Download or read book Into the River written by Ted Dawe and published by Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited. This book was released on 2013-10-18 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A gripping, gritty and award-winning coming-of-age novel for young adult readers. When Te Arepa Santos is dragged into the river by a giant eel, something happens that will change the course of his whole life. The boy who struggles to the bank is not the same one who plunged in, moments earlier. He has brushed against the spirit world, and there is a price to be paid; an utu (revenge) to be exacted. Years later, far from the protection of whanau (family) and ancestral land, he finds new enemies. This time, with no one to save him, there is a decision to be made: he can wait on the bank, or leap forward into the river. At the 2013 NZ Post Childrens Book Awards Into the River was judged the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year. It also won the Young Adult Fiction category of the awards. An engaging coming-of-age novel, it follows its main protagonist from his childhood in small-town rural New Zealand to an elite Auckland boarding school, where he must forge his own way – including battling with his cultural identity. This prequel to Ted Dawe's award-winning novel Thunder Road is gritty, provocative, at times shocking, but always real and true. The awards' chief judge Bernard Beckett described a character "caught between two worlds ... the explicit content was presented as the danger of people being left adrift by society. And within that context, hard-hitting material is crucial; it is what makes the book authentic, real and important." The Deputy Chief Censor of Fim and Literature ruled that the book is not offensive: 'The book deals with some stronger content. There are sexual relationships between teenagers, encounters with possible child sexual exploitation, the use of illegal drugs and other criminal activities, violent assault, and a moderate level of highly offensive language. These are well contextualised within an exciting fast moving narrative that has as its protagonist, a young teenage Maori boy from a rural community who is finding his way through the strange uncomfortable environment of a boys’ boarding school and unfamiliar social mores. The story captures the raw and real extremes of adolescence in teenage boys along with their yearnings and obsessions. The book is notable for being one of the first in the New Zealand which specifically targets teenage boys and younger men — a genre that does not have great representation. The genre character is therefore significant. The content immerses the reader in action, wit, and intrigue, as well as a level of social realism, all likely to engage teen and young adult readers and with particular appeal for older boys and young men.'
Download or read book Tim Te Maro and the Subterranean Heartsick Blues written by H.S. Valley and published by Hardie Grant Publishing. This book was released on 2021-07-28 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What happens when your enemy becomes your friend … with benefits? Red, White and Royal Blue meets The Magicians in this surprising, wildly original and joyously funny LGBTQ YA novel set in a magical boarding school. Tim Te Maro and Elliott Parker – classmates at Fox Glacier High School for the Magically Adept – have never gotten along. But when they both get dumped the day before the big egg-baby assignment, they reluctantly decide to ditch their exes and work together. When the two boys start to bond over their magically enchanted egg-baby, they realise that beneath their animosity is something like friendship … or physical attraction. Soon, a no-strings-attached hook-up seems like a good idea. Just for the duration of the assignment. After all, they don’t have feelings for each other … so what could possibly go wrong? From debut Kiwi author H.S. Valley, the latest winner of the Ampersand Prize, comes this gleefully addictive romantic comedy that’s perfect for fans of Rainbow Rowell and David Levithan. In a word – it’s magic.
Download or read book The P rangi Boy written by Shilo Kino and published by Huia Publishers. This book was released on 2020-10-23 with total page 175 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Twelve-year-old Niko lives in Pohe Bay, a small, rural town with a sacred hot spring – and a taniwha named Taukere. The government wants to build a prison over the home of the taniwha, and Niko’s grandfather is busy protesting. People call him pōrangi, crazy, but when he dies, it’s up to Niko to convince his community that the taniwha is real and stop the prison from being built. With help from his friend Wai, Niko must unite his whānau, honour his grandfather and stand up to his childhood bully.
Download or read book Violet Black written by Eileen Merriman and published by Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited. This book was released on 2021-05-04 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Set in the near future, this first book in a fast-paced trilogy will hook you in from the first page. Violet Black and Ethan Wright are both in a coma after contracting the lethal M-fever. They have never met: I couldn’t speak, but I was trying so hard to communicate and then . . . then . . . I pushed. And something, someone, pushed back. Her name is Violet. Violet, but she is sunshine-yellow, and I need to find her because I think she might be just like me. But there is a far more serious reason for Ethan to find Violet: the sinister Foundation is trying to hunt them down. Reviews of Eileen’s previous books: ‘A Trio of Sophies doesn't so much as start as launch the reader into the centre of a storm that will hold you until the very last secret is solved.‘ — Weekend Herald ‘Merriman writes what teenagers want to read, and she certainly knows how to write it well.’ — NZ Books on Invisibly Breathing ‘Merriman just seems to be able to cut straight to the intensity of a relationship, or a first relationship — the anguish, drama, the second guessing and the doubt, and the pure electricity of those first physical encounters’ — Radio NZ on Catch Me When You Fall ‘I found it to be compelling, challenging, and heartbreaking, but very real. It handles teen issues with grace and sensitivity but doesn't shy away from honesty.’ – Tots to Teens on Pieces of You
Download or read book Bastion Point written by Tania Kelly Roxborogh and published by . This book was released on 2017-02 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ¿I¿m writing this by lamplight. That¿s right. Like Swiss Family Robinson or something. We¿re up here with no electricity or running water, while just across from us and down the road is the real world.¿ Erica Tito had the perfect summer holiday planned. Then her father decided the whole family would pack up and join the protestors at Bastion Point in Auckland. No way! Instead of spending dreamy summer days training Silver, her first-ever horse, Erica and her family have to camp in tents, without basics like running water and electricity. At first, everyone thinks the protest will be over quickly, but as weeks turn into months, it becomes clear that Erica will not be going home and, worse, may never see Silver again. Through Erica's heartfelt diary entries we learn about the daily lives of the protestors, listen in on grand speeches and fiery confrontations between the protestors, Nga ̄ti Wha ̄tua elders, police and politicians. And we witness the distressing eviction of the occupiers ¿ all seen through the eyes of a Maori girl previously unaware of race and land issues. My New Zealand Story is a series of vividly imagined accounts of life in the past ... making history come alive.
Download or read book Night Vision written by Ella West and published by Allen & Unwin. This book was released on 2014-04-01 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the dark, Viola sees things no one else does . . . until the night she sees something she shouldn't Viola was born with a genetic condition that makes sunlight deadly. In the dark of night, when most teenagers are tucked up in bed, Viola has the run of her parents' farm and the surrounding forest. She is used to seeing hidden things through her night-vision goggles, but one night she sees something that could get her into a whole lot of trouble . . . Viola has always believed she would be dead before she was 20, but now she must decide just how far she's willing to go to help her parents keep their beloved farm. Is it okay to steal from a thief? What if the thief might be a killer? And what if the killer threatens to come after her and her family? Night Vision is a heart-thumping thriller that will leave you breathless.
Download or read book Thunder Road written by Ted Dawe and published by Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited. This book was released on 2012-10-01 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Which street racer really controls the strip? An award-winning YA novel full of fast cars, burn-offs and an unwritten code of loyalty. 'Thunder Road' . You find it in any city after the cops are in bed. It's where street racers go to test their machines - and their nerve. For me it was ... the steep rising pitch of the turbo, the screaming tyres and curtain of white smoke hanging behind me: all the stuff that spells street racing.' Trace is 19 and has grown out of small-town ways. He's hungry for more. In Auckland he hooks up with Devon, a guy with the Midas touch, who introduces Trace to burn-offs, big city style. Soon everything is smoking. There is a code with drivers: you don't criticise and you don't show fear. When Trace falls for a girl even Devon says is out of his league, loyalties are stretched. Then Devon hits on a scheme for hauling in cash. Soon enough he and Trace find out who really controls the strip. As the underworld closes in, it looks like their friendship is heading for burn-out. Menacing and suspenseful - a gripping novel from a remarkable talent which won the of the NZ Post Children's Book Awards Young Adult Fiction category in 2004.
Download or read book The Bridge written by Jane Higgins and published by Tundra Books. This book was released on 2012-10-09 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The City is divided. The bridges gated. In Southside, the hostiles live in squalor and desperation, waiting for a chance to overrun the residents of Cityside. Nik is still in high school but is destined for a great career with the Internal Security and Intelligence Services, the brains behind the war. But when ISIS comes recruiting, everyone is shocked when he isn't chosen. There must be an explanation, but no one will talk about it. Then the school is bombed and the hostiles take the bridges. Buildings are burning, kids are dead, and the hostiles have kidnapped Sol. Now ISIS is hunting for Nik. But Nik is on the run, with Sol's sister Fyffe and ISIS hot on their trail. They cross the bridge in search of Sol, and Nik finds answers to questions he had never dared to ask. The Bridge is a gritty adventure set in a future world where fear of outsiders pervades everything. A heart-stopping novel about friendship, identity, and courage from an exciting new voice in young-adult fiction.
Download or read book Into the Wilderness written by Mandy Hager and published by Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited. This book was released on 2014-10-03 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fast-paced, thrilling second YA novel in the Blood of the Lamb trilogy. Maryam, Ruth and Joseph have fled Onewere, reluctantly taking Joseph's troublesome cousin, Lazarus, as well. They arrive at their destination, Marawa Island, filled with hope for rescue and reprieve. But at first glance the island appears to be solely populated by birds . . . Perhaps the Apostle's dire warnings about the fall-out of the Tribulation were true after all? As Maryam and Joseph experience all the topsy-turvy misunderstandings and sexual tension first love entails, the antagonism between Maryam and Lazarus reaches explosive proportions. But when disaster brings the crushing realisation that time is now against them, all four must decide just who they can risk turning to for help . . . A stunning sequel to The Crossing, the Best YA fiction category winner of the 2010 NZ Post Children's Book Awards.
Download or read book Legacy written by Whiti Hereaka and published by Huia Publishers. This book was released on 2018-07-31 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seventeen-year-old Riki is worried about school and the future, but mostly about his girlfriend, Gemma, who has suddenly stopped seeing or texting him. But on his way to see her, he’s hit by a bus and his life radically changes. Riki wakes up one hundred years earlier in Egypt, in 1915, and finds he’s living through his great-great-grandfather’s experiences in the Māori Contingent. At the same time that Riki tries to make sense of what’s happening and find a way home, we go back in time and read transcripts of interviews Riki’s great-great-grandfather gave in 1975 about his experiences in this war and its impact on their family. Gradually we realise the fates of Riki and his great-great-grandfather are intertwined.
Download or read book Chappy written by Patricia Grace and published by Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited. This book was released on 2015-05-27 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spanning several decades and several continents and set against the backdrop of a changing New Zealand, Chappy is a compelling story of enduring love. Uprooted from his privileged European life and sent to New Zealand to sort himself out, twenty-one-year-old Daniel pieces together the history of his Maori family. As his relatives revisit their past, Daniel learns of a remarkable love story between his Maori grandmother Oriwia and his Japanese grandfather Chappy. The more Daniel hears about his deceased grandfather, the more intriguing – and elusive – Chappy becomes. In this touching portrayal of family life, acclaimed writer Patricia Grace explores racial intolerance, cross-cultural conflicts and the universal desire to belong. Also available as an eBook.
Download or read book The Catalogue of the Universe written by Margaret Mahy and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2002 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This stunning repackage of an intense teen romance introduces confident Angela and intellectual Tycho, who seem an unlikely pair. They share a passion for deciphering the universe outside their own personal struggles. To Angela and Tycho, it seems the universe can be ordered; their own lives cannot. As their family struggles swirl around them, they are suddenly desperate to discover where they fit in.
Download or read book Winter of Fire written by Sherryl Jordan and published by Scholastic NZ. This book was released on 2019-07-01 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In a gloomy, smoke-filled world where the sun has vanished, all light and warmth comes from the firestones mined underground by the Quelled – a people branded by the race known as Chosen.On her sixteenth birthday, the rebellious Quelled girl Elsha is selected as handmaid to the Firelord – the most powerful of the Chosen. Suddenly Elsha is swept into a world of privilege, but also of prejudice and hatred and inequality. And her pursuit of her vision of a world of warmth, as sung about in the ancient myths, leads her on a dangerous path…"
Download or read book Bugs written by Whiti Hereaka and published by Huia Publishers. This book was released on 2013-09 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is about the unfolding lives of three young people in their last year of school in small town New Zealand. Life is slow, and it seems not much happens in town or in Jez and Bugs's lives But when Stone Cold arrives, the three come to different conclusions about how to deal with being trapped in a small town and at the bottom of the ehap.
Download or read book The Good Thieves written by Katherine Rundell and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-08-27 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A dazzling tale of wild hope, lingering grief, admirable self-sufficiency, and intergenerational adoration.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Vita tests her own limits, and readers will thrill at her cleverness, tenacity, and close escapes.” —Booklist “A satisfying adventure.” —Kirkus Reviews From award-winning author Katherine Rundell comes a fast-paced and utterly thrilling adventure driven by the loyalty and love between a grandfather and his granddaughter. When Vita’s grandfather’s mansion is taken from him by a powerful real estate tycoon, Vita knows it’s up to her to make things right. With the help of a pickpocket and her new circus friends, Vita creates the plan: Break into the mansion. Steal back what’s rightfully her grandfather’s. Expose the real estate tycoon for the crook he truly is. But 1920s Manhattan is ever-changing and full of secrets. It might take more than Vita’s ragtag gang of misfits to outsmart the city that never sleeps. Award-winning author Katherine Rundell has created an utterly gripping tour de-force about loyalty, trust, and the lengths to which we’ll go for the ones we love.
Download or read book Coming Home to Roost written by Mary-anne Scott and published by Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited. This book was released on 2016-05-30 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Elliot is on the run from a situation that's just too big to handle. Sooner or later, it's going to catch up with him. 'You’re seventeen, left school, scarred for life,’ Dad said, pointing at Elliot’s tattoo, ‘and living off us like a child.’ Elliot’s in need of a fresh start, so he’s dispatched to a new city to work as an apprentice electrician. His boss, Arnie, is an ex-naval officer whose bad temper and frequent advice don’t make for easy living — but Elliot’s out of options. Elliot is just settling into some sort of routine when a disturbing rumour surfaces about his ex-girlfriend, Lena. As Lena tries to track him down, Elliot dives for cover. But a problem this big only attracts more problems, and, after a shocking workplace accident, they’re all going to catch up with him at once. The question is, will Elliot come out of hiding and face them head on? Coming Home to Roost is a fast-paced, bighearted novel about an age-old situation, from the award-winning author of Snakes and Ladders.
Download or read book Falling Into Rarohenga written by Steph Matuku and published by . This book was released on 2021-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "It seems like an ordinary day when Tui and Kae, sixteen-year-old twins, get home from school - until they find their mother, Maia, has disappeared and a swirling vortex has opened up in her room. They are sucked into this portal and dragged down to Rarohenga, the Māori Underworld, a place of infinite levels, changing landscapes and some untrustworthy characters. Maia has been kidnapped by their estranged father, Tema, enchanted to forget who she really is and hidden somewhere here. Tui and Kae have to find a way through this maze, outwit the characters they meet, break the spell on their mother, and escape to the World of Light before the Goddess of Shadows or Tema holds them in the underworld forever"--Publisher information.
