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1. (NEW) Toot the Tow Truck by Deano Yipadee & Bruce Potter (Scholastic)
Straight to the top of the bestsellers’ list is this new book in the Nee Naw and Friends series for kids.
“There’s another emergency vehicle in singer-songwriter Dean O’Brien’s garage and this time it’s a tow truck called Toot! Those goats of Granny’s have been joy-riding on Farmer Tom’s tractor and have got themselves in a bit of a pickle, with the tractor stuck in a pond, and themselves up a tree! Nee Naw quickly appraises the situation. He can rescue the goats and he calls upon his friend Toot to come and pull out the tractor.”
2. (NEW) Unveiled by Theophila Pratt (David Bateman)
“I didn’t choose the cult life. The cult life chose me,” writes Theophila Pratt in Unveiled. Life was only going to get better when she died, Pratt was told in Gloriavale. It was the only life she knew until she left, aged 18. People who left, their lives were ruined, she was taught. Pratt writes of regular life in the community, including the ever-present violence (and the regular criminal charges against its men), until her eventual escape and finding a new life. It includes droll details such as that days and months are only known as “First Day” and “Fifth Month”, because the standard ones are named after “heathen” Roman gods.
3. (2) The Secrets of Maiden’s Cove by Erin Palmisano (Moa Press)
In her second novel, American-Kiwi Erin Palmisano takes readers to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. After the death of owner Tommy Cleary, who could never make the financial decisions necessary to keep Cleary’s Crab Shack in Maiden’s Cove in the black, his daughter Grace has a mountain to climb when she returns to her hometown from Phoenix, Arizona, with her 8-year-old daughter, leaving behind her controlling estranged husband Richard.
The Listener’s review reckons Palmisano, a restaurant owner herself, again cleverly pairs delicious food and small-town romance, well-drawn colourful characters, drama and intrigue, and explores the life paths people take, why some can’t get out of a small town fast enough and why others never want to leave.
4. (1) The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin)
The incredible story of Kiwi spy Pippa Latour. Latour, who died in West Auckland in 2023 aged 102, helped lay the groundwork for the D-Day’s success and the end of World War II by acting as a secret agent in France for Britain.
“I was not a James Bond-style spy,” said Latour. “I was a secret agent whose job it was to blend into the background and cause quiet chaos.” It was exhausting work; she was unable to trust anyone, had several code names, and was often hungry. It was desperately perilous, too. Many of the 13,000 SOEs were killed, including 14 women out of 39 in France. The average life expectancy of male wireless operators in France when she served was six weeks. Latour’s was a truly remarkable life all around, and The Last Secret Agent, co-written with Jude Dobson, is a clear and fluent account that continues to attract new readers. Read the review here. Dobson is working on turning the book into a screenplay.
5. (RETURN) Whakawhetai: Gratitude by Hira Nathan (A&U)
Hira Nathan’s bilingual gratitude journal, based on the Māori holistic approach to health, was released in mid-2023 and has made regular appearances in the charts. The publisher’s blurb in part: “Kia ū ki te pai, kia whai hua ai. (Hold on to what is good and good things will follow.) Discover the four dimensions of hauora: taha tinana (physical), taha hinengaro (mental), taha wairua (spiritual) and taha whānau (family). No matter how difficult life can seem, there is always something to feel grateful for. Taking note regularly of the positives – no matter how small – in each of these areas of your life can have a huge impact on your health and happiness.”
6. (7) The Bookshop Detectives: Dead Girl Gone by Gareth Ward & Louise Ward (Penguin)
“When we opened Sherlock Tomes people warned us that we’d made a terrible mistake. People warned us that e-readers were taking over. People warned us that we’d never compete with Amazon. The one thing they didn’t warn us about was the murders.”
And so begins this first joint novel from actual Hawke’s Bay booksellers Gareth and Louise Ward, a cosy murder-mystery that promises bookshop insider titbits and literary puns galore. The plot has Garth and Eloise and their dog Stevie, who, telling the story in alternate chapters, “are drawn into the baffling case of a decades-old missing schoolgirl. Intrigued by the puzzling, bookish clues the two ex-cops are soon tangled in a web of crime, drugs and floral decapitations, while endeavouring to pull off the international celebrity book launch of the century.” A sequel is imminent.
7. (RETURN) Understanding Te Tiriti by Roimata Smail (Wai Ako Books)
A brief, easily digestible guide to the basics of the Treaty of Waitangi written by a human rights lawyer and educator.
8. (NEW) Bear by Kiri Lightfoot (A&U Children’s)
Very readable story by a Kiwi author and actor, which won last year’s Storylines Tessa Duder YA Award. Aimed at 13- 16-year-olds, it concerns a talented young artist who learns to face his anger.
From the publisher: “Jasper Robinson-Woods is not okay – his name is too long, his mum has an annoying boyfriend, he never sees his dad, and he can’t sleep because of a terrifying nightmare. Oh, and to top it off, his goldfish is dying. Jasper is overwhelmed with bad thoughts. Are they a sign of disaster to come? The only place he feels safe is in the tree in his front yard. But then the unimaginable happens: his nightmare comes to life and everything spirals out of control. Jasper decides it’s finally time to face his nightmare.
“Bear is a moving, often laugh-out-loud funny story showing that even when you hit rock bottom, you never know what, or who, is around the corner.”
You can read children’s book specialist Ann Packer’s recommendation here.
9. (RETURN) The Comeback Code by Jake Bailey (A&U)
A straight-up guide to getting through life’s ups and downs, claims the publisher of this handbook on coping with trauma. “As head boy at Christchurch Boys’ High in 2015, Jake delivered his end-of-year speech from a wheelchair, only a week after being diagnosed with an extremely aggressive form of cancer. His inspirational words went viral and touched the hearts of millions.
“Once in remission, Jake was left with questions: how do young people overcome adversity? Are we born with these skills or can they be learned? And, if so, can we teach people how to flourish in the face of major setbacks and not just battle through them?
“In search of answers, Jake studied positive psychology, and since then has shared the knowledge he’s gained with more than 100,000 people around the world. Jake’s vision is to equip the next generation with the tools to meet life’s challenges, but the strategies he’s developed apply to young and old. Whether it’s learning to slow down, finding the humour in a situation, not sweating the small stuff, or recognising the importance of having good people by your side, this book draws on the latest research to show you what to do when life throws you a curveball – not only how to cope, but how to thrive.” You can read more about Jake Bailey here.
10. (9) Aroha by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin)
The wisdom of 52 Māori proverbs explained by psychiatrist Hinemoa Elder in this bestselling book first released in 2020. An extract:
“Ko te mauri, he mea huna ki te moana – The life force is hidden in the sea.
“Powerful aspects of life are hidden in plain sight.
“This whakataukī stems from one of our famous ancestors from the north, Nukutawhiti. He cast his kura, his feathered cloak, into the Hokianga Harbour to calm the waters for safe passage. And this treasure remains there, out of sight, yet signifies the ancient presence of those that have gone before.
“This saying has given me strength so many times. I have always found it comforting because it speaks to the hidden magic of life.
“It reminds me of those things we feel intuitively but often ignore – we can choose to tune in to our gut instinct, for example, or wait until the messages become clearer and more obvious.
And it reminds me that we all have hidden powers inside us that we can too easily forget.”
Source: Nielsen Bookscan NZ – week ending March 8.
