Book Reviews March 2007

Teresa Moran — Soldier by Ken Catran, Publisher: Lothian Books,  NZ RRP $19.99, Age Group: 10+ Teresa Moran is a fourth-generation solider. She wants to live up to her father and uphold the family name, but must fight to gain acceptance among her male comrades. In Timor and Iraq she is put to the test. Can she break the cycle of wartime and peacetime violence that has always beset her family — and find the courage to change the future? The answer comes in a murderous last firefight in the back alleys of Baghdad.

The Storylines Children’s Literature Charitable Trust of New Zealand Notable New Zealand Books List 2007 is out again.  Books worth being on your family's bookshelf!  Review the list here >>>

him, but in doing so they start a chain of events that could shake dreamhunting to its knees and blow open the deepest mysteries of the Place .

'Dreamhunter', the predecessor of 'Dreamquake', was a finalist for the Deutz Medal for Fiction at the 2006 Montana New Zealand Book Awards. It also won the Esther Glen Award for a distinguished contribution to children's literature at the LIANZA Children's Book Awards, New Zealand's oldest book awards.

Reviewer's note: At 507 pages long this book is more suited to those children who have patience and can pick a book up and put it down without losing the thread of the story. It took me all of the first chapter to get into the book, however after that I couldn't put it down.

Read our interview with Elizabeth Knox - read now >>>

The Three Fishing Brothers Gruff by Ben Galbraith,  Publisher: Hachette Livre New Zealand, NZ RRP $29.99, Age Group: 6+

Once upon a time there were three fishing brothers call Gruff. They were the meanest and greediest fishermen ever to fish in Poverty Bay. But one day, the fish ran out ...    A timely ecological tale.

Reviewer's note: I believe the best way to review a book for this age group is to read it to its intended audience.The children loved it! What else is there to say? Ben Galbraith not only wrote this book, but also illustrated it.

Read our interview with Ben Galbraith - read now >>>