Middle Grade

Burning Bright: An Interview with SF Said

SF Said’s visionary tale Tyger finally makes its way to Aotearoa bookshops this month. Already published to lavish acclaim in the United Kingdom, the book takes the mythic work of the great William Blake as inspiration for a middle grade…

Reviews: Two Middle-Grade Stories

Two international novels with links to New Zealand: one rooted in Aboriginal culture, the other with Russian folklore, both filled with adventure. Fiona Giles reviews these middle-grade reads. A Wolf for a Spell, written by Karah Sutton and illustrated by…

Ruth Paul: On Being a Jolly Good Fellow

This year, children’s book illustrator and author Ruth Paul was awarded the University of Otago College of Education Creative New Zealand Children’s Writer in Residence Fellowship—a mouthful of a title for a genre of few words. Ruth tells us about…

2023 NZCYA Best First Book Award Finalists

It’s the penultimate instalment in our coverage of each category in the NZCYA Awards, and today we’re focusing on the finalists in the Best First Book Award category! Hear from the authors below as they tell us about their writing…

Young Authors Interview: Arlo Kelly and Arush Gupta

Young author Denika Mead sits down with two fellow young writers, Arlo Kelly and Arush Gupta, to hear all about their books, their inspiration, and their creative processes. Arush Arush Gupta is the author of James Wood: Chronicles of a…

Reviews: Two Junior Fiction and One Middle Grade Book

Bee Trudgeon reviews some mysterious new junior fiction and middle-grade titles that have something for everyone: from the new chapter-book reader who likes plenty of pictures to help break up and decode the text, to the progressing reader who likes…

The Sampling: Sammy and the Shooting Stars

By Michele Cox The first book in the exciting Sammy Football Trilogy, Sammy and the Shooting Stars is the latest release from former Football Fern and author Dr Michele Cox. Be introduced to the world of football-mad Sammy Banks and…

The Sampling: Below

By David Hill A nerve-wracking underground adventure from a master storyteller, Below follows Liam as he dares his classmate Imogen to come on a forbidden tour of the railway tunnel being drilled through a nearby mountain, in the hopes she’ll…

HONOURED EARTH: An interview with Bren MacDibble and Zana Fraillon

Rachael King has been enamoured with The Raven’s Song ever since its release last year. Here, she interviews the book’s authors, Bren MacDibble and Zana Frallion, on their creative process, the co-authoring experience, and more. The Raven’s Song burst onto…

Reviews: Two Pasifika Middle-Grade Stories

Emmaline Pickering-Martin reviews two stunning middle-grade books written by Pasifika authors. Mata Lulu, written by Lani Young and illustrated by Bella Young The novelty of laying in bed reading to my children wore off quite early for me as a…