Ruatapu the Ravenous has the Astromancer Te Kо̄kо̄rangi and her three priests locked in a pit as the nine stars of Matariki begin to appear. There will be no one to say karakia over the kūmara crops for the year. Ruatapu thinks the Astromancer will do his bidding, but she tells him clearly otherwise. He soon regrets his actions as a plague of caterpillars attack his crops leaving kūmara rotting in the ground. But he believes he still has the upper hand, and Ariā and the three other Astromancer apprentices are summoned. Knowing Ruatapu imprisoned her teacher and many others, and that he killed ..read more

Rat is happy in his hidey-hole with his treasures. Who could want more than a red velvet slipper to snuggle down into at night, a yellow marble that catches the setting sun just right, and a shiny (but empty) sardine can with an Imperial Sardine watching over Rat and all he does? One night, right outside his hidey-hole, Rat hears a cry for help. Reading the slogan on the sardine can once again that day, he knows he must… Make the Good and Noble Choice!! and he peeps out of the hole in the wall. A large white owl has his foot caught in a mouse trap that is nailed to the barn floor. Flapping his ..read more

Marv loves football. He and his mate Jimmy are constantly shooting goals on the pitch, off the pitch and on their gaming screens too. Life is simple. Life is good. He doesn’t take much notice of the moving van in his street. It was no interest to him at all. But when a new girl walks into his classroom the next day, he wishes he took more time to look.   “I swear the second Carly appeared I didn’t feel like a rug had been pulled from under my feet. The rug had been set on fire. With me still standing on it.”   Marv is swept up in feelings he’s never had before. He can’t think straigh ..read more

Roll up! Roll up! See the Fortuna circus family with your own eyes. Ringmaster extraordinaire and ruler of his domain, Arturo Fortuna ensures a feast for the tongue, the eyes and ears within the tents of his 1890’s circus. He rules with an ego the size of a planet, the voice of a lion and the greed of a billionaire. But billionaire he is not. Everything he lays his eyes upon is a possible way to make coin – even his children. He has three. Luna is the oldest and as soon as she began to bloom as a young woman, not fitting her clown costumes any longer, Arturo saw an opportunity. Now as a fully ..read more

A small wooden, candlelit shed is the only place Astrid has ever known. Locked inside by her mother, she is home-schooled, fed well and supplied with books, a laptop and all that she needs. But now at eleven she wants more. She has been interested in many things over the years that she has seen in the resources her mother supplies, and her latest fascination is the stars. If only she could see them – just for a little while. Her mother however will not allow such a thing. It is a stranger that slides the locks open on the outside of the shed door to free her. At first, the outside world is too ..read more

Gaston wakes up one morning in his barn home and decides to go on a journey. His friends aren’t sure about his sudden decision and are worried for him. But Gaston will not be swayed and he sets off on his quest to find a beach he favours in his memory. Along the way he meets others who are keen to join him. A butterfly travelling companion is very helpful for finding the way to go, and a hedgehog is good company despite Gaston’s early misgivings. Together they encounter castles and an evil cat who is said to have swallowed an ogre. This cat is evil indeed, never far from his treasure chest of ..read more

Te Rerehua and her brother Sam love staying with their Grandma and Pōua in their little house next to a big lake named Te Roto o Wairewa. Some people call this place Birdling’s Flat, but it’s also called Te Mata Hāpuku. Waves smash across the grey-stoned beach and orange cliffs, not far from a sprinkling of seaside baches and homes. Grandma is happy to be far from any shops, as she tells her grandchildren,   “Who needs shops?” says Grandma. “The kai is all around us!”   Te Roto o Wairewa has all that they need swimming beneath its dark surface. One night Te Rerehua and Sam set ..read more

Grace is shocked by the prank pulled on her in a Wellington railway station. Asked to look after a suitcase for a minute by a stranger, something begins to move inside. It opens to reveal a small person in a nappy. What’s most shocking is she recognises him from years before. Grace is now 18, working as a motel cleaner and living with her mum Katherine. Once incredibly close, mother and daughter now have a strained relationship due to Katherine’s ongoing depression after an event on the day of Grace’s birth. Although attending counselling for her PTSD, Katherine has never answered Grace’s many ..read more

Max and his family are off to the snow for a skiing holiday. He has brought his friend Hugo along for the fun, and Abby Purcell (his past nemesis) and her police officer mum (off duty), are following them in their own car. They have all been invited by other friends to stay in their ski lodge. It’s not long before Max notices the other cars heading in the same direction. Flash cars which are a lot different than their family station-wagon. On the slopes, he notices the ski clothes – all fitting properly, not in clashing colours and from the op-shop like his own family’s outfits. This just rein ..read more

Have you heard of Pahu (Hector’s dolphin) or Popoto (Māui dolphin)? These are the rarest dolphins in New Zealand, and the Māui dolphin is the rarest in the world! There are only 48 Māui dolphins left. This means they are   …”nationally critical… with an immediate high risk of becoming extinct.”   Both of these NZ dolphins are not only rare but have the biggest brains of any dolphin in the world. In fact, in the entire animal kingdom, these two dolphins are the closest to humans in brain size compared to body size. This means they are incredibly clever. They look after their sick, l ..read more