"The Mine's Afire"
The Journal of Tommy Carter, Brunnerton 1896
by Susan Battye & Thelma Eakin
"The Mine's Afire" is an historical journal about an 11 year old boy living in Brunnerton, a South Island mining town.
It is one of the "My Story" books which tell of the lives of New Zealanders living in past generations.
Disaster strikes when there is a mine explosion.
This story starts quite slowly and I found it hard to get into. Although I have not finished the book yet, I am interested enough to get to the end to see what happens.
I recommend this book for very confident Year 6 readers and older.
I think it has a good chance of winning the Junior Fiction category.

Cry of the Taniwha by Des Hunt
Junior Fiction
Cry of the Taniwha is a really exciting mystery featuring Matt and Eve, both 13 years old, and Jackson, who wants to be a gang member.
The adventure is set is Whakarewarewa, the thermal area in Rotorua. The book also refers to the Tarawera Eruption in 1886 because something that happened then effects the story.

I thought that this book is a great story which kept me so interested that I wanted to read the whole book in one night.
I recommend this book for very mature Year 6 readers and those at Intermediate School.
I predict and hope that Cry of the Taniwha will win the Junior Fiction category because it is so good!

The Word Witch by Margaret Mahy

Picture Book

This book is a poetry book. All the poems are written by Margaret Mahy, the famous New Zealand Childrens' author.

The illustrator is David Elliot (writer of Sydney stories).

There are poems about witches, trees, magic, stars, dreams, animals, camping...

Some of them we already have in our library in other books.

My Favourite poem is Harry the Hawk because it is all about flying and it makes me dream of flying.

This would be a great for class poem sharing, especially for years 3 and 4.

It is entered in the picture book category but it is kept in the Poetry section DD #821.

I think it will do well.

Loblolly Boy by James Norcliffe
Junior Fiction

A boy named Michael was tricked into exchanging his life for that of a Loblolly Boy.

Wings outstretched, ready to fly, the new Loblolly Boy eased through the air, meeting people, watching conversations and moving things while invisible.

How great is that but ... when you find out the consequences of being a Loblolly Boy, your mindset changes and what would you do?

Read on to find out!

I recommend this to capable Year 6 readers with good vocabulary knowledge. It is a rich fantasy novel which would be great for Year 6 teachers to read to their class and discuss the vocabulary.

I highly recommend this book because it is really interesting with its different twists and surprises. A boy named Michael was tricked into exchanging his life for that of a Loblolly Boy.