Thirteen-year-old Ella lives on a horse-trekking farm in the South Island high country. When Ella utters a wish and a curse on the same day, she unwittingly unleashes a malevolent mythical creature with links to her own family’s tragic past. Atmospheric and immersive, this tense tale of bravery and sacrifice is wonderfully written.
At the Bach
Published by: Gecko Press
Written by Joy Cowley and illustrated by Hilary Jean Tapper
An evocative and deceptively simple story that perfectly encapsulates the experience of beach holidays at a traditional Kiwi bach. With their soft colour palette, the illustrations have a nostalgic and dreamy quality, while carefully chosen words evoke a sense of place and time, and will send little ones off to sleep content and comforted.
New Dawning
Published by: One Tree House
Written by A M Dixon
Generations after climate crisis, Merel and Ren live under The Covers on the isolated island of Littleton, in a society controlled by strict rules. As the friends navigate this shadowy world, their uncertainty about the status quo grows. With cohesive worldbuilding and convincing characterisation, this is a striking and immersive dystopian novel.
Patu: The New Zealand Wars
Published by: Puffin, Penguin Random House
Written and illustrated by Gavin Bishop (Tainui, Ngāti Awa)
A comprehensive, clear and beautifully illustrated history of the New Zealand Wars – from the musket wars of the 1840s through to the plunder of Parihaka in 1881 and beyond. Gavin Bishop succinctly tells the stories of the battles and the people involved while cleverly interweaving the history of his own tūpuna.