First edition
Told in two stand-alone stories, the first nearly 400 pages of continuous pictures, and the second in text. Inspired by the Dennis Severs' House in London
Summary: The journey begins on a ship at sea in 1766, with a boy named Billy Marvel. After surviving a shipwreck, he finds work in a London theatre. There, his family flourishes for generations as brilliant actors until 1900, when young Leontes Marvel is banished from the stage. Nearly a century later, Joseph Jervis runs away from school and seeks refuge with a reclusive uncle in London. Albert Nightingale's strange, beautiful house, with its mysterious portraits and ghostly presences, captivates Joseph and leads him on a search for clues about the house, his family, and the past
Summary: Penelope is a sensitive, imaginative girl, aware of other layers of time. Her ability to look into the past enables her to see an old family tragedy that occurred in Elizabethan times, when her sixteenth-century family plotted to save Mary the Queen of Scots and became involved in Anthony Babington's plot
New Zealand author
Summary: Set in 1978 against the Bastion Point occupation. ... Dear Tane, I've never prayed to a god, so hope this is okay. If I get it wrong, don't strike me down with a thunderbolt or anything - I'm just a kid. Conrad Cooper needs a favour. He's just found out about Tane, the god of the forest, and he's decided that Tane is the perfect guy to solve his family problems. After all, the more high-profile gods probably have huge waiting lists, right? In return, Conrad will do anything to repay Tane, no matter how much trouble it causes. But will a Maori god listen to the prayers of a ten-year-old Pakeha boy? And, worse still, does Tane even exist
Bert wants nothing more than to be old enough to fight in the war - to handle weapons, defend his country, and have a life filled with adventure. Little does he know that the secrets and danger of war don’t always stay at the front line, and that one boy’s actions can change everything.
New Zealand author
Summary: Auckland in the 1950s: a time of rock'n'roll, milk bars, bodgies and widgies and teenage rebellion. The Auckland Harbour Bridge is under construction. Simon likes watching the bridge being built, and talking to his uncle and his mates about what's happening on site. Meanwhile, Simon's best friend Marty is obsessed with the Space Race and younger sister Jo can't stop worrying about the fate of the dogs and monkeys that are the world's first space travellers. Everyone says that life on the North Shore will change once the bridge is finished ...but what does that mean for Simon and his family? (Publisher)
Redesigned ed
Previously published as: A long way from home: the diary of Lillian Glenmore, Warkworth, 1943, in the My story series: Scholastic, 2005
New Zealand author
Summary: In 1943, 14 year-old Lillian Glenmore is sent with her sister Joyce to live with their grandparents on a dairy farm near Warkworth, New Zealand. Lillian's diary describes the social conditions of the period and her experiences of the war, including the arrival in New Zealand of the U.S. Marines. Includes historical note and photographs. Suggested level: intermediate, junior secondary
A long way from home: the diary of Lillian Glenmore
Summary: When Aidan Jackson, known as "Jack", leaves his parents' farm to fight overseas in World War I, he is excited by the promise of travel, adventure and new friends. Although Jack's bugle is brought home from the war by his best friend, it lies idle for years and years. Will the bugle ever be played again
New Zealand author
Summary: For Frances and her family, living on a lighthouse, the war is both far away and scarily close. There are rumours of submarines in the Pacific. The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor, taken Singapore and bombed Darwin, so what's to stop them invading New Zealand next? But soon Frances, the only girl on the island, will have more to worry about than the threat of a Japanese invasion. (Publisher)
New Zealand author
Summary: Bay of Islands, 1845. When Hene's twin brother falls dangerously ill, her parents fear she will also catch the sickness, so they send her away to the Paihia mission station. Life with the missionaries is difficult. Hene must wear a hot European dress, learn to sew and be away from the people she loves. It is a perilous time in the Bay of Islands. The chief Hone Heke attacks the town of Kororareka. When Hene sees smoke and fire from across the bay, she knows that the town is on fire. And her best friend is trapped there.
New Zealand author
Summary: It's 1874 and when ten-year-old Rebecca Kelly is sent to the dreary Derry workhouse she decides that this is not the life for her. So she runs away and steals a horse to ride to Belfast. Rebecca is determined that she will join her brother, Felix, who is a sailor on the Queen of Nations, a ship bound for New Zealand, but this will be difficult for a young girl without a penny to her name. Rebecca must become a servant for the Walker family and earn her passage to the new colony. (Publisher)
New Zealand author; New Zealand illustrator
CD contains song: Little red poppy / by Rob Kennedy
Summary: Jim, a soldier on the Western Front in World War I, is wounded while charging through No Man's Land. He stumbles into a shell crater for shelter and finds a badly wounded German soldier. The two men try to help each other, but it's Nipper, the messenger dog, whose gallantry gives them a chance for survival. A sophisticated picture book
Little red poppy
New Zealand author
Summary: Adam is 13 years old and lives with his family on a small farm in rural Poland. It is 1939 and the war has just broken out. Russians invade Poland and confiscate Adam's family's house and farm. They are sent to live with another family nearby, but are then moved on and put on a train for a Russian labour camp as refugees, prisoners of Russia. (Publisher)
New Zealand author
It is 1918, and World War I is finally drawing to an end. In the small Canterbury settlement of Southill Downs, 11-year-old Freda Rose looks forward to the return of her brother, Bobby, from the Western Front.
But Freda doesn't know that something else is on its way to New Zealand from battle-scarred Europe: a disease that will soon prove more devastating than any war. As the lethal sickness spreads, striking down even the strongest and most healthy, Freda's joy turns to horror and disbelief. And when Bobby shows up, damaged by the fighting, she knows her life - and the lives of everyone she loves - will never be the same again.
Summary: The story of Katarina, a young Maori mother in the 1860s. Katarina's journey from Waikato to Otago to join her Scottish husband, gives an insight into the conflicts between the old Maori ways and the Pakeha pioneers, the Land Wars and the gold rush in Gabriel's Gully, Otago. Based on the real life of Katarina (Catherine) McKay, Gavin Bishop's great-aunt
First published: 1990
Published simultaneously in Maori
New Zealand author
Redesigned ed
First published in 2003 as: Abandon ship
Summary: It is 1968 when Debbie's grandmother gives her a copy of her forefather's old sea journal. She finds it fascinating and very different from her own diary of school life and troubles with friends. One day, sick in bed, she thinks her long-dead relative is trying to tell her something. And then she boards the ferry Wahine for a voyage to Wellington
Abandon ship
Summary: More humorous stories of life on the farm with Uncle Trev and his family set in New Zealand during the 1930s
New Zealand author
A young girl's faith in an extraordinary old horse makes this an unforgettable story of courage, adventure and friendship.
Ten year old Nina lives with her father above the palace stables at the Royal Academy of Dancing Horses. She loves watching the famous white stallions as they parade for the crowds, but her favourite horse is an ordinary mare called Zelda - an old cab horse Nina often pats on her way home from school.
When Nina's world changes dramatically, she and her father have to flee from the city. Their journey over the mountains with Zelda and the stallions seems impossible, with danger at every turn...
A sophisticated picture book.
Summary: In Victorian London, when a petty thief falls through a glass roof trying to escape from the police, what should have been his death marks the beginning of a whole new life. After his broken body is reconstructed, he adopts a dual existence as both a respectable, wealthy gentleman named Montmorency, and his degenerate servant Scarper. But he must always be on guard - the smallest mistake could reveal his secret and ruin both his lives
"The Nestle Smarties Book Prize Silver Award winner"--Back cover
Redesigned ed
Summary: In the hard times of the late 1800s Reuben's father goes into debt in order to move the family to the Waipara district where he runs the local store. They stock everything from hardware to food, but the locals are not in a position to pay, and as Reuben's diary begins the family has been "booted out" by the bank. The only employment available to Mr Radcliffe is gum digging. It is hard life in uncomfortable accommodation, and brings them into conflict with the local Maori trying to retain their land. Includes historical notes and photographs
First published in the My story series as: Poor man's gold
New Zealand author
Poor man's gold
Summary: Le Quesnoy (pronounced Leck con wah) is a town in northern France. It is surrounded by high walls and deep trenches. In World War 1 it was occupied by the German army for four long years. In November 1918 the town was liberated by soldiers from far-away New Zealand. Because these men used a bit of kiwi ingenuity they were able to take the town back without a single civilian life being lost. This has become one of the most famous stories in New Zealand military history and the relationship between Le Quesnoy and New Zealand continues to this day. This book tells the story of Le Quesnoy liberation through the eyes of a child living in the town at the time. (Publisher)
New Zealand author; New Zealand illustrator
