The Sampling

The Sampling: When Life Sucks

By Dr Jo Prendergast This year’s Mental Health Awareness Week runs from 18-24 September. This week, our content is focused on mental health, and we’re kicking off with an extract from psychiatrist and comedian Dr Jo Prendergast’s new book, When…

The Sampling: There’s a King in the Cupboard

By Margaret Mahy Margaret Mahy’s classic is given a new lease of life with this new edition of the book, beautifully illustrated by the 2021 winner of the Margaret Mahy Illustration Prize, Minrui Yang. Check out an excerpt below! There’s…

The Sampling: The Other Brother

By Jax Calder Six words: A YA queer slowburn summer romance. What more do you need? Here’s an excerpt from the first two chapters from Jax Calder’s latest The Other Brother. It was awarded a 2023 Storylines Notable Book and…

The Sampling: Lopini the Legend

By Feana Tuʻakoi Check out the opening chapter of Leana Tuʻakoi’s latest junior fiction novel, Lopini the Legend. It was awarded a 2023 Storylines Notable Book, and forms part of our 2023-24 Summer Excerpt Series. Chapter 1: Taha “Ugh!” yelled…

The Sampling: Explosive

By Helen Vivienne Fletcher Helen Vivienne Fletcher is back with Explosive, the fourth instalment in her fast-paced young adult ‘Reactive Magic’ series featuring a tried and true recipe for literary success: a magic school, spells and prophecies. Enjoy this excerpt…

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…

The Sampling: Origami War

By Toni J. Spencer In a crumbling world, her only weapon is love and a thousand paper airplanes. Haunted by her mother’s death, sixteen-year-old Penny sleepwalks by night. By day, she peddles bootleg vodka to rich kids looking for kicks…

THE SAMPLING: Royal Orchid—The Crystal Continent

By Denika Mead Denika Mead brings us the final title in The Crystal Continent series. After defeating the Ghost Warriors, Ivy is now Queen of the Crystal People. But peace doesn’t last for long when a dragon hatches in the…

THE SAMPLING: Four-color Heroes

By Richard Fairgray Four-Color Heroes is a touching love story which follows two star-crossed young men who—in spite of their disparate backgrounds—find escape and one another through the pages of a comic book. The coming-of-age romance is set in a…