High hopes were not disappointed, Eleanor Bassett


The Calling
Fleur Beale
Penguin NZ
pub. 2021

 

14 April, 2021

There is something to be said for sticking with what you know, and doing it well.

Exceptionally well, in Fleur Beale’s case. The acclaimed author of the I am not Esther series has just released a new young adult novel dealing with religious bigotry, questioning faith, and a coming-of-age girl’s place in it. These are running themes in her young adult books. Unlike I am not Esther, which has some political undertones on religious cults, this book feels more mainstream and uncomplicated.

Set in 1895, Molly lives with her brothers and Dad in small-town New Zealand, where family, hard work, and religion reign.  Read more

April, 2021 Tanya Prince Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers:

Almost too true, Aleksia Drain

Lyla 
Fleur Beale
Allen & Unwin
2018

 

Lyla is a book written in raw truth. The story begins in a world of homework and the normal everyday life of a young school girl named Lyla. She attends Avonside Girls High School and lives happily in the city of Christchurch. But then disaster strikes: an earthquake shakes the lives of every Christchurch citizen, turning us upside down into chaos. This book reveals the truth of the February Christchurch earthquake, the loss people faced, and the terrible things we saw. It brings a reader out of their world of media and newspapers and reveals the personal terrors one faced in that horrific time.  Read more

May, 2018 Info Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers: , , ,

Learning a new language, Evelyn Barber

I Am Not Esther

Fleur Beale
Penguin
2012

 

My first encounter with this book was when I was eight years of age. I had been so excited to borrow a Kobo from my primary school library. On the Kobo, I started reading I Am Not Esther. I didn’t understand it. All the religion was too confusing. Now, five years later at Wellington Girls’ College library, I came across the book once again. Many people complimented this book as being really good, so that encouraged me to attempt to read the book again.

Turning 14 in two weeks, I will be the same age as the main character in the book.  Read more

August, 2017 Info Scroll down to see reviews submitted by YA readers: , , ,
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