The Imaginary Lives of James Pōneke (Dyslexic Edition)

The Imaginary Lives of James Pōneke (Dyslexic Edition)
Author: Tina Makereti
Publisher:
Total Pages: 358
Release: 2018
Genre: Interpersonal relations
ISBN: 9781525282836

"'The hour is late. The candle is low. Tomorrow I will see whether it is my friends or a ship homewards I meet. But I must finish my story for you first. My future, my descendant, my mokopuna. Listen.' So begins the tale of James Poneke: orphaned son of a chief; ardent student of English; wide-eyed survivor. All the world's a stage, especially when you're a living exhibit. But anything can happen to a young New Zealander on the savage streets of Victorian London. When James meets the man with laughing dark eyes and the woman who dresses as a man, he begins to discover who people really are beneath their many guises. Although London is everything James most desires, this new world is more dark and dazzling than he could have imagined."--Publisher information.

When The War Came Home

When The War Came Home
Author: Lesley Parr
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2022-01-06
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1526620995

WINNER: Wales Book of the Year 2023 Highly commended for the Young Quills Award 2023. A STIRRING HISTORICAL MYSTERY SET IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR, FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE VALLEY OF LOST SECRETS The First World War has ended, but it hasn't gone away. When Natty has to move to a new village, she meets two young soldiers who are still battling the effects of war. Huw can't forget the terrible things he's seen, but Johnny doesn't even remember who he is. As Natty tries to keep a secret and unravel a mystery, she finds her own way to fight for what she believes in – and learns that some things should never be forgotten ... This mesmerising historical mystery includes an interactive clue so readers can unravel the mystery alongside the characters. _______________ 'A heartfelt, hopeful tale of the human spirit's incredible ability to recover' - Emma Carroll

Everything Changes

Everything Changes
Author: Stephanie Johnson
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2021-03-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0143775545

Buying a rundown motel to start a new life — what could possibly go wrong? In this funny and moving novel, prize-winning author Stephanie Johnson turns her wry eye on us. ‘What a fabulous read. Stephanie Johnson’s characters choose an old motel with little to offer except an amazing view in order to start a ‘new life’. Their first guests are a classic cast of the sorrowful and dysfunctional that every-day life throws at us these days. They are joined by their pregnant daughter, a mysterious young criminal from next door and a dog that knows more than all of them put together. The story is fast paced, and unpredictable, it’s smart, contemporary and heartbreaking all at once. And, just when it was about to make me cry, Johnson startled me into wild laughter. This is her best book ever, and I loved every page of it.’ – Fiona Kidman

The Two Mrs. Carlyles

The Two Mrs. Carlyles
Author: Suzanne Rindell
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 434
Release: 2020-07-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0525539204

A suspenseful and page-turning descent into obsession, love, and murder in the wake of San Francisco's most deadly earthquake--and Suzanne Rindell's most haunting novel since her acclaimed debut, The Other Typist Which wife holds the darker secret? San Francisco, 1906. Violet is one of three people grateful for the destruction of the big earthquake. It leaves her and her two best friends unexpectedly wealthy--if the secret that binds them together stays buried beneath the rubble. Fearing discovery, the women strike out on their own, and orphaned, wallflower Violet reinvents herself. When a whirlwind romance with the city's most eligible widower, Harry Carlyle, lands her in a luxurious mansion as the second Mrs. Carlyle, it seems like her dreams of happiness and love have come true. But all is not right in the Carlyle home, and Violet soon finds herself trapped by the lingering specter of the first Mrs. Carlyle, and by the inescapable secrets of her own violent history.

The Frog Prince

The Frog Prince
Author: James Norcliffe
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2022-02-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0143775502

A disappearance. An infatuation. The Frog Prince is an intriguing, multi-layered novel giving us a story, within a story, within a story. Remember the kiss between the frog prince and the princess? What about the part where the princess angrily flings the frog against the wall? What was that about? At an international school in France, the young teacher Cara writes her own version of the classic tale by the Brothers Grimm. Their fairy tale is nothing like Cara’s relationship with David, but when Cara disappears, can the story help David unravel what has happened? As for the various princesses and frogs in this intriguing multi-layered novel, will any live happily ever after? This is a stunning debut adult novel by James Norcliffe, who is renowned for his award-winning children’s books and for his poems, which David Eggleton says ‘invariably get us to attend more closely to the spirit of existence, to moments of being’.

Sky People

Sky People
Author: Patricia Grace
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited
Total Pages: 137
Release: 2001-08-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1742288189

In this collection of Patricia Grace's stories we meet the sky people, those under the guardianship of Ranginui and Sky Parent, who are the unwanted, the dispossessed, the wounded in love. But shining through even the darkest human condition is the light to which sky people everywhere aspire. To love and in turn be loved; to create and to belong; even, perhaps, to fly. Also available as an eBook

The Swift and the Harrier

The Swift and the Harrier
Author: Minette Walters
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Total Pages: 500
Release: 2022-07-12
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

A sweeping historical adventure set during one of the most turbulent periods of British history—featuring a heroine you’ll never forget ... Dorset, 1642. When bloody civil war breaks out between the king and Parliament, families and communities across England are riven by different allegiances. A rare few choose neutrality. One such is Jayne Swift, a Dorset physician from a Royalist family, who offers her services to both sides in the conflict. Through her dedication to treating the sick and wounded, regardless of belief, Jayne becomes a witness to the brutality of war and the devastation it wreaks. Yet her recurring companion at every event is a man she should despise because he embraces civil war as the means to an end. She knows him as William Harrier, but is ignorant about every other aspect of his life. His past is a mystery and his future uncertain. The Swift and the Harrier is a sweeping tale of adventure and loss, sacrifice and love, with a unique and unforgettable heroine at its heart.

Our Kind of People

Our Kind of People
Author: Carol Wallace
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2022-01-11
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0525540024

Fans of Bridgerton will love this "exuberant novel of manners for our own gilded age" (Stacy Schiff, author of Cleopatra) as we follow the Wilcox family's journey through riches and ruin. Among New York City's Gilded Age elite, one family will defy convention. Helen Wilcox has one desire: to successfully launch her daughters into society. From the upper crust herself, Helen's unconventional--if happy--marriage has made the girls' social position precarious. Then her husband gambles the family fortunes on an elevated railroad that he claims will transform the face of the city and the way the people of New York live, but will it ruin the Wilcoxes first? As daughters Jemima and Alice navigate the rise and fall of their family--each is forced to re-examine who she is, and even who she is meant to love. From the author of To Marry an English Lord, an inspiration for Downton Abbey, comes a charming and cutthroat tale of a world in which an invitation or an avoided glance can be the difference between fortune and ruin.

Chappy

Chappy
Author: Patricia Grace
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2015-05-27
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1743486871

Spanning several decades and several continents and set against the backdrop of a changing New Zealand, Chappy is a compelling story of enduring love. Uprooted from his privileged European life and sent to New Zealand to sort himself out, twenty-one-year-old Daniel pieces together the history of his Maori family. As his relatives revisit their past, Daniel learns of a remarkable love story between his Maori grandmother Oriwia and his Japanese grandfather Chappy. The more Daniel hears about his deceased grandfather, the more intriguing – and elusive – Chappy becomes. In this touching portrayal of family life, acclaimed writer Patricia Grace explores racial intolerance, cross-cultural conflicts and the universal desire to belong. Also available as an eBook.

Crazy Love

Crazy Love
Author: Rosetta Allan
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2021-08-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0143776290

Based on the author's own experiences, this vivid novel explores how - as the Van Morrison song suggests - crazy love can take away the troubles. It can, though, add a whole lot more. 'We save each other, don’t we, when we are in love.' It has been 28 years since Vicki last sent a letter to Robert Muldoon. Last time she wrote, he was Prime Minister, while she was living with her loser-boyfriend and wanting to know why people like her had to exist in such dire straits. Back then, Muldoon sent her a dollar, but it was the irrepressible Billy who turned up and transformed her life. This time Muldoon is dead and it is Billy who has made her so desperate she doesn’t know where to turn. Since running away with Billy, Vicki has barely looked back. Together they have become a family and prospered. They have survived so much, but can they survive Billy’s increasingly erratic behaviour, especially when he seems so set on pulling them apart?