Author: David Riley & Ant Sang. Reviewer: Milo Morrison (12).

The inspiring story of mixed-martial arts world champion Israel Adesanya

September 2022 release

Author: James Russell. Reviewer: Dionne Christian.

Best-selling author James Russell returns with with a new series, Children of the Rush, and it’s so good that it won a Storylines Notable Book Award before it was officially released.

November 2022 release

Author: James Norcliffe. Reviewer: Sarah Forester.

An expertly told ghost story is a thing to behold, and James Norcliffe has done an exceptional job of reeling his readers in and paying out the line with his latest book, The Crate.

October 2022 release

Author: John Evan Harris. Reviewer: Cullen Wilson.

The Physician’s Gun is more than an action-packed western. It has grit, wild spirit and a uniquely compelling story ripped out of Aotearoa’s colonial past.

October 2022 release

Author: David Riley & Ant Sang. Reviewer: Milo Morrison (12).

The inspiring story of mixed-martial arts world champion Israel Adesanya

September 2022 release

Author: Eileen Merriman. Reviewer: Sarah
Forster.

Eileen Merriman knows that if you are a teenager and you are given rules to follow by your parents, you’re going to break them.

August 2022 release

“There’s a familiarity, a warmth in these stories that allows women like me to see and be seen. The pages are singing. Our voices, our call. It’s time to ensure the world gets to see us as we truly are,” Jane Lowe on the writing of Moana women.

Author: Sabreen Islam. Illustrator: Alice Waldow. Reviewer: Erica Stretton.

Raw teenage emotion roars and sobs in Sabreen Islam’s spring clean.

July 2022 release

Author: Kate De Goldi. Reviewer: Jessie Neilson.

Kate De Goldi’s Eddy, Eddy is a a rollicking and thrilling readerly escapade.

July 2022 release

Author: Nikky Lee. Reviewer: Harry Ricketts.

Local author Nikky Lee won a Twitter pitch competition to get The Rarkyn’s Familiar published.

April 2022 release

Author: Eileen Merriman. Reviewer: Jessie Neilson.

The conclusion to Eileen Merriman’s Black Spiral trilogy, this book moves past the heady and desperate days of new romance to focus on survival, both for the protagonists and for the next generations.

March 2022 release

Author: Aaron Topp. Reviewer: Denika Mead.

Nor’ East Swell is a tale full of heart, family and surfing and a great read for teens and adults.

February 2022 release

Author: Dan Salmon. Reviewer: Link Pickering.

Dan Salmon’s Neands 2 is a perfect fit for young adults who enjoy dystopian science fiction stories and will immerse readers in the world of a virus that causes exaggerated de-evolution.

February 2022 release

Author: Mary-anne Scott. Reviewer: Sarah Forster.

Mary-anne Scott is close to taking Aotearoa’s crown for best-written young men with this, her fifth book for young adults. The Tomo —named for the naturally-occurring holes in volcanic land—is set at a farm near Gisborne, where Phil has been sent by his family to work for a couple of weeks during Christmas while his mum takes his dad to Wellington for cancer treatment.

October 2021 release

Author: Tony Chapelle. Reviewer: Amber Black.

Full of brave, vibrant characters and unexpected twists, Truthmaker is for anyone seeking an easy-going fantasy experience that delivers on adventure, authentic world-building and has a message of intersectionality at its core.

September 2021 release

Author: Philippa Werry. Reviewer: Jessie Neilson.

January 1920 heralds the start of a new decade, promising fresh opportunities for girls like 13 year old Tilly. But her dreams seem impossible to reach, outweighed by all the things that girls can't or aren't meant to do, as she tries to work out what it means to grow up in a world shattered by war and a pandemic.

September 2021

Editors: Susan Paris & Kate de Goldi. Reviewer: Erica Stretton.

A new school year: nits, crushes, math lessons, and rainy-day lunchtimes. But what happens when you send a bunch of poets to school? The glorious Skinny Dip poetry book.

September 2021 release

Author: L. P. Hansen. Reviewer: Link Pickering.

Teenagers around the world embark on a mysterious quest to help confront a major human rights’ abuse – and are themselves transformed in the sci-fi fantasy The Dark Quest of Countess X.

April 2021 release

Author: Eileen Merriman. Reviewer: Jessie Neilson.

In Eileen Merriman’s first instalment of a futuristic fantasy trilogy for young adults, we encounter a world not too far removed from our own where there’s a worldwide pandemic and many casualties.

May 2021 release

Author: Cristina Sanders. Reviewer: Link Pickering.

An enthralling historical novel of immigration, courage and first love from an award-winning New Zealand author.

April 2021 release