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The Sparrow by Tessa Duder. Pub. Penguin Books, 2023
This historical fiction novel is the best I have read about the European settlement of New Zealand aimed at any level.
It is well researched and stresses a fact that is often overlooked by historians – that without the Maori early New Zealand settlement would have been impossible. The Maori provided the settlers with food and shelter without which they would surely have starved.

This novel concentrates on the Auckland settlement in the 1840’s with many of the characters who are associated with Auckland’s and New Zealand’s history such as Governor Willian Hobson, John Logan Campbell, and interpreter Edward Williams featuring.
It also shows that the early settlers brought with them the prejudices of the English class system that is to be a feature of the relationships between the Maori and the settlers and indeed be a feature of the chances of lower status settlers to get a fair chance especially when it came to buying land. Then as now the price of land in Auckland is outrageous.
The central character in the story is Harriet/Harry who is 10 years old when she is wrongly convicted of stealing an apple and transported to Australia in horrific circumstances that would have killed many. Harriet is a survivor and an admirable role model for any you human being. She is strong, resourceful, caring and inciteful and the reader is with her all the way.
Harriet decides that it would be easier to survive as a boy than it would be as a girl because of the male attitudes at the time and this helps her escape the cruel and barbaric conditions at the Cascades prison in Tasmania. She escapes on the immigrant ship Platina to New Zealand and ends up in Waitemata Harbour in a pristine New Zealand.
From the beginning the settlement follows class lines. The poor are at Mechanics Bay next door to the Maori Pa at Orakei. Government is at Official Bay and business at Commercial Bay. Nothing is done for the settlers at Mechanics Bay but the Maori are commandeered to build raupo huts and bring vegetables and food to Commercial bay.
The lot of Harriet and her friend Tillie and family is miserable indeed. The funeral of a young child is moving because the Maori come to pay their respects and are rejected as natives. Even at this early stage all classes treat the Maori as savages but Harriet is different and pays the price. She decides after being a girl that it is safer to be a boy and resumes as Harry until the end of the book which is nerve wracking and exciting.
Harriet’s early days from age 10 to 14 are covered in a segment at the end of each chapter from 1836 to the settlement in 1840 and it shows the reasons why people chose to immigrate rather than live in England but you will have to find these things out by reading this superb novel.
Harriet at one stage looks back to when she landed and observes “those three pretty bays, three unspoiled beaches” and “over the spring we’ve turned them into dirty squabbling villages of too many frightened, suspicious and greedy people with something to hide and nowhere to go”. Is it any better now I asked myself.
The best book I have read this year and Tessa Duder’s first novel in 20 years. Keep writing Tessa.
Edge of Light Series Bk1 New Dawning by A.M. Dixon. Pub. OneTree House 2023.
This highly descriptive dystopian fiction novel about the most drastic results of climate change is a must read.
It is set in what is left of New Zealand, on the Port Hills above Christchurch which has now been completely flooded due to the rise in sea levels after the Poles have melted away. Names like Littleton, Sugarloaf and the Summit Road are all mentioned mainly I think because the author is from Christchurch as am I.

There has been a great flood followed by a Crisis in which millions died and the survivors now live in a very controlled world where food is in short supply and massive covers in the sky shield the planet and people from a fierce hot sun.
The people that live in the small community live in a state of fearmongering which gets in the way of solid science as it did when new Zealand was in lockdown because of Covid. Every decision made by those in control is politicised and to show dissent is dangerous. The children are so brainwashed that they can’t conceive of the idea that giraffes, polar bears and elephants could possibly be true.
Population control is a feature of this society although the people don’t realise this. The old and some who dissent are sent away never to be seen again, but where do they go?. Every 7 years a 10 year old child is chosen to be the Voice of the Child and at their inauguration they are allowed to tell a truth from their history and this story begins with the appointment of a new Voice of the Child.
The story centres around 16 year old Merel her brother Bexley and their scientist parents. Merel observes trees and specialises in birds. She has a pet Corvus or white crow who she communicates with and it follows her everywhere. Into the story come two other main characters – Ren a 17 year old boy who is interested in Merel and she in him. Also a sensitive and inciteful 10 year old Estelle who is elected the new Voice of the Child.
On the appointment of Estelle those in command decide to open the covers that protect the earth for a short time to see what will happen and Estelle at her inauguration tells the community that Merel is the one who will save them all. In a word all hell breaks lose.
If you want to know more read the novel yourself.
A.M. Dixon spends much time describing the world and community that has resulted from ignoring climate change signals by previous world leaders, and is clearly concerned about the difference between historical truth and prophecies which are whispered between people. Not unlike the fake news, conspiracy theories and lies that trouble the world today.
How will Merel, Ren, Bexley, Estelle and Corvus combat this? Well there will be two other parts coming to develop the scenario further. I for one will be reading them. In some ways it reminded me of an old favourite Lois lowry’s The Giver.
Duck’s Backyard by Ulrich Hub, Illus. Jorg Muhle. translated by Helena Kirkby. Pub. Gecko Press, 2022.
This is a brilliant story about a lame duck who is cared to fly and a blind chicken who has energy to burn and a desire to have his big secret come true.
They meet in Ducks backyard where he and his crutch have stayed for years and chicken persuades Duck to go on a journey of discovery. So they do

On the way they go through a dark forest, cross a deep ravine and discuss the philosophy of life. Will duck learn to fly and will chicken find his big secret. The journey is brilliant and the ending even better still.
Jorg Muhle’s illustrations of Duck with his crutch and chicken with his sunglasses are superb. he captures the fun and seriousness of their journey to a T.
A great read-a-loud for juniors and something to savour for intermediate readers and seniors. Adults will love this too. If you do not like this story then you are sick of life. Travel changes everyone.
The Candle Trees by Anthony Holcroft. Pub. Quentin Wilson Pubs. 2022
13 year old Julian meets his great grandma, who is well into her 90’s, when she comes to stay for her last days and takes over Julian’s bedroom. He is miffed of course but soon changes his mind when he finds a journal that Julia had written when she was 15 years old and lost in the forests and jungle on the Argentine/Paraquay border.
Enthralled by a story told to her by her uncle while staying at his house, Villa Rosa, in Gaucho country in Northern Argentina, in which he describes a magical Candle tree which has magical healing properties. Julia knows that north of the matto grosso where she is staying there is a forest and she persuades her maid servant to ride to the edge of the forest where she hopes to find the candle trees.

Of course she gets lost, finds an Indian girl Taina to assist her find her way back but gets deeper into the forest where she meets a brute of a man called Andreas and together they cross rivers, meet a jaguar, face starvation but will they find the candle trees. Read it and find out.
Old fashioned writing and story telling at it’s best. You don’t get novels written like this any more and it is a delight. I had the fortune to travel through Northern Argentina, into Parquay and along the Rio Parana in the early 1970’s so this story was totally enthralling to me and it will be for you as well.
One of the best NZ novels this year.
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The Crate. A ghost Story by James Norcliffe. Pub. Quentin Wilson Publishing, 2022
A supernatural story set in a West Coast New Zealand lake called Tunamoana which is really a character in the novel with its deep dark moods.

Siblings Danny and Amy with their cousin Jack go on holiday to their grandfather’s cottage Bide-a-wee with their father. On arrival an old truck driven by a cloth capped old geezer delivers a heavy crate addressed to bide-a-wee cottage and tells them not to open it.
Of course they do and there is nothing inside except a damp patch and a piece of lake weed. This evokes on old mystery of a girl called Lily who went missing presumed drowned decades earlier and the mystery deepens when a girl in a dripping wet white nightie is seen and wet footprints are left on the floor.
The three teenagers discuss the happenings with their father and he suggests they follow the principle of Occam’s Razor which states “look for the most obvious, the most likely explanation”, But is there one?
Things become very complicated when the teenagers meet Skip and her mother Jessie who is a mystic, and then their cousin Jack goes missing. Read it and find out what happens. You won’t be disappointed.
Beautifully written and structured by James Norcliffe and excellent cover illustration by Jenny Cooper who gets the mood of the story just right.
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