The promo said if you liked Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, you'll love Going Bovine by Libba Bray (Allen and Unwin, $38.99, pbk).
I do and I didn't but still, I couldn't put it down.
I should have known from the beginning there was no happy ending: the back cover blurb tells me the main character has the incurable mad cow disease.
Incurable. Tania, he's not gonna make it.
I tell my students: never make your main character wake up from a dream or die at the end of the story.
That's poor show. That's cheating.
And, because I am the eternal optimist, I believe we writers can save whole solar systems in a single paragraph - sort of.
Libba Bray cheats because she had me thinking (on every single page) that the main character was going to find a cure for his disease and live a long and prosperous life.
OK, so the ride to find this cure was pretty surreal and I lost count of how many times I laughed out loud and then made the family listen to bits.
But I hated it. Hated it because, well, he dies. And, no, I'm not spoiling the story (see above comment re the blurb).
This book is for the intelligent, quirky member of your family who gets Dr Who and Hitchhiker's and Star Trek.
Typical Libba Bray: pushing the boundaries and doing it so well. Hrumph. Wish I could be as clever.
A great fat-boy-triumphs story without being cliched.
Corey is forced to join something extracurricular at school and chooses orienteering.
He thinks it will be like a stroll in the park.
Of course, it wouldn't be an interesting read if it were.
Wood takes us convincingly in the shoes of Corey as he learns (as we do) what orienteering is really like.
Made me want to go join a club. So much fun.
Tightly written with convincing characters. I hope Lindsay has more stories up his sleeve.
Recommended as a class set for upper primary and intermediate, the library or as a gift for the tween in your family.
It sat on the "must get around to reading" pile forever.
However, because the book was awarded best first book in the NZ Post Children's Book Awards, got a special mention in the Storylines Notable Books List and has been nominated for the Lianza books awards, I thought I better dust it off and read it.
So glad I did. While at the English teachers' conference in Christchurch, I heard again and again how The Bone Tiki is being gobbled up by students.
Now I understand why. Fantastic story. Brilliantly written.
An amazing combination of (and I quote from the last part of the book) "Myth and reality. Maori and Pakeha. Mother and father. New Zealand and Aotearoa. Each part of the other."
David Hair has written an exciting and intelligent adventure quest - there is no patronising, no over-explaining.
It is a story about Mat (Matiu) Douglas who is caught up by his action of stealing a bone tiki from the body of Nanny Wai.
Very soon he discovers that it holds the spirit and body of Wiri, who has been enslaved by the evil tohunga Puarata for centuries.
What follows is a heart-stopping, rip-roaring chase through the New Zealand, both past and present - good enough to rival Maurice Gee's Under the Mountain.
The sequel, The Taniwha's Tear (also HarperCollins, $22.99, pbk) starts at a rollicking pace.
I'm only half way through but it's even better that the first book.
I'm so glad to hang out with Matiu and the gang again for another thrilling adventure.
The author and her mates - heavyweights Libby Bray and Justine Larbalestier - were not impressed. Neither was I.
Did the guy actually read the book or did he assume that, because Allen and Unwin are Australian publishers, this was an Aussie book?
The opening paragraph dispels this: "You say doona we say duvae!"OK, stoushing aside.
Brilliant book. Can't believe that both Healey and Hair were writing at the same time, working with a similar product.
Well done guys. Lord of the Rings meets Rangi and Papa. Excellent.
Like The Bone Tiki, Guardian of the Dead would make an excellent text to study in class, as well as being a pretty cool present.
Oh. Sorry. It's mostly about what happens to Y13 Ellie Spencer when she steps out of one world and into another.
Don't worry about me not giving you the plot details - just know its extremely well-written with a suspenseful storyline. Buy it.
Tania Roxborogh is a Dunedin teacher and author.
