Fiction

Iris and Me

Iris and Me

Ahoy! Cuba Press, 2023ISBN 9781991150844Runner-up, NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize 2022Winner, Young Adult Fiction Award, NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2023 Longlisted for the ARA Historical Novel Prize 2023Storylines list of notable books for 2023 The story behind the story Two different strands converged to create this book. One goes back…

Quarantine

Quarantine

Scholastic, 2022 (My New Zealand Story) ISBN 978-1-775-43760-4 “Being in quarantine sounds like being in prison,” I said, shivering. Lily nodded. “A bit like that. Except that the prison is your own home.” It might sound familiar today, but this is New Zealand in 1936-37. The disease is infantile paralysis, or polio, and nobody knows…

The Other Sister

The Other Sister

Pipi Press, 2021ISBN 9780473579579Highly commended, Storylines list of notable books for 2022 This book is a sequel to The Telegram (Pipi Press, 2019) –  but you can also read it on its own. It is set in the same town and contains many of the same characters, as well as lots of new ones. January…

Enemy at the Gate

Enemy at the Gate

Pipi Press, 2020ISBN 978-0-473-52170-7 A deadly disease is sweeping the world and nobody knows how to stop it. Movie theatres and swimming pools are shut and schools are closed. People are discouraged from gathering in large groups at the beach. Twelve-year-old Tom Mitchell can’t even see his best friend Charlie. He wonders when the lockdown…

The Great Chocolate Cake Bake Off

The Great Chocolate Cake Bake Off

Pipi Press, 2020ISBN: 978-0-473-52171-4Previous edition named in Storylines list of notable books (2007) Nicholas wants to find one thing that he’s really good at. His friends are all good at something. His annoying next-door neighbour Ruby claims to be good at lots of things. And then there’s Oliver Billington, who always wins everything. Perhaps he’s…

The Telegram

The Telegram

Pipi Press, 2019ISBN 978047346282Shortlisted for the Children’s and Young Adults Book Awards 2019Fiction Special Mention, NZ Heritage Book Awards 2019Storylines list of notable books for 2020 Fourteen-year-old Beatrice Thomas lives with her widowed mother and younger sister, Tilly, in a small New Zealand town overshadowed by the events of World War One. Many of the…

Harbour Bridge

Harbour Bridge

Scholastic, 2014ISBN 9781775431664Storylines list of notable books for 2015 The Auckland Harbour Bridge is under construction. Simon likes watching the bridge being built, and talking to his uncle and his mates about what’s happening on site. Meanwhile, Simon’s best friend Marty is obsessed with the Space Race and his younger sister Jo can’t stop worrying…

Lighthouse Family

Lighthouse Family

Scholastic, 2013ISBN 9781775431473Storylines list of notable books for 2014 For Frances and her family, living on a lighthouse, the war is both far away and scarily close. There are rumours of submarines in the Pacific. The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor, taken Singapore and bombed Darwin, so what’s to stop them invading New Zealand next?…

A Girl called Harry

A Girl called Harry

ISBN 9781869439705Scholastic, 2010Storylines list of notable books for 2011 Harriet Jasmine Emerald Florence Mabey McDonald (Harry for short) wonders if an imagination is something fast, like a cheetah – in which case it’s not your fault if it runs away with you, because you couldn’t stop it. Or is it something little, like a celebrity’s handbag…

Wonderful Wheels Day

Wonderful Wheels Day

Illustrated by Alice BellScholastic, 2004ISBN: 978-1-86943-604-9 In this sequel to The Lost Watch, Henry finds himself in another awkward situation. Last time he took Dad’s new watch to school when he knew he shouldn’t. This time the school is to have a day where all the students are allowed to bring their wheels to school,…

The Lost Watch

The Lost Watch

Illustrated by Alice BellScholastic, 2003ISBN: 978-1-86943-566-0 It’s Dad’s birthday but Henry doesn’t have enough money for a present and he’s too old to give Dad one of his own drawings. Mum’s suggestion of one whole squabble-free day doesn’t appeal, so she lends him enough money to buy a ‘World’s Greatest Dad’ pen. Mum’s present to…

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