Boy's grandmother gave him the bear because, as she said, ''Your brother is too small to play with yet''. And so begins Gavin Bishop's tale of Boy and teddy, told by the bear himself.
The story follows Boy's early life in Kingston with his railway worker family, then Invercargill and Christchurch, and is in reality based on Bishop's life.
Along the way notable events in the country's ''growing up'' are interspersed with the bear's narration.
Teddy comments on unpleasing aspects of Boy's behaviour and lets the reader know of his displeasure with some of the rough treatment he receives.
The disillusionment of a neglected bear in later years as Boy grows up is keenly felt.
It's charming, funny and sad in turn and will appeal to a wide readership. Ages: 11+.
In a lawless walled slum of just six and a-half acres exists a population of perhaps 30,000 souls in tiny spaces piled one atop another.
There are the inevitable street people, in this case reduced to living in cramped, filthy alleys, some so narrow only the thinnest, hungriest can enter.
For the street kids the rules are simple: Run fast. Trust no-one. Always carry your knife.
Jin Ling came to live in this hellhole for just one reason: to find the sister who was sold into prostitution by their rice-farmer father to fund his drinking habit.
So far the search has occupied two years of young Jin Ling's life. Dai is searching the Walled City too; in his case he seeks redemption.
But he has an added problem.
If he doesn't find what he needs before the deadline of New Year, just days away, he will never be able to leave.
This is a cracking thriller. Ages 15+.
Readers like me who are feeling a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume of publications relating to World War 1, in this the centenary year of its beginning, could be forgiven if they decide Michael Morpurgo's latest novel is not for them.
They would miss a haunting, well-written story if they did so, however, one that gave me great enjoyment and which was read in an afternoon and early evening, such was the power of the author's storytelling.
Certain factual events of the war are included but the author is interested here in how his characters are affected by them, and what they do in response.
The action takes place mainly on the Isles of Scilly (Bryher, to be exact) those tiny specks just off Land's End, and begins with farmer and fisherman Jim Wheatcroft and his son Alfie finding a starving and injured young girl on the long uninhabited St Helen's Island, once a place of quarantine for sick sailors. Ages 9+.
Sometimes, all we need to shake us out of our routine mental ''railway tracks'' is a thought-provoking book.
Such was the case for me with Marcus Sedgwick's latest offering, which expounds on the influence the spiral has on life on this planet: think DNA's double helix, the shape of shells, even our own koru.
Because a spiral has no beginning or end, is all life bound to repeat?
The book is presented in four quarters, each of which can be read as a stand-alone story, and in any order according to the author.
They range in time from prehistory through to the distant future.
Quarter Two was not at all to my taste, dealing graphically as it does with ''witch''-hunting, a dark and depressing chapter in humankind's evolution.
And I don't know why, but a feeling of deja vu descended on me when I read Quarter Four, about the sleeping spaceship inhabitants. Ages: 15+.
Adele Broadbent is a New Zealand author who likes to write for the 9-13 age group and this story seems perfect for them.
There's plenty of action, themes teens will relate to and evildoers to be thwarted. Twelve-year-old Ben Jackson is feeling aggrieved.
His 91-year-old great-grandfather George has come to stay while his flat is being finished and has been given Ben's room.
Worse still, Ben has been relegated to sleeping in the old caravan in the backyard and has had to stay home for the welcome dinner for George while his mates play in the local Laserforce competition.
The next day Ben gets home late from school to find only George at home fast asleep, or is he?
Ben touches George's hand to check he's still alive, but finds he can't let go. Ben and George's adventure is under way. Ages: 9-13.
Ian Fleming died in August 1964 but his iconic creation, spy James Bond, lives on in new adventures, however improbable that might seem.
Thanks to a pack of writers willing to take up pen on Bond's behalf he seems to truly be the man they couldn't kill, but certainly not for want of trying.
And of course what is an iconic series these days without its prequel?
First Charlie Higson delivered up six Young Bond books and after his retirement from the role the task has fallen to Steve Cole, who takes up the tale after Bond's expulsion from Eton College.
Sickened by the carnage that seems to dog his every footstep, young James is hoping for respite at his new school, only to be met by an apparent psychopath out for his blood.
It's a long time since I read a Bond book but I don't remember such sadistic violence featuring previously. Ages: 14+.
René Nol is a Dunedin reader.
A selection of short stories by English writers, War Girls provides some insights into World War 1 through the eyes of young women.
This collection demonstrates how effective this genre can be in the hands of skilled and experienced writers, such as the nine represented here.
Three stand out.
The Marshalling of Angelique's Geese by Rowena House casts light on the origins of the influenza epidemic; Matt Whyman's Ghost Story is told through the eyes of a young Turkish woman; and for fun with an underlying wartime message, it's almost impossible to fault Mary Hooper's Storm in a Teashop.
This is a book to read in small bites, not in a great gulp in a single session. Ages 12-14.
Australia's Walker Books publishes good young adult fiction and Caro Was Here is no exception.
This is Elizabeth Farrelly's first book for youngsters and she takes a real place, Goat Island in Sydney Harbour, and uses it as the setting.
On her 12th birthday, Caro loses the election for class captain to a new girl, American Ellen Aurelia Dufresne.
Upset, Caro decides to bunk off with her young brother Ned.
Her friends Nigel and Tattie go along, while a surprise inclusion is Ellen, not Caro's favourite person.
They head to Goat Island but miss the last ferry home and are stranded overnight. However, they are not alone on the island and the other occupants are dangerous criminals.
Nigel is a caricature, just too nerdy, and it's difficult to accept Caro is just 12 (a 14-year-old would have worked better).
However, the story rattles along with a happy outcome, and interesting historical material is cleverly worked in. Ages 12+.
Gillian Vine is a Dunedin journalist.
