Conflict, mistrust, a strong brotherly bond and bikes!, Denika Mead

Hucking Cody
Aaron Topp
Mary Egan Publishing
2015

Hucking Cody is a young-adult novel by Aaron Topp, set in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. Hucking Cody tells the story of a teenage boy named Cody who is obsessed with mountain biking and is struggling to prove himself to his older brother Zane. Throughout the novel, the relationship between the two brothers fluctuates between physical fighting, lots of tension, conflicts, mistrust and a strong brotherly bond.

This is not a fantasy novel, it is strongly based in reality and has no dragons or wizards in any form. The novel is written in first person with a colloquial air. Read more

March, 2019 Info Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers: 2015, Aaron Topp, Hucking Cody, Nonfiction

Terry Teo and the Gunrunners, Stephen Ballantyne

(1982; re-issue 2015) Earth’s End, NZ

Booknotes Unbound: Anita Arlov reviews Terry Teo and the Gunrunners

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A-C, D-F, G-I, J-L, M-O, P-R, S-U, V-W, X-Z Read more

March, 2017 jane authors 2015

A powerful rollercoaster, Cathy Harris

Sylvie The Second
Kaeli Baker
Submarine
2015

Sylvie is invisible. Or, she may as well be. After Sylvie’s mess of an older sister attempts to overdose for “the kabillionth time”, it sets Sylvie’s family off into an explosive cycle, which persistently wears away her tolerance. Sick of being overshadowed by Calamity-Cate and her desperate actions, Sylvie decides to make some changes to her life: clothing, hair, personality. An obvious plea for attention, she makes drastic changes to her appearance. And though this doesn’t grasp the attention of her distraught mother, nor her dramatic father, it does attract interest from some unknown characters: Chris, the stereotypical popular jock, and Adam Allegro, the pizza delivery guy with the electric eyes. Read more

February, 2017 Info Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers: 2015, Fiction, Kaeli Baker, Sylvie the Second

Awesome inspiration, Abishkar Palma

Wildboy
Brando Yelavich
Penguin Random House
2015

Wildboy is an autobiography in which the author writes about his 600 day journey all around New Zealand on foot. In each chapter of the book, he paints a very visual picture of his journey, be it Nelson to Karamea, or the final stretch of Whangarei to Cape Reinga. He describes his experiences of suffering hypothermia, almost dying, and living off the land. The book also shows that, no matter who you are and what upbringing or disability you have, you can accomplish anything.

Brando grew up loved, but became a bit of a vagabond. Read more

February, 2017 Info Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers: 2015, Brando Yelavich, Nonfiction, Wildboy

Rewriting history, Oscar Cherian

Battlesaurus

Brian Falkner
Square Fish
2015

Battlesaurus, written by author Brian Falkner, is an alternate history book focusing on a teenage boy named Willem, living in the French town of Gaillemarde, during the events surrounding the famous Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The alternate part of the history is the fact that dinosaurs, here known simply as “Saurs”, are alive and well on the European continent. But rather than being fearsome giants, they are treated as merely wild animals, because none found so far are much larger than a raptor. That all changes, however, as Napoleon Bonaparte, the exiled French emperor, has found himself in possession of a larger and much, much more dangerous Saur, a secret weapon which he intends to unleash during the Battle of Waterloo and claim victory. Read more