Know Your Place
Golriz Gharaman
HarperCollins
pub. 2020
23 March, 2021
Know Your Place by Golriz Ghahraman is the first book of its kind I have ever read. It’s Golriz’s life story and how being a refugee and someone of colour has affected the way she is perceived. She was born in Iran, but the political climate of war, oppression and dictatorship was not the right place for a woman to grow up and have a free future. So when she was nine years old her parents escaped to New Zealand to seek refuge in a more democratic country.
Moving countries is a massive change, especially as a child. Read more
#Tumeke!
Michael Petherick
Massey University Press – Annual Ink
pub. 2019
23 March, 2021
#Tumeke! by Michael Petherick is a different style of book. It is fictional, as is Newtoun, (where the story is set), but yet it doesn’t have the same structure as a novel. It is described as a multimedia mash-up which I think sums it up well. The book is written from quite a few different P.O.Vs (point of views) which I usually like and doesn’t have thoughts or perspective apart from Dreadflock’s diary, which is only mentioned a few times. As I have already read this book I knew what I was in for, but reading it again has unveiled new sides to the personalities of the characters and their stories. Read more
Search for a Kiwi Killer
Des Hunt
Torea Press
pub. 2018
19 March, 2021
Things that reel you in to reading a book: colourful images that relate to what it is about, readable and original fonts and a good cliffhanger blurb on the back. When I first laid eyes on this book I could tell that it would be interesting, about nature and a thriller. One of the things I like about the cover of Des Hunt’s novel is how the last two words are a different font and bigger than the other words which gives a clue to what this book is about. Read more
Mophead Tu: The Queen’s Poem
Selina Tusitala Marsh
Auckland University Press
pub. 2021
19 March, 2021
Mophead Tu: The Queen’s Poem is a graphic book by Selina Tusitala Marsh. It was recommended to me by our librarian at Aotea College. I started off reading the “Unity” poem at the front of the book; the poem speaks so much sense about our everyday life and the opposite sides of us as well as how connected we all are. Unity means togetherness; unity means one-ness.
Selina Tusitala Marsh was invited and given the opportunity to write and perform for the Queen as she was receiving an award as Commonwealth Poet. Read more
Magnolia 木蘭
Nina Mingya Powles
Seraph Press
pub. 2021
15 March, 2021
Nina Mingya Powles is a writer and zinemaker, and Magnolia 木蘭 is her newest collection of soul-baring poetry. This book is an honest exploration of home and the way its meaning changes and grows alongside us. Powles gently pulls away the defences and boundaries in our minds as though she were peeling one of the many pieces of fruit that remind her of home. She guides us through her own thoughts, not like leading us down a path behind her with a destination in mind, but telling us to follow a moving light over a flowing, shifting expanse of water that has no end. Read more
Mallory, Mallory: The Revenge of the Tooth Fairy
James Norcliffe with illustrations by Emily Walker
Penguin Random House New Zealand
pub. 2020
15 March, 2021
In Mallory, Mallory: The Revenge of the Tooth Fairy, James Norcliffe writes a thrilling tale about the adventures of Mallory and Arthur. Mallory captures the tooth fairy and tries to blackmail her into giving her money; but you really shouldn’t try and capture a magical creature.
The story starts with Mallory’s loose tooth. When Mallory realises that she has a loose tooth, she hatches her (top secret) plan:
- Borrow Dad‘s razor bag
- Attach tooth to cotton
- Attach other end of cotton to finger
- Put tooth into bag
- Hide bag under pillow
- Go to bed
- Try to stay awake all night, or stay half-awake and rely on the cotton
- When the tooth fairy comes and climbs into the bag to get the tooth, pull the drawstring on the bag, trapping the tooth fairy inside
- Keep the tooth fairy prisoner.
Read more
Dragon Hero: Riders of Fire Book 2
Eileen Mueller
Phantom Feather Press
pub. 2018
15 March, 2021
Dragon Hero: Riders of Fire is an outstanding book containing action and suspense, giving you a heart pounding feeling that makes you want to keep turning the pages! The author is Eileen Mueller and it was published in 2018. She explains small moments with lots of detail, and the book contains fierce dragons, deadly enemies and characters that make it so intense and amazing.
The story is about a teenager named Tomaaz, a Lush-Valley boy that discovers dark secrets that change his life forever. Read more
The King’s Nightingale
Sherryl Jordan
Scholastic
pub. 2021
15 March, 2021
“As you see, I have brought you a new slave. Her name is Elowen. She is exceedingly skilled. I hope with all humility that she will please you well my lord.”
Stolen from her peaceful island home by brutal pirates, Elowen is taken to a far-off land of deserts, palm trees and camels, where she is sold as a slave to the King. Driven by desperation to rescue her younger brother, Elowen will stop at nothing to return to her distant homeland in The King’s Nightingale by Sherryl Jordan. Read more
Wildboy: To the Edge and Back
Brando Yelavich
Penguin Random House
pub. 2017
12 March, 2021
“I was on the brink of being so cold I couldn’t feel anymore, I realised I had hypothermia and I needed to do something right now, if I didn’t I was going to die…”
Wildboy: To the Edge and Back by Brando Yelavich talks about his death-defying walk around Stewart Island. This is a sequel to Wildboy – an adventurous account of his 600-day trek around the coastline of New Zealand but on that journey in 2014, he missed out on the hardest part of this beautiful country – Stewart Island. Read more
Cuz
Liz van der Laarse
OneTree House
pub. 2018
12 March, 2021
Liz van der Laarse tells an epic story of survival in her book Cuz, which is so descriptive and perfectly written, it almost seems real. This is the story of two teenagers, River and his cousin Huia, as they fight their way through the merciless bush of Fiordland to get back home.
After a boat accident kills Huia’s Dad and leaves River and Huia stranded in a foreign terrain of bush with nothing but each other, they must learn the ways of the forest. They must learn to provide food and water for themselves while they make their hard journey home. Read more
