Oceania

Materials from Oceania

‘A’ama Nui Guardian Warrior Chief of Lalakea

‘A’ama Nui is the first book in a new architectural book series for children published by Mo’o Studios. ‘A’ama Nui is the tale of a legendary crab who protects the ponds of Lalakea. However, there is more to this tale…alongside the story of ‘A’ama Nui, the book’s author (WCIT Architecture) describes how the tale inspires the architectural design of an actual home – one that will reside along the shores of Lalakea, watching over it, like the legend of ‘A’ama Nui.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume VI, Issue 3

Natural Destiny

Eight-year-old Bernie is thrust into the terror, starvation and daily atrocities of World War II when the Japanese bomb and capture her native island of Guam. Live Bernie’s story as she and thousands of Guamanians are captured and placed in concentration camps for nearly three years.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume VI, Issue 3

Dear Vincent

17 year old, Tara McClusky’s life is hard. She shares the care of her paralysed father with her domineering, difficult mother, forced to cut down on her hours at school to help support the family with a part-time rest home job. She’s very much alone, still grieving the loss of her older sister Van, who died five years before. Her only source of consolation is her obsession with art and painting in particular. Most especially she is enamoured with Vincent Van Gogh: she has read all his letters and finds many parallels between the tragic story of his life and her own. Luckily she meets the intelligent, kindly Professor Max Stockhamer (a Jewish refugee and philosopher) and his grandson Johannes, and their support is crucial to her ability to survive this turbulent time. The book tackles the difficult topic of suicide fearlessly, with a novel that’s not afraid to go to the dark places but which resolves its story beautifully.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume VI, Issue 3

Sophie Scott Goes South

Sophie Scott is only nine years old, but she’s going to Antarctica on an icebreaker with her dad, the ship’s captain. During the voyage to Mawson Station and back, Sophie keeps a diary. She sees icebergs, penguins, seals and whales. She makes new friends, wonders at the southern lights and even becomes stranded in a blizzard!

Silver Buttons

At 9:59 on a Thursday morning, Jodie draws a duck. As her pen hovers in the air, ready to add a silver button to the duck’s boot, her little brother Jonathan pushes to his feet, sways, and takes his first step. At the exact same moment, their mom plays a pennywhistle in the kitchen, a man buys fresh bread at the bakery, a baby is born, a soldier says good-bye to his mom, a granddad and granddaughter play with leaves in the park, a blackbird finds a worm.

A Straight Line To My Heart

School is out forever, and Tiff is hoping her job at the local paper will lead to something more… But ‘The Shark’ soon puts her straight on what it takes to become a hard-nosed reporter like him. At home, Reggie – the only grandad she’s ever known – has quit the smokes and diagnosed himself as cactus. Then her best friend, Kayla, hits her with some big news. And into all this stumbles Davey, the first boy who really wants to know her. Tiff is smart with words and rarely does tears, but in one short week she discovers that words don’t always get you there and don’t let you say all the stuff from deep in your heart. A funny, poignant, heartwarming story of first love, first job, friends, family and the inevitability of change in the first summer out of school.

Featured in Volume VI, Issue 2 of WOW Review.

Calling The Gods

Thrown hard on the bottom boards, I stared up at distorted mouths, faces so red I could feel their heat. They stank of rage and of something else; several frothed at the mouth; their howls drowned the clatter and shriek of gulls swerving and tilting above the mast. Banishment is the cruellest punishment, and Selene is being driven out unjustly by her own people. Set in a New Zealand both recognisable and strangely different, CALLING THE GODS is a novel for older readers, a story of violence, love, and courage, of leadership and betrayal, of the extraordinary human ability to adapt and survive, a tale of a young woman’s heroic persistence against impossible odds.

Featured in Volume VI, Issue 2 of WOW Review.

Mister Whistler

A hilarious, lively picture book. Mister Whistler always has a song in his head and a dance in his legs. But when he has to catch the train, he is so distracted he loses his ticket and has to dance his way out of his clothes to find it!

Featured in Volume VI, Issue 2 of WOW Review.

My Brother’s War

It’s New Zealand, 1914, and the biggest war has just broken out in Europe. William eagerly enlists for the army but his younger brother, Edmund, is a conscientious objector and refuses to fight. While William trains to be a soldier, Edmund is arrested. Both brothers will end up on the bloody battlefields of France, but their journeys there are very different. And what they experience at the front line will challenge the beliefs that led them there.

Rahui

This picture book is about cousins’ holidays in a rural Maori community having adventures and fun together – playing in the bush, riding horses, fishing, eeling and swimming at the beach. During the holiday, a death leads to a rahui being placed on the beach. After a year, the rahui is lifted, and they return to the beach full of life and with their cousin in their hearts. The feeling of the book is joyous and wistful, and the illustrations richly evoke the atmosphere of the setting and people.

Featured in Volume VI, Issue 2 of WOW Review.