THE SAMPLING: Fire’s Caress
Lani Wendt Young is back with a new title, Fire’s Caress – the second in her Telesā World series for teens. Enjoy this excerpt from pages 32–35 of the book, describing antagonist Marc Gold’s villain origin story…
Pasifika
Book Reviews: New from Reading Warrior
David Riley’s books bring attention to amazing Pasifika people – both those here in Aotearoa and throughout Polynesia and the wider Pacific. His two latest books, Pasifika Coastwatchers and How Tonga got its Name / Ko e Founga Hono Ma’u…
Jackie Clark: Books My [Kindy] Kids Read
Jackie Clark is a woman who gets stuff done. She may be familiar to readers of The Sapling as the founder of The Aunties, a charitable organisation providing material and emotional resources to vulnerable people, around 500 whānau a year,…
Accidental Writing 101: Teine Sāmoa
Dahlia Malaeulu found herself writing every day in lockdown, drafting 12 stories in seven days before realising what we all now know: it’s a book! We published a sampling of Teine Sāmoa yesterday: today, we present a personal essay from…
THE SAMPLING: Teine Sāmoa
Manuia le Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa 2020 – Happy Samoa Language Week 2020! Today we have an extract from Teine Sāmoa, by Dahlia Malaeulu, a new collection of short stories.
Book Quiz: Pukapuka & Pasifika
How well do you know your books of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa? Here’s a classic Sapling multiple-choice quiz to get you scratching your heads and inevitably adding to your to-read pile! Test yourself, share with a friend, and let us know on…
Book Review: The Telesā Series
‘What’s very clear is that the author is writing what she knows, that this place is in her bones.’ Catherine Woulfe devours, reviews and raves about the Sāmoan teen romance trilogy, Telesā by Lani Wendt Young (OneTree House). On the…
Author interview: Pauline (Vaeluaga) Smith
NZ-Pasifika writer Pauline (Vaeluaga) Smith has recently published her first book, Dawn Raid, as a part of Scholastic’s ‘My New Zealand Story’ series. Leilani Tamu catches up with Pauline to find out more about her writing journey and the experience…
THE SAMPLING: Dawn Raid
Dawn Raid is the 28th book in Scholastic NZ’s ‘My New Zealand Story’ series, which brings to life significant events in our history as seen through the eyes of fictitious child diarists.
The Pacific Picture Book Collection
Waikato academic Nicola Daly introduces the New Zealand Pacific Picture Book Collection, and calls for more contributions to it. In 2012 I worked with nine librarians to create a list of picture books which told stories from and about Pacific…