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Super Finn by Leonie Agnew, Scholastic NZ
Last year this appealing story won the Tom Fitzgibbon Award for a junior novel by an unpublished author (awarded by the Storylines Foundation). Finn is one of those kids who’s always trying to do the right thing – but manages to get into more and more trouble because things never turn out the way he plans. The story begins with Finn trying to achieve two goals: 1) to turn himself into a superhero, and 2) to earn enough money to sponsor a World Vision child in Africa. Unfortunately for Finn (and fortunately for the reader!) his ideas result in some very funny disaster scenes. In an attempt to give himself super vision he overdoses on carrots and ends up with carotene poisoning. This episode is followed by a brilliant plan to raise money – he and his mate Brain smuggle lollies into school and sell them to the other kids. But what happens when they have to go to P.E. before they’ve managed to remove the bags of lollies taped around their waists... This is a genuinely funny, warm-hearted easy-reading story suitable for upper primary and intermediate ages, especially boys. It would also be great as a classroom read-aloud. Tom Fitzgibbon Award winning book!
ISBN 978 1 86943 999 6 RRP $19.50
Reviewed by Lorraine Orman

Just One More, by Joy Cowley, illus. Gavin Bishop, Gecko Press
This is another delightful feel-good book from Gecko Press, with its luxurious paper, fold-over cover flaps, attractive endpapers, and excellent design. Not to mention Gavin Bishop’s bold and colourful illustrations which pop up everywhere (I’ve got the paperback version but a little bird told me to check inside the jacket on the hardback edition). Over half the stories were originally published as educational readers by Shortland Publishers and Wendy Pye Group – which gives a good indication of the age level of the intended audience. They could be enjoyed by newly-confident readers, but the book is possibly more useful as a read-aloud for primary teachers. The stories vary in length, the shortest being one page and the longest about six pages. They’re all funny and definitely a bit quirky (how does she think them up?) and they cover subjects such as a moving hole, a horse in a department store, a grumpysaurus, and a travelling bath. Definitely a book to share with my grandchildren.
ISBN 978 1 877467 67 7 RRP $22.99
Reviewed by Lorraine Orman

The Lost Tohunga by David Hair, HarperCollins NZ
This is Book Three in the series which began with The Bone Tiki and continued in The Taniwha’s Tear. The ending is slightly open, so I wouldn’t be surprised if another title in the series comes along. The Maori Gothic genre is an acquired taste, and I do have

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