A magical book about self-discovery, Ashika Hira

Tim Te Maro and the Subterranean Heartsick Blues
H.S Valley
Hardie Grant Books
2021

 

 

 

 

December 14, 2022

Tim Te Maro and the Subterranean Heartsick Blues is a magical, queer romance novel for YA readers set in the Fox Glacier High School for the Magically Adept. Written by H.S. Valley and published in 2021 by Hardie Grant Books, it follows year 13 student Tim Te Maro, who has recently been dumped. He must now juggle this heartache along with NCEA, learning magic and the recent abandonment of his father. As he figures out who he is independent of his father and his recently ex-girlfriend, he must also make sense of these surging feelings he hasn’t been able to quell.  Read more

January, 2023 Melissa Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers: , , ,

A heartfelt story about young love, Sana Sharma

Invisibly Breathing
Eileen Merriman
Penguin
2019

 

 

 

 

 

July 26, 2022

Invisibly Breathing by Eileen Merriman is a loving book about unconventional love and bullying.

The story begins with Felix taking a thousand steps on the way to school in Lower Hutt. He’s thinking about his favourite number when bullies stop him in his path and ruin his count, making him late for school. There he meets Bailey, a boy who gets mocked for having a stutter as he tries to answer a math question, simple – in Felix’s eyes.

Felix Catalan is a sixteen-year-old boy who is socially awkward and known as ‘freak-out Felix’ or ‘crazy Catalan’ due to his anxiety attacks at school.  Read more

July, 2022 Melissa Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers: , , , , , , ,
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