The Changeover
Margaret Mahy
HarperCollins
Pub. 1984
December 8, 2021
Do you love books with vampires, spine-tingling horror, and breathtaking romances? Do you love books that seem to be average but end up completely blowing your socks off? Well, then look no further than The Changeover.
The author of The Changeover is one of New Zealand’s greatest authors, famous for her many picture books, novels and short stories. There’s even a playground in Christchurch named after her. That’s right: the one, the only, Margaret Mahy. Of course, Margaret Mahy’s fame gave me very high expectations for The Changeover. It also raised the very high bar which is my standard for books. Read more
Just End It
Donna Blaber
Light House
Pub. 2020
December 8, 2021
Just by reading the blurb, I knew this was going to be my kind of book and I was right.
Just End It is about a girl called Jessie, who gets bullied by her own best friend. She blames it on a mysterious rock she found at Whale Bay. Then her ex-best friend starts cyberbullying her, and everything goes downhill.
I really loved how the author Donna Blaber put a little bit of fantasy in the story. There’s just enough so you get a clear image of what is going on. Read more
Spark Hunter
Sonya Wilson
The Cuba Press
Pub. 2021
December 03, 2021
“You be careful out there, Nissa girl,” he said. “People far more forest-savvy than you have gotten themselves lost in Fiordland. Some of them for good.”
Nissa Marshall was five when she first saw them. At the time, she was too young to understand what she was seeing. A strange, pulsating, light in the middle of the forest. She called them fairies, not knowing what they really were, of course. Nobody believed her. Not her parents, even though her dad still thinks that there’s moose in Fiordland. Not her friends, but it isn’t like she really has any anyway. Read more
Dog Tucker
Kathryn Drinkwater
Scholastic
Pub. 2009
December 03, 2021
Devlin has been living in foster homes his entire life. One day he decides he’s had enough. Award-winning novel, Dog Tucker, by Kathryn Drinkwater tells his story.
Dog Tucker is about Devlin, who feels nobody cares about him, so he runs away. He walks down a path for a while until he’s struck in the head by some teenagers and robbed. He is luckily found by the foster home manager and taken back to the home that he just left. He is then told that he will be staying at his uncle’s farm, an uncle that he never knew he had. Read more
Just End It
Donna Blaber
Light House
Pub. 2020
November 23, 2021
Just End It is for people who like mysterious adventure books. It’s about a 12-year-old girl named Jessie, who finds a shiny rock lying along the beach and takes it home.
After some research, Jessie finds out it is more than just a piece of obsidian. She finds out that back in the day, people sliced a flat piece of the rock and used it as a blade for a knife. She also finds out the rock may be cursed, bringing bad luck for whoever takes it. Without thinking anything of it, she places it next to a picture of her best friend of many years called Hayley. Read more
Cry of the Taniwha
Des Hunt
HarperCollins
Pub. 2009
November 23, 2021
Matt Logan is less than impressed when he hears that his holiday job is babysitting the boy from next door. He’s already had to fly to Rotorua to stay with his nan and her new husband – who Matt’s never met before – and now he’s stuck with Juzza, who’s pretty rude for one thing, but also someone who could lead Matt into big trouble.
However, Hone, Matt’s step-grandfather, thinks Matt could steer Juzza onto a better path – away from the gang life that Juzza seems so tempted by. Read more
AUP New Poets 8
Writers; Lily Holloway, Tru Paraha, Modi Deng
Edited by Anna Jackson
Auckland University Press
Pub. 2021
November 23, 2021
Editor Anna Jackson, for the eighth book in the collection of AUP New Poets, has chosen three astonishing and unique authors, whose words have brought rich and deeper meaning into my life.
Lily Holloway, 22 years old, is a queer writer and postgraduate English student. The book starts off with her collection, “a child in that alcove”. Holloway brings moments from her daily life and expresses them to her readers. Her poetry is filled with excitement, with dread, with questions and with memories of people from her life. Read more
The Life and Times of Eddie McGrath
Brigid Feehan
OneTree House
Pub. 2021
November 23, 2021
The Life and Times of Eddie McGrath is a book about a young girl, unsurprisingly, called Eddie McGrath. She lives in Wellington and wins a national competition to give a speech at the Beehive.
Before I delve in further, I would like to point out a few key things. First, one thing I like about this book is that it could be set ten years in the past or ten years in the future, as a lot of the details about exactly where and when the book is set are extremely vague. Read more
Just End It
Donna Blaber
Light House
Pub. 2020
November 23, 2021
Just End It is a mysterious adventurous book based on a 12-year-old girl called Jessie who lives in the North Island of New Zealand. Jessie loves hanging out at the beach and is very interested in rocks. One normal day, while she is strolling across the beach, she comes across a very cool obsidian whale rock.
She picks it up and takes it home to her mum who is also very interested in rocks. Her Mum says to her that this is definitely obsidian, and it might have a very interesting story to tell. Read more
Wrens Under the Radar
Colleen Shipley
Pub. 2021
November 22, 2021
“Should I be enjoying myself when soldiers were still fighting for our freedom overseas?”
September of 1939. New Zealand joins the war against Germany, and many enlist to help in the battle. One such person includes Betty’s fiancé, Fred. Betty understands Fred wants to do his part for his country and she endeavours to do the same, however possible. Thus, she joins the Wrens, a female auxiliary unit that helps aboard ships. Not long after, she’s on route to a farmhouse in Blenheim, with her and seven other Wrens being whisked away for a top-secret mission. Read more
