Thieves


Ella West - 2006
    The first novel of a 'thriller' trilogy.Nicky is asked to read some of her work aloud in class. She dreads it-and, just as she starts-she finds herself elsewhere. Transported. For Nicky is one of a select few people who can will themselves away not just in mind, but in body. She has the gift of teleportation. It's a rare, genetic ability, and a sinister, anonymous group called the Project want to use her 'gift' for their own ends. Nicky finds herself whisked off to a nameless desert site. Here, she and four other teenagers, who are also 'travellers', are educated and trained for search and rescue missions. As these missions grow more frightening, more perilous, the five start to form closer friendships. Yet it is only when they realise that the Project wants them to breed more travellers like themselves, that Nicky, Paul and the others, find the impetus to form an escape plan. In a stark, direct style, Thieves pulls you right in to this strange, sinister world of gifted young adults exploited by an anonymous group. This novel is above all a thriller. It comments on much that is surreal in our own supposedly ordinary times. A remarkable and original debut and the first in a trilogy that includes Anywhere But Here (2008) and Real Life (2009) .". . . the best teenage science fiction novel I have read this century." Trevor Agnew, Magpies"My teenager read it almost in one sitting (getting up at 5am to continue)." Tania Roxborogh, Otago Daily Times"Not many debut novels make it onto the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards shortlists, but Thieves, by Ella West, fully deserves its place." Tessa Duder, the Australian Women's Weekly"As readers we are in the same predicament as the five teens and we are left to grapple with the sort of questions and interesting possibilities raised by novels such as Slaughterhouse 5 and more particularly The Time Travellers Wife." Steve Langley in English in Aotearoa

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Volume 1


Katie Cook - 2013
    Welcome to Ponyville, home of Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and all your other favorite Ponies! Something’s not right in the town though, as some of the inhabitants are acting very, very strange! It’s up to the Mane Six to find the source of the weirdness before it’s too late!Collects My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic issues #1-4.

The Last Unicorn


Peter S. Beagle - 1968
    Maidens who caught a glimpse of her glory were blessed by enchantment they would never forget. But outside her wondrous realm, dark whispers and rumours carried a message she could not ignore: "Unicorns are gone from the world."Aided by a bumbling magician and an indomitable spinster, she set out to learn the truth. but she feared even her immortal wisdom meant nothing in a world where a mad king's curse and terror incarnate lived only to stalk the last unicorn to her doom...

Time Stops for No Mouse


Michael Hoeye - 1999
    But when adventuress and aviatrix Linka Perlfinger walks into his watchmaker's shop, his life becomes anything but ordinary.

His Dark Materials: Trilogy, Fantasy Literature, Philip Pullman, Northern Lights (Novel), The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass, Coming Of Age, Will Parry (His Dark Materials), Costa Book Awards


Frederic P. Miller - 2009
    It follows the coming-of-age of two children, Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, as they wander through a series of parallel universes against a backdrop of epic events. The three novels have won various awards, most notably The Amber Spyglass, the 2002 Whitbread Book of the Year prize, while the trilogy as a whole took third place in the BBC's Big Read poll in 2003. The story involves fantasy elements such as witches and armoured polar bears, and alludes to a broad range of ideas from fields such as physics, philosophy, theology and spirituality. The trilogy functions in part as a retelling and inversion of John Milton's epic, Paradise Lost; with Pullman commending humanity for what Milton saw as its most tragic failing. The series has drawn criticism from some religious individuals and groups due to its alleged negative portrayal of organized religion. Pullman's publishers have primarily marketed the series to young adults, but Pullman also intended to speak to adults.

The Wombles


Elisabeth Beresford - 1968
    The adventures of the Wombles who live underground and collect the things that untidy humans leave behind.

The Life and Time of Lonny Quicke


Kirsty Applebaum - 2021
    He has the power to heal any living creature and bring it back from the dead. But he pays a price for this gift – by lengthening the creature’s life, he shortens his own. So Lonny has to be careful, has to stay hidden in the forest. Because if people knew what he could do, Lonny would be left with no life at all…A brilliant novel from the author of The Middler about family, secrets and a terrible power.

Dragon Slippers


Jessica Day George - 2007
    She can't believe her aunt wants to sacrifice her to the local dragon. It's a ploy to lure a heroic knight so that he will fight the dragon, marry Creel out of chivalrous obligation, and lift the entire family out of poverty. Creel isn't worried. After all, nobody has seen a dragon in centuries.But when the beast actually appears, Creel not only bargains with him for her life, she also ends up with a rare bit of treasure from his hoard, not gold or jewels, but a pair of simple blue slippers-or so she thinks. It's not until later that Creel learns a shocking truth: She possesses not just any pair of shoes, but ones that could be used to save her kingdom, which is on the verge of war, or destroy it.

Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City


Rob Biddulph - 2021
    Fizzing with magic, danger, friendship and art, this exciting, funny, middle-grade debut is from the bestselling creative genius behind #DrawWithRob.Some legends are born, some are drawn . . .Drawing feels like magic to Peanut Jones. But art can't fix her problems. Her dad has gone missing, and she's stuck in a boring new school. Until the day she finds a unique pencil turbo-charged with special powers. Suddenly she's pulled into a world packed with more colour, creativity, excitement and danger than she could ever have imagined. And maybe, just maybe, she might find out what happened to her dad.

Shadow Magic


Joshua Khan - 2016
    He's been sold to Tyburn, an executioner, and they're headed to Castle Gloom in Gehenna, the land of undead, where Thorn will probably be fed to a vampire.Lilith Shadow wasn't supposed to be ruler of Gehenna. But following the murder of her family, young Lily became the last surviving member of House Shadow, a long line of dark sorcerers. Her country is surrounded by enemies and the only way she can save it is by embracing her heritage and practicing the magic of the undead. But how can she when, as a girl, magic is forbidden to her?Just when it looks like Lily will have to leave her home forever, Thorn arrives at Castle Gloom. A sudden death brings them together, inspires them to break the rules, and leads them to soar to new heights in this fantasy with all the sparkle and luster of a starry night sky.

Hildafolk


Luke Pearson - 2010
    And this is her folk tale. And pretty much everything you need to know about how good this is, is there on that absolutely gorgeously delightful cover above. By the end of it, you’ll have exactly the same smile as Hilda has.”— Forbidden PlanetHilda sits in her tent listening to the thunder passing overhead when she hears a bell. As she hurtles towards the vanishing tinkling sound, Hilda unwittingly embarks on an adventure into strange worlds ruled by magical forces. Luke Pearson tells this exciting tale for kids and adults alike.

Gwinna


Barbara Helen Berger - 1990
    Having grown a pair of wings and felt the longing for the freedom of the skies, twelve-year-old Gwinna goes to the Mother of the Owls, who sends her on a quest to find the songs of the wind.

Dark Summer


Ali Sparkes - 2009
    He makes friends with the ticket seller there, and before long is allowed to roam wherever he wants. Then Eddie nearly dies in a pothole and discovers not only the truth, but life where nobody thought it could be.

Oz: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz


Eric Shanower - 2009
    When Kansas farm girl Dorothy flies away to the magical Land of Oz, she fatally flattens a wicked witch, liberates a living scarecrow and is hailed by the Munchkin people as a great sorceress but all she really wants to know is: how does she get home?

The Dreamsnatcher


Abi Elphinstone - 2015
    The Dreamsnatcher is waiting. He has already taken her dreams and now he wants her life. Because Moll is more important than she knows… The Oracle Bones foretold that she and Gryff, a wildcat that has always been by her side, are the only ones who can fight back against the Dreamsnatcher's dark magic. Suddenly everything is at stake, and Moll is drawn into a world full of secrets, magic and adventure.