Red Rocks by Rachael King

Red Rocks by Rachael King. Pub.Random House, 2012.

The legend of the selkie or seal woman is an old one in Irish, Scottish and Norse legend. Why not New Zealand? We have seals so why not selkie?

Well Rachael King says we do and this is a selkie story that pays homage to the old legend, for primary and intermediate school readers.

Jake’s father writes natural history books and he lives on the Wellington Coast in lonely conditions. When Jake visits him from Auckland he discovers a fur skin in a cave which he takes home and hides.

The old selkie legend in which a selkie comes ashore, loses her skin and is forced to live in the human world until she finds it has started again.

Jake doesn’t realise what he has done and when he meets a young girl Jessie who is wild haired and wild eyed she tells him of the legend. meanwhile Jake’s father has met a wild woman called Cara who is wandering the coast seeking her lost skin. Yes she is a selkie.

Will the legend be repeated? An exciting tale emerges that will keep young readers on their toes.

The Drover’s Quest by Susan Brocker

The Drover’s Quest by Susan Brocker. Pub. HarperCollins, 2012.

My immediate thought on this action packed novel, was that it would make a great read-a-loud for school years 5/6 and 7/8.

It has less than 180 pages, the chapters are short, the action comes thick and fast and it has an array of characters that will hold the interest of everybody.

Charlotte’s father finds a gold nugget the size of a fist in the West Coast goldfields of the 1860′s. He goes missing presumed murdered, so his 14 year old daughter Charlotte passes herself off as a boy and accompanied by Tama Ihaka her father’s best friend, she joins a cattle drive over the Southern Alps to the West Coast to find him.

Will her true identity be revealed and worse is her father really dead?

On the drove she meets a 15 year old part Cherokee Indian boy who can ride like the wind and is heading for the gold fields. They become friends but how can she hide her womanliness?

Then there is the head drover call Scar, who knows something that he is not revealing. Plus there is a horse called Cobber and a dog called Skye.

The journey from Christchurch, across the plains and over the Alps to who knows what is thrilling. Susan Brocker is to be congratulated for putting so much into such a short novel.

Take my word for it primary and intermediate kids will love this story of early New Zealand.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again by Frank Cottrell Boyce. Pub. Macmillan Children’s Books, 2011.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a twenty three windowed Samba Bus, the kind beloved by adventurous famillies, and the Tooting family are an adventurous family.

In order to keep Mr Tooting busy after he is made redundant Mrs Tooting buys him an old camper van to do up thinking that he had no chance of doing so, but it would keep him out of mischief.

How wrong could she be. With the help of son Jem he does the camper van up and fits it with an engine that is fit for an aircraft and unbeknown to him has wings.

The family which also includes  Little Harry, the baby, and oldest daughter Lucy who likes to paint everything black, set off on a holiday to France and Egypt amongst other places. On the way they find out that the Samba Bus has a mind of it’s own and adventure springs up all around them.

A well written, witty and feelgood adventure story for primary and intermediate students who like a good laugh.

Billionaire Trilogy Book 3 Mask of Destiny by Richard Newsome

The Mask of Destiny by Richard Newsome. Pub. Text Publishing, 2011.

Excellent end to the Billionaire Trilogy but somehow I don’t think we have heard the end of Gerald Wilkins, Sir Mason Green and the twins Ruby and Sam. Richard Newsome is having too much fun with this series.

Old enemy Sir Mason Green gives himself up to be tried for the murder of Gerald’s Great Grandmother who has left him a billion dollars. You would think he would be grateful, but no. When Sir Mason appears to die in court, Gerald is charged with his murder and skedaddles to France to look for the third gold rod.

What fun they have as they are chased across Europe by a new villain, Charlotte who is particularly lethal with a blow pipe and a poisoned dart.

Great action, witty dialogue and a plot that twists and turns, make this an excellent adventure mystery for primary and intermediate students. I have read all three now but this novel stands on it’s own for new readers.

Sacrifice by Joanna Orwin

Sacrifice by Joanna Orwin. Pub. HarperCollins, 2011.

Aotea has been destroyed by volcanic eruptions and Tsunamis and life has returned to that which existed pre-European New Zealand.

Taka and his cousin Kai live with their  Ra Repo tribe in the swamp lands in the North an area they share with two other tribes.

Life is hard and food resources are scarce. The tribes are at crisis point. Every 5 years the tribes select 10 young men, known as Travelers,  to go south in search of food resources and to make contact with other survivors of the physical holocaust that has beset their land. No Travelers have ever returned.

The tribes are divided philosophically into those that believe in the  ways before “The Dark” came and those who believe in the old gods. But they come together to pursue a different direction because of pressures on their ways of living.

This year five of the Travelers will build a reed boat or Moki and travel North in search of food sources. Taka and Kai are both selected to go. What will they find? Will the gods be kind?

The sea voyage is terrific it is like a return to Hawai-iki.

An excellent new novel from Joanna Orwin who is a specialist in Pre European Maori custom and life styles as shown in her earlier novels. She has adapted these practices to reflect the technological experiences before the Dark and written a mystical adventure novel that is New Zealand through and through.

Will appeal to teenagers and even adults.

At The Lake by Jill Harris

At The Lake by Jill Harris. Pub. HarperCollins, 2011.

Simon and his younger brother Jem have been going to the Lake for their holidays for years. They love the place and they like staying with their grandfather who they call Barney.

But this year things are different. There is a big wire fence surrounding re-locatable houses, that is patrolled by a mean man called Squint Lewis and his dog Ace who Lewis says is a man killer. Keep out or else.

Simon tries to get in to see what is going on, is caught by Lewis and is roughed up badly. He tells no-one but is this a mistake?

When younger brother Jem finds another way into the fenced off property and the brothers meet Squint Lewis’s children Rose and Tom things start to happen and the action is thrilling. I can tell you no more except to say crimes involving children are always the most sinister.

This is NZ writer Jill Harris’s third bookj and she links it beautifully with a sound plot,  realistic dialogue and a song by a local singer. A very good children’s adventure story with many family issues highlighted as well.

Middle primary and Intermediate children will love this story or children with reading ages 9-12 years.

 

Take Me to the River by Will Hobbs

Take me to the River by Will Hobbs. Pub. HarperCollins, 2011.

“If you find a scorpion on your face do not grab it. Flick it. They can sting you real quick”.  Will Hobbs is a master at writing outdoor adventure novels for young readers and this is another.

The novel is set on the Texas/mexican border in an area known as  Big Bend National Park. Through it flows the mighty Rio Grande river although if you saw it when it is not in flood you would think it is just a dirty old creek.

The area is also well known for battles between drug lords trying to smuggle heroin and cocaine into USA and for people smuggling illegal immigrants into USA.

Cousins Rio and Dylan, without their parents knowledge, take a river journey in a canoe and a rubber raft along the Rio Grande and two things happen. Firstly Hurricane Dolly hits the Texas coast at Brownsville and the storm fills the catchment area of the Rio Grande turning it into a raging torrent. Secondly drug lords have carried out a hit job on some Judges who are presiding over drug trials. Things go wrong and after a gun battle a nasty brute called Carlos kidnaps a young boy, Diego and they meet Rio and Dylan on the raging Rio Grande.

High drama adventure begins with Will Hobbs telling it like it is.

Written for Intermediate and High school students you will not get better outdoor adventure than this. Another Will Hobbs novel Jason’s Gold appears on this blog. Check Will Hobbs out he is very good.

The Travelling Restaurant by Barbara Else

The Travelling Restaurant Jasper’s Voyage in three parts by Barbara Else. Pub. Gecko Press, 2011.

Lady Gall is the Provisional queen of the Kingdom of Fontania and a nasty piece of work she is as well. She has no claims to the throne and does not have the power of magic that is possessed by the royal family, so she bans it. Big mistake!

The true king died shortly after a catastrophic event that became known as The Big Accident and the crown and heirs to the throne disappeared. Lady Gall takes over and sets about, in a tyrannical way, to keep the throne for herself and destroy all those who are the rightful heirs.

Jasper’s father works for Lady Gall in the  Workroom of Knowledge but he is only there because he has invented a beauty product called beauteen which Lady Gall thinks makes her look beautiful. Two fingers down the throat here.

Jasper sees Lady Gall try to poison his baby sister Sibilla and this precipitates a late night escape by the whole family by ship, a ship that is later sunk in a storm scattering the survivors to different parts of the Kingdom of Fontania.

Jasper doesn’t get on the ship his family does as his Uncle Trump ensures that he stays on the dockside, but Jasper is resilient and takes a small colourful ship called The Travelling Restaurant that is owned by Polly and Dr Rocket. They sail from the  City of Spires chased by Lady Gall and her henchmen.

However all is not as it seems and everybody is someone other than who they say.

A brilliant fantasy/adventure story told with a gusto and enthusiasm that typified Margaret Mahy at her best. When the book awards are being divvied up next year watch this book.

Essentially for primary/Intermediate children and a good read-a-loud as well. I also think there is a need for a sequel.

To Die For by Mark Svendsen

To Die For by Mark Svendsen. Pub. Random House, 2011.

I was attracted to this book because it is a fishing story and it had a shark on the cover so I sensed drama and excitement, and that is exactly what I got.

Christos lives in Queensland Australia, he is a teenager who likes fishing at sea. His father is a fisherman and full of advice for his son, and his other male relatives are also fishermen. It is Christos’ birthday and for the first time he is allowed to go to sea by himself to fish in his  boat  Li’l Bit.

With his father’s advice ringing in his ears and his mother’s lunch tucked in the chillie bin he sets off on a foggy morning to conquor his fears and doubts about his ability as a fisherman. Boy do things go wrong and that memorable catch phrase from the film Jaws “we need a bigger boat” proves prophetically true.

At first minor things go wrong but Christo handles it. Then he hooks a huge mackerel that leads to a more extreme event. Reeling in the huge mackerel saps Christo’s  energy and he cannot lift the fish out of the water. Just as he solves this problem a huge aggressive tiger shark rips a third of the fish literally from under his nose, and hangs around for the rest.

The conflict between boy and shark is thrilling and you will not want to put this novel down. Read it you will love it, especially you people who love fishing. But remember it is a cod-eat- cod world under the sea and blood is slipperier than water.

Intermediate and secondary school students will love it

The Books of the Beginning. Book one: The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens

The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens. Pub. Random House, 2011.

A long time ago great magical minds created The Books of the Beginning and because they were powerful and could be utilised by the unscrupulous, they were hidden. One of the books, The Emerald Atlas, was hidden in a vault under the City of Calmartia, the city of the dwarves that was destroyed by an earthquake.

Kate is 14 years old and when she was 4 years old her mother came to her in the night, kissed her goodbye and asked her to look after her siblings, Michael now aged 12 and Emma now aged 11, while her father stood calling by the door. They were then whisked away pursued by vicious creatures and into a childhood where they went from orphanage to orphanage.

Then one day they are taken to a place called Cambridge Falls a town that once was magical but the magic is now hidden. They come in contact with a magician called Dr.Pym and in his room locate a book that can transport them into a magical world ruled by a wicked witch and equally scurrilous Countess who uses evil beings called screechers to do her dirty work.

The children find themselves as key players in a search for the Emerald Atlas a book that can transport them through time and reshape the world they live in.

The action is fast and furious, the children brave and adventurous and the story involves dwarves and a host of horrible things. The ending which is complicated is breathtaking and sets up the next two books.

Fabulous fantasy for those that like The Chronicles of Nania, Harry Potter,  His Dark Materials and The Lord of the Rings. John Stephens knows his fantasy. At last a worthwhile fantasy that doesn’t involve vampires and werewolves. Old fashioned but brilliant.

This is just the start of a series that is quality writing and sure to be popular. To be published in April, 2011.