Oceania

Materials from Oceania

The Tsunami Quilt: Grandfather’s Story

On April 1, 1946, an enormous tsunami wave strikes Hilo, Hawaii, causing death and destruction. Even those islanders who are fortunate to have survived find their lives forever altered. Young Kimo loves his grandfather very much. They go everywhere together, sharing island stories and experiences. But there is one story his grandfather has yet to share and that is the reason behind their yearly pilgrimage to Laupahoehoe Point. Here, in silent remembrance, Grandfather places a flower lei atop a stone monument.

Featured in Volume VI, Issue 1 of WOW Review.

The Raging Quiet

Marnie comes to the remote fishing hamlet of Torcurra as the reluctant bride of Isake Isherwood, a lord of her parents’ farm. But two days later, while thatching the roof, Isake falls to his death. Marnie’s only kindness comes from Father Brannan, the village priest, and Raver, the strange mad boy whose incoherent cries belie his gentle heart. Taking him in one windy night, Marnie makes a startling discovery: Raver is not mad but deaf. Determined to communicate with the boy whom Marnie now calls Raven, she invents a system of hand-words. Raven learns quickly and has soon all but shed his madness. Yet while Marnie and Raven forge a deep bond, the villagers, already suspicious of Marnie’s role in Isake’s death, see his transformation as the result of witchcraft. Even as Marnie’s and Raven’s bond turns to love, and as they uncover the mysterious value of their cottage, Marnie is forced into a witchcraft trial where the test of the iron bar will determine her fate. Set in the times when magic was a force to be reckoned with, The Raging Quiet is the epic saga of a remarkable woman whose only crime is being different.

Fat Boy Saves World

Sixteen-year-old Susan Bennett faces a world of confusion between her difficult parents and overweight, non-speaking brother, but when her sibling finally speaks in order to confess that his plan is to save the world, Susan realizes that the time has come to confront her parents.

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

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.

Moonrunner

Twelve-year-old Casey, an American boy who has just moved to Australia, chances upon a herd of wild brumbies, which reminds him of the wild mustangs of his home in Montana, and the relationship he develops with the stallion Moonrunner changes his life.

 

The Fat Man

Herbert Muskie is The Fat Man. When he catches skinny, hungry Colin Potter stealing a chocolate bar, he forces Colin to become his partner in crime. This begins an ever-escalating cycle of dominance fueled by Muskie’s hatred of the people of Loomis–a grudge Colin doesn’t understand.

The Reformed Vampire Support Group

Think vampires are romantic, sexy, and powerful? Think again. Vampires are dead. And unless they want to end up staked, they have to give up fanging people, admit their addiction, join a support group, and reform themselves. Nina Harrison, fanged at fifteen and still living with her mother, hates the Reformed Vampire Support Group meetings every Tuesday night. Even if she does appreciate Dave, who was in a punk band when he was alive, nothing exciting ever happens. That is, until one of group members is mysteriously destroyed by a silver bullet. With Nina (determined to prove that vamps aren’t useless or weak) and Dave (secretly in love with Nina) at the helm, the misfit vampires soon band together to track down the hunter, save a werewolf, and keep the world safe from the likes of themselves. The perfect anecdote to slick vampire novels, this murder-mystery comedy of errors will thrill fans of Evil Genius.

The Word Snoop

Meet the Word Snoop. She’s dashing and daring and witty as can be—and no one knows more about the evolution of the English language than she does. Luckily, she’s spilling her secrets in this gem of a book. From the first alphabet in 4000 BC, to anagrams, palindromes, and modern-day text messages, readers will learn all about the fascinating twists and turns our fair language has taken to become what it is today. With playful black-and-white illustrations, riddles to solve, and codes to break, The Word Snoop is definitive proof that words can spark the imagination and are anything but dull. This is a book for every aspiring writer, and every true reader.ima