talks about their habits and habitats. The physical size of the book is great, as it is small enough to not take up much space in your bag, yet big enough to read easily. Read more
The Knot Impossible (A Tale of Fontania)
Gecko Press
Barbara Else
Pub. 2015
June 15, 2021
The Knot Impossible (A Tale of Fontania) is written by Barbara Else and published by Gecko Press. It’s a book about being away from family and how to get through it.
In this story, we live through the eyes of Rufkin. His mother, father and sibling are all famous actors but Rufkin suffers from stage fright. He gets sent off to a friend of his parents for them to look after him, and while there he gets caught up in a mighty sea adventure. Read more
The Nancys
R.W.R. McDonald
Allen & Unwin
Pub. 2019
June 11, 2021
The Nancys, written by R.W.R. McDonald and published by Allen & Unwin in 2019, is a riveting book about dealing with grief in an adventurous way and is ultimately about finding yourself. In this book we live life through the eyes of young Tippy Chan. Her mother has gone on a cruise and she is stuck at home with her uncle Pike and his boyfriend, Devon. When one of her best friends ends up in hospital, and then a day later there has been a murder in the small town of Riverstone, Tippy, her uncle and his boyfriend take it upon themselves to solve this murder mystery. Read more
The Spaghetti Giraffe and the Egg of Courage
Sarah Johnson
Flat Bed Press
Pub. 2019
June 11, 2021
The Spaghetti Giraffe and the Egg of Courage is the second book in The Spaghetti Giraffe trilogy and it tells the story of Gorgon trying to work up the courage to ask Mina Cucina to marry him, and the animals that try to help him.
The animals are created by Mina from all the food mess that gathers under the cooker in her kitchen. They include a marshmallow pig, a macaroni snail, prune hedgehogs and a fluffy monkey.
Ok, ok that might not seem like a lot of characters, but that’s all they needed in this story and it just the right amount from start to finish. Read more
