We want to help create motivated and engaged young readers. This blog is about children's and YA literature (especially New Zealand), literacy research, and ways to get, and keep, kids reading.
Samuel is a boy growing up in Apartheid South Africa. He knows the memory of the massacre of his parents and sister will never leave him. However his life changing experience begins when his Uncle Sabata recognises his talent for running. His uncle fills his mind with inspirational stories of other people, who like himself have gone on to win laurels at the Olympics in spite of encountering racial prejudice. This motivates him to achieve even higher goals.
Blood Runner is the story of Samuel who makes a decision to fight racial prejudice as a runner even though, at that very time his brothers join the anti-Apartheid movement. James Riordan’s historical novel very cleverly encapsulates Samuel’s endeavour to physically and mentally prepare for his marathon, which in his mind he is running for the freedom of his people. The brief note on Apartheid at the end of the book provides an adequate amount of background for the novel.
I would highly recommend Rebel Cargo and The Sniper also written by James Riordan.
review by Janice
Image by JP-Flanigan
If you are in or around Kerikeri on the 31st May you are invited to a FREE workshop for primary and secondary school teachers and library staff to celebrate poetry.
In the morning the National Library Poetry Power workshop explores ways for poetry to encourage readers and writers, delves into strategies for creating poetry-friendly classrooms, and explores rich print and online poetry resources.
In the afternoon there is a workshop with cultural doctors; Glenn Colquhoun and Richard Nunns. Join them to celebrate and share the coming together of poetry and music, oral storytelling, mōteatea, waiata and ngā taonga pūoro.
See here for more information and registeration details.
Image by mySAPL
This revised and updated edition is not just a tell-all about the ills of modern slavery. It is a handbook on how you and I can make a positive stand to become abolitionists.
David Batstone systematically goes through all of the regions of the world (sadly, most countries) where some form of slavery operates in the form of sex trafficking, human trafficking, child soldiers, working in factories without pay and being held against one’s will.
This book has a plethora of information that we can call upon to do our bit to be abolish slavery. It is a clever mix of real life anecdotes, contemporary examples of what others are doing and facts and figures from governments to support his argument. Batstone offers several options of how we can contribute to the ‘Not for sale’ campaign which makes the reader feel that however small their efforts are, they count. I hope mine will.
Recommended for intermediate upward.
review by Melissa
Image by TheIRD
Dom has just finished school and is engaged in a painting job at his father’s advertising agency before he starts university. One morning he walks into his father’s office to ask for the keys to his car. Here he gets drawn into a conversation on the benefits of advertising and next thing he knows he’s being thrown a challenge to come up with a pitch to sell toothpaste. Dom’s philosophy it that it is easy enough to write an advertisement and that any ‘monkey’ could do it.
What follows is Dom’s process of due diligence on the campaign. The question raised is why does Dom really want to beat his dad at his own game? The story deals with the serious and humorous side of advertising, a father son relationship and Dom’s learning curve of where he wants to be in terms of a career.
Leonie Thorpe has done a brilliant job of keeping the story light, youthful and purposeful. Also noteworthy is the exposure to the world of advertising which is insightful for anyone wanting to pursue this line of a career.
review by Janice
Image by owly9
George Larson is an 18 year old school boy from Otago, with aspiring dreams of becoming a musician. But everything changes when George notices a spider crawling over his homework book in a repeating pattern - spelling out the word “soul”. His dead granddad starts turning up at night with strange messages that someone is after him, and to try not to get killed! And that George is apparently the only one who can save the world by turning off the “lighthouse”. A Tibetan monk (who likes to “high five”) turns up at George’s house wanting to go on a journey with him. George has so many questions. What is this lighthouse? Why does his dead Granddad keep turning up? Who are the people after him? Where are they going? Why does the Tibetan monk say he has known George for a long time? Can George and Kaisa become more than friends?…
The author, Fredrik Brouneus, was born in Stockholm, but now lives in Dunedin with his family. The Prince of Soul and the lighthouse is his first book in English.
review by Michelle
Image by alijava
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