Book picks similar to
Shooting the Moon by V.M. Jones


young-adult
fiction
nz
kiwi-author-kiwi-book

The Time-Traveling Fashionista on Board the Titanic


Bianca Turetsky - 2011
    But when she receives a mysterious invitation to a vintage fashion sale in the mail, her once painfully average life is magically transformed into a time-travel adventure. Suddenly onboard a luxurious cruise ship a hundred years ago, Louise relishes the glamorous life of this opulent era and slips into a life of secrets, drama, and decadence. . . .Dreamy and imaginative, The Time-Traveling Fashionista features thirty full-color fashion illustrations to show gorgeous dresses and styles throughout history.

A Horse Called Trouble


C.K. Volnek - 2011
    At thirteen she finds herself skeptic and suspicious, with no family, no friends, and forced to participate in horse therapy. Horse therapy “will teach trust, perseverance, respect and the value of teamwork,” or so says the program’s instructor. Tara is unconvinced. Trust only got her heart broken, perseverance only gets her put down, and no one respects or wants to team up with the misfit foster kid. At the stable, Tara meets Trouble, an angry horse bent on destroying everything and everyone around him. When Tara realizes he’s just as misunderstood and untrusting as she is, she pushes aside her fear and a special relationship is formed. Trouble trusts Tara, and Tara in turn finds hope and acceptance as well as the will to love and trust again herself. But Tara’s confidence is shaken as a great challenge looms ahead. Trouble’s manipulative owner is determined to have him destroyed because of his ‘dangerous’ nature. Tara must overcome her own limitations and fight to save the horse that has freed her heart and given her life value and meaning.

Growing Up Gracie


Maggie Fechner - 2010
    As she grows up, a Mormon girl learns that lasting friendships, hidden talents, and faith in God are some of life's most precious gifts.

The Bamboo Flute


Garry Disher - 1993
    In 1932, during Australia's deep economic depression, young Paul meets Eric the Red--a wandering swagman--who teaches Paul how to play the bamboo flute and brings music back into Paul's life.

Long Way Back


Brendan Halpin - 2007
    It’s firmly rooted in familial embarrassment (the Kellys’ house is “decorated like the inside of somebody’s hut in Guatemala”), reinforced by an abiding love of Dee Dee Ramone and other (lesser) gods of the rock pantheon, and cemented by the secret of a remarkable religious epiphany Francis experiences at the age of twelve.Clare and Francis become happy adults with rewarding careers and loving spouses. But when tragedy strikes, Francis finds his faith shattered and his life horribly transformed, and Clare doesn’t know how to help the brother she loves but has never fully understood.Nearly flattened by sadness, Francis turns to the angry, propulsive music that sustained him through adolescence and finds that you’re never too old to be punk rock. With the help of a bass guitar and the support of Clare and some unlikely new friends, Francis gradually finds his way back from the depths of despair to a life that feels worth living.Told in Clare’s wry, compassionate voice, Long Way Back is an original, moving novel about grief, guitars, and grace. It shows that the Velvet Underground didn’t lie: Your life really can be saved by rock and roll.From the Hardcover edition.

Shooting Stars


Brian Falkner - 2016
    Egan Tucker is fifteen and has been in hiding his entire life.He has never known television, the Internet or even electricity.He has never seen hot and cold running water or a flush toilet.His food comes from the forest or the stream, not from a supermarket.The boundaries of his world are the hills that surround the tiny valley he calls home.But Egan's life is about to change.Forced to leave his home, he must venture out into a world that is unlike anything he has ever known.He is not ready for this world.And the world is not ready for Egan.

Birthmarked: Chapters 1-5


Caragh M. O'Brien - 2012
    In the future, in a world baked dry by the harsh sun, there are those who live inside the wall and those, like sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone, who live outside. Gaia has always believed it is her duty, with her mother, to hand over a small quota of babies to the Enclave. But when Gaia's mother and father are arrested by the very people they so dutifully serve, Gaia is forced to question everything she has been taught to believe. Gaia's choice is now simple: enter the world of the Enclave to rescue her parents, or die trying.

The Secret of the Rose


Sarah L. Thomson - 2006
    Plenty of them. In this spy thriller, based in London in 1592, fourteen-year-old Rosalind disguises herself as a boy, hides her Catholic religion, then finds a job as Christopher Marlowe's scribe.But it's not that easy. Rosalind - now Richard - knows that her enigmatic new master also has things to hide. She is unnerved by his manner and the mysterious goings-on in his life. Marlowe is not only a poet and a playwright, he's also a spy, and he's coming very close to learning Rosalind's own closely guarded secrets. To add to her troubles, Rosalind thinks she's falling in love with the costumer's apprentice at the Rose, but how can she explain that to a boy who knows her only as Richard? And when Christopher Marlowe is murdered, Rosalind must reinvent herself once more.Filled with vivid descriptions of Elizabethan England, Sarah L. Thomson's The Secret of the Rose is part espionage thriller, part historical novel, and a wholly engaging page-turner.

Alice's Adventures Under Ground


Lewis Carroll - 1864
    In this book the entire manuscript has been photographed in colour and reproduced with precise fidelity to the original.

Sugar and Spice


Jean Ure - 2005
    Things were fine at her junior school, but here at Parkfield High, if you’re not in a gang you’re no one. Even her old mates don’t want to know her any more and the bullies are making her life a misery.Enter Shayanne, the new girl. Shayanne is cool, collected and doesn’t give a stuff about any silly gangs. Ruth is astonished and delighted when Shay pals up with her. The bullies leave her alone and it’s great to have a special friend again. But is the supercool Shay as together as she thinks, and why has she been excluded from two other schools?

The Cheetah Girls: Supa-Dupa Sparkle, Books #5-8


Deborah Gregory - 2003
    They're spicier than hot sauce and as cool as iced cappuccino. They outshine any diamond with their supa-dupa inner sparkle! Now see how it all began in the first books of the series starring Galleria, Chanel, Dorinda, Anginette, and Aquanette. Each bind-up features four Cheetah-licious tales about girls having guts, brains, courage, and friends (while flashin' some style and always shining from the heart).

Time (Mirror Book 2)


Janessa Burt - 2015
     One – I would’ve tried shielding Miles from the ugliness of the mirror. Two – I would’ve listened to the warnings that despite the evil I’ve already met, worse was coming. Three – I would’ve recognized that while I was trying to keep everyone in the light, darkness crept into the hidden corners of myself I never knew existed. Four – I wouldn’t have so willingly trusted others just because they are family. Five – Most importantly, I would have shielded my heart before it turned black.

If Crows Know Best (Mage of Merced, #1)


Aimee Gross - 2014
    In the span of one day, Judian goes from the burden of farm chores to a crushing responsibility for the lives of his family. With his father and brother gone to war, he must keep the others safe and evade the enemy. If only he can trust the guides which appear, seemingly unbidden, he may succeed. Yet, he has so much to learn, and so little time. He struggles to keep to the fringes of the conflict, but the magic he discovers draws him deeper, toward the truth of the war. Mages from a distant land are driving the enemy forces. To what end? Follow Judian as he comes of age in a world of portents and spellcasting. Though life as a farm boy left him longing for more adventure, he must be careful with his wishes during the fateful year he becomes a man.

Here's How I See It--Here's How It Is


Heather Henson - 2009
     here's how it is The audience is half empty, I spend zero time onstage, my dad's midlife crisis is about to ruin the playhouse...and my family. Junebug dreams of being a leading lady someday. A serious actress, a stage actress, a real actress. And it should be easy for her to get her start -- her parents own the Blue Moon Playhouse, after all, and her dad performed on Broadway (once). But the truth is, at (almost) thirteen, she's not even a supporting actress or a stand-in or an understudy or even a child actor has-been. In the current Blue Moon production, her role is this: thunder, props...and stagehand (gopher, actually). And lately it seems like maybe the stagehand mindset -- go unnoticed, don't say a word -- is rubbing off on Junebug's personality. She's starting to feel as though her opinions never count, her worries aren't taken seriously, that she's becoming the ultimate stagehand: invisible. And that's not a role she's happy with. From author and former playhouse insider Heather Henson comes a novel about growing up, standing out, and what it means to live your life just outside of the spotlight.

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret / Blubber / Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself


Judy Blume - 1998
    The second story is an autobiographical novel while in the third novel, Jill realizes that it isn't nice to bully other children.