Blog Archives

Why Y? David Hill

Posted on May 26, 2019 by NZ Books

Ursa
Tina Shaw
Walker Books, $23.00,
ISBN 9781760651244

Invisibly Breathing
Eileen Merriman
Penguin Random House, $20.00,
ISBN 9780143772859

Flight of the Fantail
Steph Matuku
Huia, $30.00,
ISBN 9781775503521

An unspecified number of years back at a Going West Festival, I was on a panel talking about aspects of YA fiction. At question time, a firm voice from the floor asked why we needed the YA category, anyway? Wasn’t it maybe a bit of a fad, a publishers’ ploy to sell more titles? We’d got along for years without it, so why invent it now?

Tagged with: Eileen Merriman, Huia, Issue 126, Penguin Random House, Steph Matuku, Tina Shaw, Walker Books, Winter 2019
Posted in Literature, Review, Young adults

Modern love, Hannah Marshall

Posted on May 20, 2019 by NZ Books

Invisibly Breathing Eileen Merriman Penguin Random House, $20.00, ISBN 9780143772859 Invisibly Breathing is Eileen Merriman’s third novel, and it offers more than your typical romance. Bullying, homophobia and being an outsider – Merriman tackles plenty of tough topics in this…

Tagged with: Eileen Merriman, Hannah Marshall, Issue 126, Penguin Random House, Winter 2019
Posted in Literature, Review, YA Reviewers, Young adults

Life and death before 20, Angelina Sbroma

Posted on September 11, 2018 by NZ Books

Catch Me When You Fall
Eileen Merriman
Penguin, $20.00,
ISBN 9780143770930

Ash Arising
Mandy Hager
Penguin, $20.00,
ISBN 9780143772439

Eileen Merriman’s Catch Me When You Fall – a title that provokes a head-tilt to begin with and that takes multiple possible meanings upon reading the book – is narrated by 17-year-old Alex Byrd, and it tells the story of a particular autumn (or fall, as they would say in America) in her life.

Tagged with: Angelina Sbroma, Eileen Merriman, Issue 123, Mandy Hager, Penguin, Spring 2018
Posted in Literature, Review, Young adults

More than just the usual, Flora Fan

Posted on November 29, 2017 by NZ Books

Pieces of You Eileen Merriman Penguin Random House, $20.00, ISBN 9780143770473 Pieces of You is a typical YA coming-of-age novel that surprisingly offers more than a cliché. Not least, it is uniquely set in the familiar setting of Auckland.…

Tagged with: Eileen Merriman, Flora Fan, Issue 120, Penguin Random House, Summer 2017
Posted in Literature, Review, Young adults