The Cat From Muzzle Sally Sutton (Scott Tulloch illus) Puffin, $20.00, ISBN 9780143773085 Bess The Brave War Horse Susan Brocker (Raymond McGrath illus) Scholastic, $28.00, ISBN 9781775435563 Home Child: A Child Migrant In New Zealand Dawn McMillan (Trish Bowles illus)…
The Mapmakers’ Race Eirlys Hunter, Gecko Press, $25.00
Time Twins Arne Norlin and Sally Astridge, Submarine, $25.00
Finding David Hill, Puffin, $20.00
The bonds of family and place, seen from an appropriately youthful viewpoint, are the key players in three recent offerings for younger readers.
Maui and other Māori Legends: 8 Classic Tales of Aotearoa Peter Gossage Puffin $40.00, ISBN 9780143309291 What a delight! Maui and other Māori Legends contains eight complete picture books in one handsome hardback, complete with embossed cover, glossary and bookmark…
The Adventures of Hutu and Kawa Avis Acres (text and illus) Puffin, $25.00, ISBN 9780143507055 First to the Top: Sir Edmund Hillary’s Everest Adventure David Hill (Phoebe Morris illus) Puffin, $25.00, ISBN 9780143506874 Changing Times: The Story of a New…
Enemy Camp
David Hill
Puffin, $20.00, ISBN 9780143309123
Lullaby
Bernard Beckett
Text, $26.00, ISBN 9781922182753
Open Your Eyes, Jackson Ryder
Rudy Castaneda Lopez
Escalator, $30.00, ISBN 9780473295691
It has been interesting to read three such different but compelling books. All three writers are New Zealanders, but only one book is identifiable as a New Zealand novel. I mention this only because there was a session at the recent Writers Week in Wellington during the Arts Festival where I was expecting a robust discussion about what constitutes a New Zealand writer but unfortunately that didn’t happen. So the question is still there, but I don’t think I can address that in this review except through an occasional comment.
The Deadly Sky
David Hill
Puffin, $20.00, ISBN 9780143308157
The Red Suitcase
Jill Harris
Mākaro Press, $25.00, ISBN 9780994106902
Spark
Rachael Craw
Walker, $22.00, ISBN 9781922179623
David Hill’s The Deadly Sky is set in 1974, when the nuclear proliferation of the Cold War was at the forefront of political debate, and France was, quite literally, dropping bombs in the South Pacific. Modern global terror has a different focus (the Big Red Button seems old-fashioned from today’s perspective), but the ethical quandaries at the heart of the arms race – whether militarisation works to promote security or to endanger it; whether national and global security is worth its economic, ecological and individual cost – remain pertinent.
When Our Jack Went to War Sandy McKay Longacre, $20.00, ISBN 9781775533092 Brave Company David Hill Puffin, $20.00, ISBN 9780143307570 Speed Freak Fleur Beale Random House, $20.00, ISBN 9781775534709 When Our Jack Went to War is “a fictional story based…
The Limping Man Maurice Gee Puffin, $19.99, ISBN 9780143305163 The Limping Man is the final volume of Maurice Gee’s Salt trilogy for teenagers. The trilogy portrays a grim city of a wrecked civilisation whose dictator is determined to destroy the…
Shadow of the Mountain Anna Mackenzie Longacre Press, $18.99, ISBN 9781877460005 Smashed Mandy Hager Random House, $18.99, ISBN 9781869419424 Gool Maurice Gee Puffin, $19.95, ISBN 9780143304005 Each of these kidult novels tells a compelling story in a tightly written…