My New Zealand Story is an atttractive series of vividly imagined accoiunts of life in the past....making history come alive, aimed I guess at kids in the 10-13 age group.
Publishers Scholastic have just re-released three titles with new and especially appealing cover solutions written by three authors all with excellent writing credentials for this age group.
Please note that my small low res images do not do justice to these very fine covers all designed by Vasanti Unka
My New Zealand StoryGOLD!
Otago, 1862
by Pauline Cartwright
Description
Mary and her family moved to New Zealand from Australia, ahead of her father, who intended following later. But unforeseen events have kept Mr Brogan in Australia for the past seven years and Mary’s mother has had to cope with raising the two children on her own. The family are now living in poverty in the Dunedin where her mother has made it clear Mary must leave school and start contributing. But now gold has been discovered in the Otago hills and Mary is sure her father will be there. If only she can find him, she is sure their troubles will be over.
Mary dresses as a boy, calls herself Harry, and makes the long and dangerous trek from Dunedin to the Dunstan – the site of the latest gold rush.
About the author
Pauline is a former teacher and resource librarian, and winner of the 1991 Choysa Writers’ Bursary. She is now a full-time author of over 80 children’s books and lives in Alexandra, Central Otago.
My New Zealand Story
CASTAWAY
Disappointment Island, 1907
by Bill O’Brien
Description
Samuel, the keeper of this diary, is 13 when he signs on as a cabin boy aboard a vessel bound for Sydney. The barque Dundonald founders and sinks off Disappointment Island (part of the Auckland Islands group) in the ocean south of New Zealand on 6 March 1907. Fifteen survivors endure a harsh winter on this remote island until their rescue in late November that year.
Samuel Clark is a fictional character, however the other survivors are all based on the real people.
About the author
Bill O’Brien A former police fingerprint expert, Bill O'Brien was one of the police involved in the Aramoana shooting. Dismayed at the way the event was reported, he wrote his first book, Aramoana - 22 Hours of Terror. Since then he has written several other adult non-fiction books, as well as two titles in Lothian's Crime Wave series and now regards writing for children as his main career.
Mission Girl
Paihia, c.1840
by Fleur Beale
Description
“I choose to start my story at a distant time. A time before I knew it was possible to take the words from my mouth and draw them in marks on paper. My story begins on the day when my world changed forever. I was very young, but the memory of that day is as enduring as greenstone. I write it now so that when my mouth can no longer utter the words, the paper will keep them for my children’s children…”
With these words Atapo begins her story that leads from her capture and slavery as a young child through to her escape to the mission house in the Bay of Islands as a 14-year-old. Here she learns the new ways and language that means she is present at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Although she was born into an important family her capture and slavery has meant she has lost her standing in her tribe, however, she hopes that the new skills she has acquired will mean she can return home with her head held high.
About the author
Fleur Beale is a Wellington-based award-winning author. She has written over twenty novels for teenagers. She has been shortlisted several times in the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and won the 2007 Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award for her first children’s novel, Slide the Corner.
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