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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: 1 comment

Dip in to these three treats, Sasha Maclean

Three Scoops
David Hill
OneTree House
Pub. 2021

 

 

September 06, 2021

Do you like fantasy? What about historical fiction? Are you a sci-fi fan, or do you like all three genres? Do you find it hard to choose what to read next?

Why not try them all?

History, fantasy, sci-fi.  Past, present, future.  Three quite different stories set in three vastly different time periods.  One thing in common: all written by one of New Zealand’s best authors.

Sometimes, picking up a whole new novel can be too much work.  Sometimes, it is nice to just be able to dip your toes into something light, rather than take a big dive into the deep end.   Read more

September, 2021 Tanya Prince Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers: No comments yet

An adventure in a dangerous new world, Caitlin Fuldseth

The Weight of a Thousand Oceans
Jillian Webster
Self-Published
Pub. 2020

 

 

September 02, 2021

The Weight of a Thousand Oceans by Jillian Webster is a beautiful and heart-wrenching story about a young woman named Maia. She feels trapped and like there is more in the world than what she can see in front of her.

The world Maia lives in is a terrible place left behind by the men and women of the past. The earth is polluted and overheated with high water levels. There is almost no visible land and the human population is nearly non-existent. There are so few people that everyone knows each other by first name on the North Island of New Zealand, where Maia grew up.  Read more

September, 2021 Tanya Prince Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers: 1 comment

A sweet book about an unlikely softball team, Sana Sharma

Slice of Heaven
Des O’ Leary
Makaro Press
Pub. 2018

 

September 02, 2021

Slice of Heaven by Des O’ Leary is a wonderful book about softball and a bunch of young people surprised by sport.

The story begins after school in detention at Mamawahe High School where Mr Orchard is trying to take the roll because there are over 20 students for that one detention. The junior softball team has not shown up and there is a team coming to play against them at that very moment so some of the rubbish-picking students from detention have to play.

There are a lot of different people in this story, as there are a lot of players on a softball team.  Read more

September, 2021 Tanya Prince Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers: No comments yet

Like something from a strange dream, Jessica Dowling

Partners in Slime
Belinda O’Keefe
Scholastic
Pub. 2021

 

September 02, 2021

Partners in Slime is an odd, cool story.

This book is about two boys, Jake and Cooper, who really want to save up to go to an
amusement park. So they come up with a whole lot of different ideas but in the end, they decide to sell slime. They put odd ingredients in that make it magnetic. Jake leaves the slime on his turtle enclosure and his turtle eats it overnight and turns HUGE!

I think the author’s aim for this book was to show people how much imagination people actually have.  Read more

September, 2021 Tanya Prince Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers: No comments yet

An ancient ring and a doorway to the past, Sophie Whittaker

The Firewatcher Chronicles: Brimstone
Kelly Gardiner
Scholastic Australia
Pub. 2019

 

September 02, 2021

“Nobody noticed the boy who trudged wearily down the stone stairs, opened a door in the river wall, and passed into another life.”

Christopher Larkham can hear the Luftwaffe engines well before anyone else and is a first-class fire watcher during the Blitz of 1940. He would have never imagined that he could intervene between two different centuries. But when he finds a glowing ring on the mudflats of the river Thames, his life conspicuously changes and he finds himself disbelievingly witnessing the crackling flames jump from rooftop to rooftop during The Great Fire of London in 1666.  Read more

September, 2021 Tanya Prince Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers: No comments yet

Friendships and fashion on the slopes, Takoda Cross


Lily Max #2: Slope, Style, Fashion
Jane Bloomfield
Luncheon Sausage Books
Pub. 2016

 

August 30, 2021

Lily Max: Slope, Style, Fashion is about a 12-year-old girl who loves fashion designing but is a total beginner at skiing.

All Lily Max wants to do is have some fun with fashion and to learn how to ski. But that is not just what the story is about.

When Lily goes up a mountain with her class for a school skiing trip, she doesn’t know how to ski – bad luck for her. She must start on the beginner’s slope while Violet Hughes (her arch-nemesis) goes to the intermediate slope.  Read more

August, 2021 Tanya Prince Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers: No comments yet

An inventive and brave story with feminist themes, Savarna Yang


The Unflinching Ash
Angela Armstrong
Norsou Books
pub. 2021

 

August 26, 2021

‘“What is a witch, but a woman who understood something a man did not?”’

Ash is a Mystic: a master of illusions and magic. For some, she is a captivating and charismatic performer. But for others, she is a witch to be feared and persecuted. Someone to be spat at in the street. Someone who should not be allowed. A girl who should stay at home, out of the way. Lucky for us she’s a fighter and isn’t going to back down easily.

On a quest to win The Queen’s Seal, an award presented to the best Mystic in the land, Ash must battle through the puritanical ‘basilica’ and prove that she is worthy to perform before the Queen.  Read more

August, 2021 Tanya Prince Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers: 2 comments

A dystopic adventure with a difference, Beckett Dada-Maroni


The Dog Runner
Bren MacDibble
Allen & Unwin
pub. 2019

 

August 26, 2021

MacDibble writes from Ella’s point of view about a dystopian Australia, where a fungus has killed all of the food. Ella has a brother named Emery who is three years older than her, and her dad lives with her too.

Her mom is an electrical engineer, and she is gone; working in the city. They live with three dogs: Maroochy, Bear and Wolf. Emery trades some of Ella’s cookies for two dogs and a dog cart. While their dad is out they realise they have to make the trip to Emery’s ma’s mushroom farm.  Read more

August, 2021 Tanya Prince Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers: No comments yet

An enigmatic steampunk adventure, Nell Mace-David

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

 

August 24, 2021

“If you join us, you too may die, but your sacrifice will save the lives of millions. COG [Covert Operations Group] does not fight for the Empire; it fights for humanity.”

In The Traitor and the Thief by Gareth Ward, 14-year-old Sin lives on the streets of Coxford, picking pockets for a living. He is an orphan, and the closest thing he’s ever had to family is the rough gang he steals for and their mean leader, the Fixer. He didn’t even know that a secret organisation like COG existed, that is, until he met the scar-faced Eldritch Moons.  Read more

August, 2021 Tanya Prince Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers: 1 comment
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