Holiday Reading 2000: A selection of children's and young adults' books

New Zealand titles: a selection

Picture books

  • Allen, Pamela. Can you keep a secret? Where is the crown?
  • Allen, Pamela. Inside Mary Elizabeth's house The boys at Mary Elizabeth's school don't believe there is a monster living at her red house so she invites them to tea to see for themselves!
  • Armitage, Ronda. The lighthouse keeper's breakfast The Grinlings are invited to the lighthouse's 200th birthday party. The guests are to be in fancy dress. Before they can enjoy their birthday breakfast they are in for a big surprise. A bit overwritten but pleasing enough for fans of the Grinlings.
  • Beames, Margaret. Oliver in the garden Oliver the cat enjoys exploring the garden by night.
  • Bishop, Gavin. Stay awake, Bear! Old Bear and his friend Brown Bear decide that sleeping all winter is a waste of time, so they stay awake planning a warm summer vacation and then sleep through the whole trip. Light but amusing.
  • Dodd, Lynley. Hedgehog howdedo A pleasant but somewhat uninspiring counting book featuring hedgehogs.
  • Elliot, David. Sydney and the whalebird Sequel to Sydney and the sea monster.
  • Forest, Jacqueline. Jack and Patch Jack is left with happy memories and dreams after his sheep dog, Patch, is killed. A title in the My feelings series.
  • Geissler, Carol. Why, Nana? Chrissie has lots of questions about her grandmother's age.
  • Macdonald, Miriam. Midnight monster stew A boy dreams up a monster. Colourful and rhythmic, this lacks the subtlety of Sendak's classic Where the wild things are, of which it is a reminder.
  • Mahy, Margaret. Down the dragon's tongue
  • Mahy, Margaret. Simply delicious! A resourceful father engages in all kinds of acrobatic moves to keep an assortment of jungle creatures from getting the double-dip-chocolate-chip-and-cherry ice cream cone he is taking home to his son.
  • Screech, Bernice. Hettie's Christmas gift Hettie, an artist, wants to send her grandson a Christmas picture but, because they are in different hemispheres, the perfect picture poses a problem.
  • Waerea, James. Pukunui and his friend Moata Moa Welcome reprint of this classic picture book. Also republished this year is Pukunui the astronaut.

Fiction for younger readers

Fiction for older readers

  • Beames, Margaret. Outlanders - In the post-apocalyptic city Dome, Rhiane paints a picture so shocking that it cannot be put on public display, prompting rumours that she has been "outside", and is the cause of the deadly virus decimating the city.
  • Benny, Elizabeth. Reaching Summit Rock - Elizabeth passionately fills her life with horses, trying to shut out her fears for her desperately ill mother. Then everything else begins to go wrong too, including her boyfriend's revelation that he wants to become a priest. Based on the author's own experiences growing up near New Plymouth during the 1940s.
  • Brassi, G. Mayday! - Lee and her dad have gone to the coast while Mum is away in America but a day trip on Uncle Matt's launch has gone horribly wrong. Now Lee and her cousin Joey are adrift in a leaking dinghy having left Dad on the sinking boat.
  • Brassi, G. Riding the rough - Angie's hooked on water-skiing, even though some parts of the river terrify her. If only her mum could understand that life isn't just school, housework and endless baby-sitting. A girl needs her freedom, and adventures on the river are far too exciting to miss.
  • Cowley, Joy. Shadrach girl - Last in the acclaimed trilogy.
  • Dickinson, Steve. Jenna's wave - An entry in the Sport max series. "Jenna's wave is about a girl who develops a love for the sea and an addiction to the (surfing) lifestyle." (Steve Dickinson)
  • Ford, Vince. It's a try - "There's huge excitement at Flat Hill School. The school has won a draw to send a pupil to be ball boy for the upcoming All Black's game against the Wallabies. The boy who's chosen can't believe his luck - nor can he believe his sudden rise to stardom after the game." A title in the Sport max series and the second novel by a previous winner of the Tom Fitzgibbon Memorial Award.
  • Lasenby, Jack. The lies of Harry Wakatipu - Entertaining and inventive tall tales for a wide variety of ages.
  • Maybury, Ged. Crab apples - "A story about friendship and love, schemes and enterprise, fine art and toxic spillages, health food freaks and mad scientists." Sequel to Horse apples.
  • Noonan, Diana. A whistle from the blunder - Cadence is spending the holidays with her aunt and uncle in the remote township of Burchfield. The whistle of a steam train wakes her at 6 o'clock in the mornings, but there is no railway line and no train, not any more. Cadence decides to pursue the truth.
  • Owen, Julia. Black gold - A title in the Extreme series. For Rimu and Ollie, a week's camping trip to the beach turns into the kind of adventure they'd never have wished for.
  • Pulford, Elizabeth. Call of the cruins - Historical novel and animal story combined. When Emeline finds an injured baby seal, she must try to save it, even though she knows it could mean trouble for her. Her father and brother hunt seals for a living and Emeline knows they would not approve.
  • Reedy, Mokena. Te mere - Written in Māori this is the first of an adventure trilogy in which Hana, Te Ra and Morehu travel back in time to save their friend and the iwi from disaster.

Young Adults

  • Beale, Fleur. Deadly prospect - "One motocross ride changes Lincoln's life and also leads him into danger far worse than his bike-hating father could ever have dreamed of."
  • Beckett, Bernard. Red cliff - Beckett writes fluid, evocative prose and offers a story where breakthroughs of all kinds are achieved despite the sweet attraction of short-lived revenge.
  • Boock, Paula. Power and chaos: the Tribe - A novelisation of the television series.
  • Catran, Ken. Talking to Blue - Mike Connors is a competitive and confident teenager whose suburb is being stalked by a serial killer, nicknamed "Blue".
  • Catran, Ken. Voyage with Jason - Retells the story of the Argonauts' voyage to retrieve the golden fleece.
  • Cherry, Frances. Leon - "Gradually Clarissa begins to like Leon, her mother's partner. But one night Leon comes into her room and suddenly Clarissa's life becomes a nightmare."
  • Corlett, Shirley. The stolen - Winner of Tom Fitzgibbon Memorial Award. Reviews have been mixed however.
  • Duder, Tessa and William Taylor. Hot mail - Jess and Dan meet by accident on the internet. Jess is 14, lonely and scared on a year-long Pacific voyage with her mother, stepfather and assorted crew. Dan is struggling with his own eccentric family and small town life in Northland. Dan and Jess have no idea how powerful their friendship will become as Jess's yacht heads towards the South Pacific and the hurricane season.
  • Hill, David. Afterwards - Logan discovers friendship, love and truth after his father dies.
  • Hunter, Eirlys. Finn's quest: the queen-seekers - Finn's life takes on an unreal twist when he finds himself in a computer game world. It's a world at war, a world of magic and evil, in which someone wants Finn dead.
  • Lay, Graeme. The wave rider - Surfing novel as well as a story of love and betrayal.
  • Mahy, Margaret. Twenty four hours - When Ellis gives a former acquaintance, Jackie, a lift in his mother's car, it turns out to be a far more prolonged, complex and life changing journey than he could ever have anticipated. "Not since Memory has the brilliance of Mahy's literary gift found a better home than in this resilient tale of life winning out over death." (Horn Book.)
  • Taylor, William. Crash! The story of Poddy
  • Taylor, William. Scarface and the angel - Which is the true Damon? When the mysterious Esther enters his life, Damon finds his mask beginning to slip.

Information books, including poetry and folktales