New Zealand

Materials from New Zealand

The Other Side of Silence

In her brilliant but argumentative family, Hero is different, because she doesn’t speak. Instead, she prefers the silence and solitude she finds climbing the trees high above her neighbors stately old house. But everything changes when Hero starts to do odd jobs for the neighbor — and discovers a shocking secret high up in the tower of the house. “Mahy is a writer who just keeps getting better with every book.”– Kirkus Reviews, pointer review “Mahys exceptional imagination and storytelling prowess will make it difficult for readers to leave this book behind themhers is a tale with staying power.”– Publishers Weekly, starred review New Zealand author Margaret Mahy won the Carnegie Medal for The Changeover and The Haunting. Her most recent novel for Viking is Tingleberries, Tuckertubs, and Telephones.

See Ya, Simon

This funny and poignant novel tells the story of Nathan and his best friend, Simon–two 14-year-old boys with a passion for girls, soccer, weekends, girls, computers, and girls. Although Simon is confined to a wheelchair because of muscular dystrophy, his keen sense of humor and taste for excitement are more than a match for his disability.

The Changeover: A Supernatural Romance

“When three-year-old Jacko is stricken with a baffling illness, his teenage sister Laura, a ‘sensitive,’ is the only one to recognize that demonic possession is the true cause of his malady…. The beautiful characters grow with readers and the style is beautiful but ornate. An extraordinarily rich and sensitive novel.”–School Library Journal, starred review. Winner of the Carnegie Medal; ALA Notable Book; ALA Best Book for Young Adults; School Library Journal Best Book of the Year; Booklist Editor’s Choice.

Memory (Phoenix Award Book)

On the fifth anniversary of his sister’s death, nineteen-year-old Jonny Dart is still troubled by guilt and an imperfect memory of the accident that took hr life. He goes searching for the only other witness to the fatal event, his sister’s best friend. But instead of finding the answers he’s looking for, he finds Sophie — a gentle old woman suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, who teaches him about remembering and about loss.

The Champion

During World War II, Rex, a young New Zealand boy, finds his life irrevocably changed by the arrival of a wounded American soldier, Jackson Coop, an African American private with a hatred for war, who stays with Rex’s family while recuperating.

A Stranger Calls Me Home

Set in New Zealand, this compelling, romantic tale is about three teenagers, Paul, Simon, and Fiona, who are trying to understand their past, their place in the present, and what the future holds for them. “[Deborah Savage’s] story explores some of the most interesting territory of YA fiction: identity and heritage, prejudice and acceptance . . . Her protagonists have the depth, character and complexity that mark a very good writer indeed.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review

Thornspell

PRINCE SIGISMUND HAS grown up in a remote castle, dreaming of going on heroic knightly quests while staring out at the forbidden wood that looms to the west. His great-grandfather placed an interdict on the wood nearly 100 years ago, though no one seems to know exactly why. But for those still young or credulous enough to believe in magic, the rumors and stories abound—of an enchanted castle and a sleeping princess. Helen Lowe has spun a grand, adventurous, romantic tale about the prince destined to wake the sleeping princess. This thoughtful hero must delve into a world of mystery and magic to discover the truth of his own fate. Enemies with powers he never imagined abound, sometimes hiding behind a mask of friendship. And an elusive girl haunts his dreams—is she helping him or binding him tighter into a thorny cage? For Sigismund, the truth turns out to be more fantastical than any story he’s ever heard.