The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly is the debut young adult novel by Stephanie Oakes. It is an amazing book and I absolutely loved it! It’s a powerful, harrowing and haunting story that had me gripped from beginning to end. You can read my review here on the blog.
Thanks to HarperCollins NZ I have 3 copies of The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly to give away.
Thanks to everyone who entered. The winners are Chris K. and Melinda.
Steve Camden is an exciting new author that I’ve been hearing a lot about. It’s All About Love is Steve’s second young adult novel and it sounds fantastic. Read the blurb below and watch Steve’s video of his poem about It’s About Love.
He’s Luke. She’s Leia.
Just like in Star Wars. Just like they’re made for each other. Same film studies course, different backgrounds, different ends of town.
Only this isn’t a film. This is real life. This is where monsters from the past come back to take revenge. This is where you are sometimes the monster. And where the things we build to protect us, can end up doing the most harm…
It’s About Love is out now from HarperCollins New Zealand.
Today I’m joined by Australian author Jack Heath. Jack is the author of action-packed thrillers for children and young adults, including the Scream series from Scholastic, Money Run, The Hit-List and his first novel, The Lab. Jack’s latest novel is The Cut-Out, a spy thriller about mistaken identities that is perfect for fans of the Cherub series and Alex Rider. I had a few questions about Jack’s latest book and spies. Jack very kindly answered my questions and you can read them here.
The Cut-Out is out now from Allen and Unwin.
What are 3 words that you would use to describe your new book, The Cut Out? Fast, frantic, fun.
Is the character of Fero based on who you wanted to be when you were a teenager?
Fero is everything I wasn’t – athletic, quiet, courageous. In some ways I wish I’d been more like him, but it’s those qualities that get him into so much trouble in The Cut Out!
In The Cut Out, Fero gets mistaken for enemy agent, Troy Maschenov. Have you ever had a case of mistaken identity?
I have a brother who looks a bit like me, and sometimes people get us confused. Fortunately my brother isn’t a deadly foreign spy, or so he claims.
What is your favourite gadget in The Cut Out?
Definitely the Armoured Turbofan Vehicle, which is like a cross between a motorcycle and a tank.
What books and movies inspire your writing?
I love spy thrillers by Robert Ludlum and Olen Steinhauer. As for movies, some of my favourites include Tomorrow Never Dies, True Lies and Mission Impossible 3.
Who is your favourite fictional spy?
I’m a big fan of reluctant spies, so I always loved Alex Rider. He got more interesting with every book!
Your first book, The Lab, was published when you were a teenager. What advice do you have for young writers who want to get published?
I encourage all aspiring writers to join their local writers centre, to write something every day, and to read everything they can get their hands on.
Who would you recommend The Cut Out to?
The Cut Out is for anyone who likes shifting allegiances, big twists and lots of action.
Patrick Ness is my favourite author. Every time he publishes a new book I rush out and get it and try to find a quiet place to sit to enjoy it. I fell in love with his writing when I first read The Knife of Never Letting Go and then devoured the rest of the series. The thing I love the most about Patrick Ness’ writing is that he isn’t afraid to push boundaries and try something new. His latest book, The Rest of Us Just Live Here, promises to be another highly original and memorable story. I can’t wait to read it! The only problem with reading it is that I then have to wait another year or so to read another new Patrick Ness book. Oh the dilemma!
Check out the blurb and cover for The Rest of Us Just Live Here below:
Award-winning writer Patrick Ness’s bold and irreverent novel powerfully asks what if you weren’t the Chosen One? The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death? What if you were like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again. Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life. Even if your best friend might just be the God of mountain lions.
The Rest of Us Just Live Here is released on August 27 by Walker Books Australia.
Whistling in the Dark by Shirley Hughes
Liverpool, 1940: thirteen-year-old Joan’s home is under threat from the Nazi’s terrifying nightly air-raids. It is not an easy time to be a teenager, especially with the sweet rationing, strict curfews and blackouts. Joan and best friend Doreen love going to the cinema until the bombings intensify and then even that becomes too dangerous, especially when an army deserter is found lurking near their home. Who is he and why does he think Joan can help him? As the Blitz worsens, Joan and her friends make a discovery that will tear the whole community apart…
The Fortelling of Georgie Spider (Book 3 of The Tribe) by Ambelin Kwaymullina
The third and final book in the thrilling eco-dystopian series The Tribe.
A storm was stretching out across futures to swallow everything in nothing, and it was growing larger, which meant it was getting nearer… Georgie Spider has foretold the end of the world, and the only one who can stop it is Ashala Wolf. But Georgie has also foreseen Ashala’s death. As the world shifts around the Tribe, Ashala fights to protect those she loves from old enemies and new threats.
And Georgie fights to save Ashala. Georgie Spider can see the future. But can she change it?
Remix by Non Pratt
From the author of Trouble comes a novel about boys, bands and best mates. Kaz is still reeling from being dumped by the
love of her life… Ruby is bored of hearing about it. Time to change the record.
Three days. Two best mates. One music festival. Zero chance of everything working out.
Fire Colour One by Jenny Valentine
Iris’s father, Ernest, is at the end of his life and she hasn’t even met him. Her best friend, Thurston, is somewhere on the other side of the world. Everything she thought she knew is up in flames.Now her mother has declared war and means to get her hands on Ernest’s priceless art collection. But Ernest has other ideas. There are things he wants Iris to know after he’s gone. And the truth has more than one way of coming to light.
Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oaks
The Kevinian cult has taken everything from seventeen-year-old Minnow: twelve years of her life, her family, and her ability to trust.
And when Minnow rebelled, they took away her hands, too.
Now the Kevinian Prophet has been murdered and the camp set aflame and it’s clear Minnow knows something. But she’s not talking. As she adjusts to a life behind bars in juvenile detention, Minnow struggles to make sense of all she has been taught to believe, particularly as she dwells on the events that led up to her incarceration. But when an FBI detective approaches her about making a deal, Minnow sees she can have the freedom she always dreamed of; if she is willing to part with the terrible secrets of her past.
There is nothing quite like finding a new author whose book you fall in love with instantly. When the book you read is that author’s debut novel you are both disappointed and excited. Disappointed because you can’t gobble up everything else the author has written (because this is their first novel) and excited because you’ll (hopefully) have more of their stories to look forward to. I was overcome with these emotions when I finished Leah Thomas’ debut YA novel, Because You’ll Never Meet Me.
Ollie and Moritz are two teenagers who will never meet. Each of them lives with a life-affecting illness. Contact with electricity sends Ollie into debilitating seizures. Moritz has a heart defect and is kept alive by an electronic pacemaker. If they did meet, Ollie would seize. But turning off the pacemaker would kill Moritz.
Through an exchange of letters, the two boys develop a strong bond of friendship which becomes a lifeline during dark times – until Moritz reveals that he holds the key to their shared, sinister past, and has been keeping it from Ollie all along.
Because You’ll Never Meet Me is one of the most extraordinary books I’ve read in a long time! This book is unlike any book I’ve read and I struggle to express how truly wonderful it is. The story is original and intriguing and the characters are two of the most interesting teenage guys you’ll ever meet.
The story is told in alternating chapters, by Ollie and Moritz, two very different guys who could never meet but find solace in the letters that they write to each other. Ollie lives in America, in a cabin in the woods with his mother, far away from civilization and everyone else his age. Ollie has know nothing but this isolation for as long as he can remember. Ollie must live this life because he is allergic to electricity. Whenever he gets close to anything electrical he starts to see loops, swirls and plumes of colour, which triggers crippling seizures. Moritz lives in Germany, was born without eyes and sees using a form or echolocation, like a bat. He also has a heart condition and is kept alive by a pacemaker. He is ignored by his peers and tormented by the school bully. Ollie and Moritz can never meet, because if they did Moritz’ pacemaker would make Ollie seize. Through their letters to each other they share their experiences and their unique lives, giving each other strength when they need it the most. Leah Thomas hints that there is some connection, other than through their letters, between the two boys, and when this is revealed the story goes in a different direction. I won’t talk about this as it is a great twist in the story.
I got completely caught up in Ollie and Moritz’ stories and put myself in their shoes. You know it’s a great book when you want to know what’s happening with the characters when you’re not reading their story. My heart was in my throat so many times while I was reading and I just kept on hoping that Ollie and Moritz would make it through their tough times.
One of the things I love the most about Leah Thomas’ book is that she tells this incredible story in just one book. Everything comes together perfectly at the end and there is a real sense of hope. You don’t need any more books to carry on the story of these two characters. They stay with you and you can imagine where their story might go next.
Because You’ll Never Meet Me is a truly memorable story that will stay with me for a very long time. I highly recommend it, especially if you love Annabel Pitcher or R.J. Palacio’s book, Wonder.
Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar
If you go down to the woods today … Well, every child knows NOT to, don’t they?
Tamaya is on a scholarship to the prestigious Woodridge Academy and every day she and seventh-grader Marshall walk to school together. They never go through the woods. And when they arrive at school they stop talking to each other – because Marshall can’t be seen to be friends with a little kid like Tamaya. Especially not with Chad around. Chad-the-bully, who makes Marshall’s life utterly miserable. But today, hoping to avoid Chad, Marshall and Tamaya decide to go through the woods … And what is waiting there for them is strange, sinister and entirely unexpected. The next day, Chad doesn’t turn up at school – no one knows where he is, not even his family. And Tamaya’s arm is covered in a horribly, burning, itchy wound. As two unlikely heroes set out to rescue their bully, the town is about to be turned upside down by the mysterious Fuzzy Mud.
Superhero Dad by Timothy Knapman and Joe Berger
Dad might not have a superhero mask or wear his pants outside his trousers, but his super snores can be heard a thousand miles away, he tells super jokes and can even make superscary monsters go away at bedtime!
The Cut-Out by Jack Heath
Fero isn’t a spy.
But he looks exactly like someone who is: Troy Maschenov – a ruthless enemy agent.
But what starts as a case of mistaken identity quickly turns into a complicated and dangerous plan. Fero is recruited to fight for his country. He will have to impersonate Troy, enter enemy territory, hunt down a missing agent and bring her home in time to prevent a devastating terror attack.
Fero is in way over his head. Hastily trained, loaded up with gadgets and smuggled across the border, he discovers the truth about espionage.
Getting in is easy. Getting out alive is hard.
Green Valentine by Lili Wilkinson
Astrid Katy Smythe is beautiful, smart and popular. She’s a straight-A student and a committed environmental activist. She’s basically perfect.
Hiro is the opposite of perfect. He’s slouchy, rude and resentful. Despite his brains, he doesn’t see the point of school.
But when Astrid meets Hiro at the shopping centre where he’s wrangling shopping trolleys, he doesn’t recognise her because she’s in disguise – as a lobster. And she doesn’t set him straight.
Astrid wants to change the world, Hiro wants to survive it. But ultimately both believe that the world needs to be saved from itself. Can they find enough in common to right all the wrongs between them?
R.L. Stedman is the author of the award winning A Necklace of Souls. She has just released the sequel, A Skillful Warrior, which carries on the story of Dana and Will (read all about it here). I had a few questions for Rachel about her new book, her journey to publication and what stories she has for us next. You can read her answers below and enter the draw to win a copy of the new edition of A Necklace of Souls.
In Skillful, Dana and Will, along with N’tombe and Jed, have left the Kingdom of the Rose. They are searching for a weapon that can defeat the army of the emperor. This quest should be straightforward, but of course its not. There’s an army following them, they don’t really know what the weapon is and Dana is having really, really bad dreams. And when I say bad, I mean they’re a lot worse than the average nightmare. And then Jed gets entangled with a pirate-woman and … No. I don’t want to give too much away! But basically the story is about both Will and Dana beginning to realise what they can do, and in learning to be comfortable with their abilities. I kind of think of Skillful as Dana growing up.
The awards are nice, and its cool to be able to see stickers on your book that say ‘winner of so and so’ like it makes you amazing but TBH it doesn’t mean that much in terms of sales. However, I do enjoy putting ‘Award-Winning Author’ under my name! The awards don’t motivate me to continue writing, because I love writing so much that I would do it regardless. But I think the fact that I’ve won a few prizes now helps to give people confidence that my books are (hopefully) a good read.
Quite tricky, would be the honest truth. A number of publishers were interested in Skillful but they all said the market for YA fiction in New Zealand is very limited, and after thinking about it for a few months, most said no. But over this time I was getting emails from readers pleading for the sequel (Skillful is dedicated to a reader from Norway!) and I felt I had to get it published just for them. So that’s why I decided to do it myself.
Inner Fire was my trial piece, I wanted to learn how to self-publish on something different to Necklace, in case it all went terribly wrong or was a total failure…In actual fact though, self-publishing (I prefer to call it “independant publishing”) has been more fun than I had thought. I’ve loved being able to chose my own cover designs – I’ve worked with two different covers for Necklace and I love both. I really enjoy the look and feel of the books; the paper is nice and thick, the layout looks professional and the binding is really solid. It’s nice to hold it in your hands!
Independent publishing offers an author a lot more freedom. When you’ve put your heart and soul into a book, it is very rewarding to be able to call all the shots on how it is presented. I like the way I can chose my own illustrations and my own font and chose the price it will retail at. I like being in control of my own timeline, too.
I don’t think it would suit everyone but I’m fortunate that it does work for me. I have a business degree and do a lot of contracting/project work in my day job – that experience has helped me a lot.
The Belgariad by David Eddings
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardego,
Any book by Juliet Marilliar.
The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula Le Guin.
Red Rising by Pierce Brown.
Under the Mountain by Maurice Gee.
The Merlin Chronicles by Mary Stewart.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
It’s called The Prankster and the Ghost. It was shortlisted for the Tom Fitzgibbon Award in 2012 as Practically Joking. I love it so much! It’s funny and sad and (warning) contains lots of practical jokes.
The story is about two boys (I always seem to have two protagonists, I really need to stop that), called Tayla and Jamie.
Tayla is in a car accident. In pain, he pushes himself out of his body, and begins to haunt the hospital ward. Being a ghost is kind of boring, although it does allow him to play some excellent practical jokes on the nurses. Until an inspector arrives on the ward. ‘I’m sending you to school,’ she says. ‘Because every child deserves an education, even if they’re dead.’ Tayla thinks this is stupid. What’s the point in educating dead kids? Besides, he isn’t dead. He’s just not in his body.
Meanwhile, Jamie, newly arrived from Scotland, finds no-one can understand his accent. All his practical jokes go badly wrong, and at his new school there are some ruins that he’s sure are haunted…
Prankster is set in North Otago and is about friendship and learning to live with loss. And practical jokes, of course. It’s suitable for ages 8 upwards.
The award ceremony for the 2015 LIANZA Children’s and Young Adult’s Book Awards was held at the National Library in Wellington last night. Congratulations to all the finalists and the winners! Here are the winners:
My Best Friends Are Books 