New Zealand
32
Beckett, Bernard
Jolt
Dunedin, New Zealand : Longacre Press, 2001. - 173 p
ISBN 1-877135-50-x
Outsider - School trip - Friendship - Earthquake - Survival - Murder –
Revenge
When Marko wakes up in a psychiatric ward, he cannot remember what happened
to him during the last few days. One thing he is sure of, though, is that the
doctor is going to kill him if he does not strike first. Marko's descriptions of
his present confinement, as well as of the coast-to-coast adventure-schooltrip
and the earthquake leading to his situation, are told in alternating chapters
with different typography and tense. Step by step, he relates a story of murder
and disaster which seems too appaling to be true. Left to judge for themselves
whether they can trust the first-person narration, the readers are inevitably
drawn into the gripping thriller, the outcome of which is still uncertain at the
end. (14+)
33
Tipene, Tim (text)
Campbell, Henry (illus.)
Taming the taniwha
Wellington : Huia, 2001. - [34] p
ISBN 1-877266-52-3
School - Bullying - Friendship – Maori
If it wasn't for James, the class bully, Tama would love going to school.
His mother, aunt, and uncle come up with various suggestions how to »tame«
this monster. Yet, neither telling the teacher nor trying to fight the bully
seems a good idea. So when his grandfather suggests being friendly and inviting
James to Tama's home, he considers this a crazy idea. To his great surprise,
however, the frightening green monster slowly turns into an amiable boy -
literally and visually. In Campbell's bright acrylic pictures many harmless
objects assume the shape or colour of the terrifying taniwha and thus clearly
mirror Tama's fear. Accordingly, as soon as Tama and James have become friends,
the frightening shapes disappear. (5+) <>