Ngā Arotake · Reviews

Author: Mandy Hager Reviewers: Katarina (14) and Amelia (14)

Eighteen-year-old Grace has struggled all her life with her place in this family and in the world. Obviously of Asian descent, she has been unable to get the truth about her parentage from her mother, a woman who is struggling with her own demons, that date back to her life in Taiwan where she survived an earthquake while giving birth to Grace.

May 2024 release

Authors: Lucy Hammonds , Lauren Gutsell , Bridget Reweti Reviewer: Peter Simpson

Marilynn Webb: Folded in the hills is a substantial bilingual publication to mark the monumental retrospective of Ngapuhi, Te Roroa and Ngati Kahu artist Marilynn Webb (NZOM) (1937-2021) at Dunedin Public Art Gallery.

Nov 2023 release

Author: Keith Newman Publisher: Oratia Media

The Ratana movement gains national coverage every February as politicians make the pilgrimage to its headquarters near Whanganui, yet the history and workings of the religion are less widely recognised. In this new edition of his standard biography, Keith Newman reveals the life and times of Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana and the movement he founded in 1918, tracing its activities and influence up to the present-day community of some 50,000 followers.

Released: 7 May 2024

Author: Gregory Hill Publisher: Exisle Publishing

89 days of travel, 33 trains, 19 countries … read an extract from the Central Russian segment of Gregory Hill’s epic rail journey.

Released: 1 May 2024

Author: Jane Arthur Reviewers: Kirsteen Ure and Libby Timmins (11).

Warmth, humour, and depth in a ‘quiet, kind book about a quiet, kind kid.’ A new mother-daughter review from 11 year-old Libby and (slightly older) Kirsteen.

April 2024 release

Author: Miriam Sharland Publisher: Otago University Press

In early 2020 Sharland was nearing the end of a 17-year adventure in Aotearoa. A desire to return to family and the familiar was pulling her back to her homeland, England. When Covid put an end to her travel plans, she found herself facing isolation in Manawatu instead.

Released: 22 April 2024

Author: Kiri Piahana-Wong Reviewer: Hebe Kearney

Tidelines interweaves the poet's own life with the tragic story of Hinerangi, who lived at Karekare in the distant past. These are poems of Auckland's west coast, reflecting the steady rhythms of daily existence, alongside grief, mental unwellness, disintegration and resolution.

April 2024 release

Author: Michael Bennett Reviewer: Greg Fleming

Two murders. Two decades apart. One chance to get justice. Hana Westerman has left Auckland and her career as a detective behind her. Settled in a quiet coastal town, all she wants is a fresh start…

April 2024 release

Author: Pippa Latour with Jude Dobson Publisher: Allen and Unwin

This is the astounding true story of one of the last female special operations agents in France to get out alive after its liberation in WWII.
Born in 1921, Pippa Latour became a covert special operations agent who parachuted into a field in Nazi-occupied Normandy.

Released: 23 April 2024

Author: Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku Publisher: HarperCollins New Zealand

‘In the 1950s, a young Ngahuia is fostered by a family who believe in hard work and community. Although close to her kuia, she craves more: she wants higher education and refined living. But whanau dismiss her dreams. To them, she is just a show-off, always getting into trouble, talking back and running away…’

Released: 17 April

Author: Susan Devoy Reviewer: Chris Long

“Over my lifetime I have given most things a crack when presented with the opportunity,” Susan Devoy writes in her funny and fascinating new biography, Dame Suzy D: My Story.

From self-described ‘working-class girl’ to Dame, Race Relations Commissioner to reality TV star, unbeatable squash world number one to all-too-relatable mother of four…

April 2024 release

Editors: Catherine Hammond, Shaun Higgins Reviewer: David Veart

In 1848, two decades after a French inventor mixed daylight with a cocktail of chemicals to fix the view outside his window onto a metal plate, photography arrived in Aotearoa. How did these 'portraits in a machine' reveal Maori and Pakeha to themselves and to each other? Were the first photographs 'a good likeness' or were they tricksters? What stories do they capture of the changing landscape of Aotearoa?

April 2024 release

Editors: David Eggleton, Vaughan Rapatahana, Mere Taito Reviewer: Elizabeth Heritage

‘Katūīvei: Contemporary Pasifika Poetry from Aotearoa New Zealand is the latest in a decades-long line of anthologies of Pasifika poetry written in English. The title is a neologism created by editors David Eggleton, Vaughan Rapatahana and Mere Taito, referencing the Rotuman verb to navigate and the tūī, bird of two voiceboxes.’

April 2024 release

Author: Louise Wallace Reviewer: Anna Scaife

‘Ash is a bruising portrait of what boils in the belly of a woman who is “coping”, revealed with humour and a rare candour.’

April 2024 release

Author: Peter Simpson Reviewer: Graham Hill

‘This substantial book of letters selected by esteemed Colin McCahon scholar Peter Simpson shines a light on one of the most remarkable relationships in New Zealand art. The painter Colin McCahon and the librarian Ron O'Reilly first met in 1938, in Dunedin, when McCahon was 19 and O'Reilly 24. They remained close, writing regularly to each other until 1981…’

April 2024 release

Author: Madeleine and Rosie Redding Publisher: Mary Egan Publishing

‘Rosie is a shy young teenager when she starts experimenting with alcohol. When Rosie's parents finally realise that their beloved daughter is having problems with her drinking, Rosie is firmly in the grip of alcoholism…’

Released: 11 March

Author: Judy Bailey Reviewer: Catherine Milford

'A deep dive into an area that affects all of us, if we’re lucky.' Catherine Milford reviews Evolving by journalist, news anchor, television presenter, and mother of the nation, Judy Bailey and finds solace in the book’s running thread ‘that getting older doesn’t have to mean becoming invisible.'

April 2024 release

Author: Ashia Ismail-Singer

A cookbook for the ultimate entertainer. Try your hand at this baklava cheesecake, a Middle Eastern-inspired treat, perfect for any celebration.

April 2024 release

Author: Saraid de Silva Reviewer: Himali McInnes

‘Intergenerational, diasporic story-telling that is polished and compelling. I consumed it greedily within a few days, much like the young queer character Annie consumes her grandmother’s delicious Sri Lankan cooking.’

March 2024 release

Author: Deborah Challinor Reviewer: David Hill

‘Good historical fiction shouldn't be just contemporary plots with crinolines…’ David Hill weighs in on how Deborah Challinor's latest novel strikes the right balance between the familiarity of the now and the foreign land of the past. 

March 2024 release

Author: Rachel Clare Publisher: Bateman Books

Aotearoa’s native owl is a watchful guardian of the night. Make your own ruru out of a pinecone and seed pods. If you can’t find eucalyptus seed pods for the eyes, go foraging for another type of round seed pod or use small stones.

Read an extract from Play Wild

Released April 2024