Book awards T families, colonialism, mysterious strangers, and making allies out of enemies. It’s a short novel for a fantasy, and not a word is wasted in this taut, thrilling, often brutal and morally complex tale.
Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Snark: Being a true history … Illustrator: David Elliot This year’s Margaret Mahy Book of the Year winner combines rich imagery with compelling storytelling that will draw readers into the world of Lewis Carroll’s poetry as never before. David Elliot’s clear wit pervades his sketches and his draughtsmanship is outstanding, however the cohesive way he has combined all the elements of this book was what won the judges over.
Picture Book Award That’s Not a Hippopotamus! Author: Juliette MacIver Illustrator: Sarah Davis From beginning to end, this rambunctious picture book does not miss a beat. A class of young children goes to a safari park that claims to have all of the animals in the world: but where has that hippopotamus gone? The illustrations are complex and clever, but what made this book really stand out for judges were the diverse cultures depicted in the illustrations
Junior Fiction My New Zealand Story: Bastion Point Author: Tania Roxborogh The voice of a diary, especially when that of a child, can be a potent device. Written as fiction, it requires a deft and sensitive touch. Tania Roxborogh applies that touch in this book. 1970s race relations in Aotearoa are revealed to the reader through the eyes and heart of a young Maori girl worried about her pony, and wondering what is wrong with the grown-up world around her.
Young Adult Fiction The Severed Land Author: Maurice Gee From the start, the judges knew they were in good hands, as Maurice Gee’s elegant writing carries us along on an epic and archetypal adventure of warring
Non Fiction Jack and Charlie: Boys of the Bush Author: Jack Marcotte & Josh James Marcotte
BOOKS
he winners of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults was announced in August. As usual the standard is very high with local stories being prominent, the judges noting on several occasions how authors are reflecting our modern society with characters representing our mixed cultures more honestly.
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Leading NASA researcher to speak in Whangarei
Jack and Charlie: Boys of the Bush is as an astute and original exploration of children’s interactions with the environment. It provides vivid insights, from a child’s perspective, into the daily rhythms of life on the remote West Coast of the South Island. This book is a fine example of a non-fiction text that has cohesion, charm, and a capacity to captivate both children and older reader.
Te Reo Maori Te Kaihanga Mapere Author: Sacha Cotter, translated by Kawata Teepa Illustrator: Josh Morgan Drawing readers in with its vibrant cover, Te Kaihanga M pere invites us into the mind of a young, inquisitive and trendy k tiro set on inventing her first marble. Above other entries, Te Kura Pounamu judges felt this book stood out not only for the excellent quality of M ori language translations, but also for an inspiring storyline, which celebrates a favourite Kiwi pastime and encourages young readers to follow their dreams and persevere in all they do.
Best First Book The Discombobulated Life of Summer Rain Author: Julie Lamb Twelve year old Summer Rain’s life is complicated: she lives during the week with her kooky, tight-fisted granddad, and spends weekends with her well-meaning, ineffectual dad. Julie Lamb has given us a distinctly Kiwi take on the adolescent travails of a young girl growing up in a somewhat eccentric small town.
D
r Natalie Batalha is an astrophysicist at NASA Ames Research Centre and the Mission Scientist for NASA’s Kepler Mission. She has been involved with the Kepler Mission since the proposal stage and has contributed too many different aspects of the science, from studying the stars themselves to detecting and understanding the planets they harbour. She led the analysis that yielded the discovery in 2011 of Kepler-10b — the mission’s first confirmation of a rocky planet outside our solar system. Today, she leads the effort to understand planet populations in the galaxy based on Kepler discoveries. In 2011, Dr Batalha was awarded a NASA Public Service Medal for her vision in communicating Kepler science to the public and for outstanding leadership in coordinating the Kepler Science Team. In 2015, she joined the leadership team of NASA’s Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS). NExSS brings teams from multiple disciplines together to understand the diversity of worlds and will lead NASA’s efforts to understand which are most likely to harbor life. Time magazine named Dr Batalha one of the 100 most influential people this year for her pioneering work and its significance in advancing our understanding of the potential for life beyond Earth. She will deliver a public lecture sponsored by the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand’s Beatrice Hill Tinsley Lecture Trust on Saturday October 7 in Whangarei. Dr Batalha was named One of Time’s 100 most influential people in April 2017. Details and Bookings for this event are available www.planets.nz.
Event Notice: October 7 – 7pm Tkikpuna High School Hall Adults $10, Chidlren $5 Bookings: www.planets.nz
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