Kids: New Zealand booksUnpublished

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Eleven-year-old Lucas has got a new worry to add to his long, long list - his rural school is on the Ministry of Education's list for closure. What's his mum going to do if he and his sister have to start travelling to a school an hour or two away? She can't drive them; she certainly can't afford...

Eleven-year-old Rebecca tries to make herself invisible so people won't call her weird. Resigned to spending the holidays by herself in a new neighbourhood while her mum works long hours at the supermarket, she meets Chester, who has come to stay for the summer. He is loud and fun and full of ideas....

When her tribe is defeated in battle, Atapo is captured and becomes a slave of her enemies. Freedom seems impossible, but somehow she escapes to the Pakeha mission station at Paihia. There, shes taught to read and write, and learns of the threat to Maori by unscrupulous settlers greedy for land....

Meet the gods, demigods and heroes of the Maori people of Aotearoa in this breathtaking, large-scale illustrated book for children. Margaret Mahy Book of the Year 2022 Elsie Locke Award for Non-fiction 2022 Russell Clark Award for Illustration 2022 ...

An exciting and action-packed animal story featuring two kāhu sisters who must save their injured baby brother - before a coming flood destroys their home.

t's Singapore in 1940, war is just around the corner-but twelve-year-old Lizard doesn't know that. He lives in Chinatown above a tailor's shop, surviving on his wits and hustling for odd jobs. When he steals a small teak box containing a Japanese code book from a Raffles Hotel suite, he...

Meet Detective Beans, the best kitten detective in town, equipped with his tie, brown trench coat, and--GASP. It's gone! His detective hat is missing! Follow along to discover the charming, whimsical, and mysterious world of Detective Beans. Meet Detective Beans (just Beans for...

A beautiful 10th birthday edition of this much-loved, timeless classic by Joy Cowley. A chapter book for children ages 5 and up.Snake and Lizard are a lovable, foolish pair. They are always arguing, embarking on unlikely enterprises and telling one another hotly contested tales. But none of this...

Susan had always been a bit odd and never really got on with her cousin Nick, but the mark on her wrist draws them together in a frightening adventure. They are summoned to the beautiful land of O in a last-ditch attempt to save the planet from cruel Otis Claw and his followers, the evil Halfmen,...

Meet filmmaker Barney Kettle, who liked to invent stories but found a real one under his nose. Barney Kettle knew he would be a very famous film director one day, he just didn't know when that day would arrive. He was already an actual director - he'd made four fifteen-minute...

An epic story woven with suspense by Pony Club Secrets and The Princess and the Foal author Stacy Gregg - winner of the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year and the Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction! They dug a hole and they put the box filled with gold inside...

Caught in a tunnel collapse, Liam and Imogen have to use all their wits to survive in this gripping novel for readers eight years and up. Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction 2023 When you stood deep inside the tunnel, you could hear the...

Twelve-year-old Cassi Whelan and her dad have just moved into a repaired house on the edge of Christchurchs Red Zone. Although Cassi was only four when earthquakes decimated Christchurch, her memories still haunt her. An obsessive runner, she finds the wide-open spaces of the cleared Red Zone suit...

The Astromancer is looking for four new apprentices to learn about Matariki and the Maramataka calendar. She chooses three boys and an orphan girl, Aria, who will come only if she can bring her smelly dog. Aria, though, is bored by the lessons, and she doesn't want to be told what to do.

Violet Grumble, twelve-year-old rock star in the making, forms a band with a ragtag group of friends. Against all odds, can they win a chance to compete at BandChamps?

A gripping, beautifully-told fantasy quest set in a parallel medieval world.

Bastienne Scull is nearly twelve years old and lives a simple life as an apprentice to the Witnesser of Miracles in a small village mostly populated by women and girls. Basti knows that miracle-hunting is a lot like mystery-solving, and her little world is full of wonder and intrigue and unexpected...

Yo ho ho! All across the city, the pirates are getting restless and long for a party. So when a retired pirate comes to babysit for the Terrapin family, they are in for quite a surprise...From the rumbustious author and artist team of Margaret Mahy, winner of the Carnegie medal, and Quentin Blake,...

Sometimes a big brain means big trouble. Follow the adventures of Arg the evolved Neanderthal boy and his friend Skeet the talking T-rex as they try to save the dinosaurs from disaster . . . and themselves from being chomped! A gleefully disgusting collection of Stone Age stories that will make your...

Aue! The Witch of Maketu is feeling grumpy and stink. The twelve juicy lambs she's kept for her winter kai are bleating all day and night. She can't get any beauty sleep! Uncle Hemi, a terrifying taniwha, helps the witch come up with a cunning and evil plan to keep those little lambs quiet. But will...

"On a beach clean-up, thirteen-year-old Charlie and his brother, Robbie, find a ponaturi, a mermaid, washed up on a beach. An ancient grudge between the Mori gods Tane and Tangaroa has flared up because a port being built in the bay is polluting the ocean and creatures are fleeing the sea. This has...

"When Lopini is replaced as kapa haka leader at school, he starts to spiral. It doesnt matter that he thinks its a good idea, or that he agreed to the change in the first place. Hés a hard-out perfectionist and this feels like a public failure. Lopinís best mate, Fi, thinks hés overreacting. After...