When Ben Tucker and his kid brother Matt decided to sail south in search of icebergs on Ben's small home-built kiwi sloop, their father Jon was allowed to come along as their cabin-boy, on a promise of good behaviour.The unfolding adventure took them through thick pack ice to become trapped at the windiest place on the planet, a remote location in East Antarctica.'Snow Petrel' is proof of what ordinary people can achieve on a minimal budget. Recently released in New Zealand...

In this truly remarkable collection of maritime tales, Kiwi author Jon Tucker brings humour and insight into the lifestyle which he and his red-haired bride began when they set out, as teenagers, to build the traditional ocean-going ketch that was to become their home for decades (along with their expanding family of five adventurous sons).

When three Tasmanian children try chasing a couple of home-alone kids who live on an old barge in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands, they soon find themselves heavily involved in a conflict with one of the local oyster-farmers. The outcome is a triumph of lateral thinking, and a signal to youngsters that it is possible to bring about positive change in the world.A fast-paced boating adventure which brings the Ransome genre squarely into the 21st century and promises to capture the imagi...

When Jake persuades his family to embark on a sailing-camping holiday on a small Tasmanian island, he is mostly interested in pirate fantasies and his new sailing dinghy. But he does not plan on events which are to leave him isolated with his brother and sister as well as a couple of Kiwi kids. Ultimately, after being forced to dig deep into their personal reserves, the treasures they all gain are very different from the ones Jake has set out to find.An uplifting Ransome genre nove...

When a Tasmanian sailing family anchors near an old wrecked hulk in New Zealand’s Marlborough Sounds, the kids discover a strangely abandoned campsite nearby, with plates of uneaten food and young children’s toys still visible under the mould and cockroaches. Their curiosity leads to an investigation which adds a layer of intrigue to their anticipated fun-filled experiences in an unfamiliar foreign land.This thought-provoking Ransome inspired tale has strong appeal to adventure-lov...

When a group of young Australian and Kiwi sailing friends are allowed to camp in New Zealand’sBay of Islands. they discover something very unexpected on a tiny nearby rocky islet. Fresh culturaland environmental insights are introduced with the arrival of a pair of local Maori childrenwho bring humour and resilience while facing problems that threaten to turn their lives upside-down..The underlying message that modern youngsters are capable of overcoming cha...

Centred on three Australian youngsters and their Kiwi friends, these four multi-layered novels have received enthusiastic international acclaim from readers young and old. Set in several richly diverse Southern Hemisphere waterways, the focus is on children and young teens having fun whilst learning about themselves, their environment and the fact that freedom and responsibility go hand-in hand.

Fin has always been passionate about fishing, so when he discovers an illegal net full of undersized fish in Sydney’s northern waterways, his first reaction is to empty it. The subsequent events turn a joint Kiwi-Australian family holiday into a rather more complex experience.This deeply satisfying Ransome inspired tale has strong appeal to older readers as well as their grandchildren. Underlying a clear environmental message is the conclusion that modern children can still find ad...

New Decade New Beginnings« 2020New DecadeNew BeginningYears after graduationBut learning forevermoreExpressing gratitude for acquiring knowledgePlay niceBe niceDo not judge books by their covers …»---NEW LIFE by Alex Andy Phuong.« I am sure about you. I love you. Please." She says, her words resonating in my head. I say nothing. She continues. "Please can we just start over. Please just give me another chance." She ple...

Love songs and Hollywood romances make it all sound so simple: You find your soul mate, move in together, get married, never stray from the path of monogamy, and live happily ever after. But real life tends to be more complicated. Many couples pursue alternative living arrangements, and some even pursue alternative loving arrangements.The twenty-nine personal essays in this collection offer a variety of perspectives and experiences with nontraditional relationships and forms of coh...

In 1994, the death of Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain not only initiated the decline of grunge's chart dominance but concurrently marked the MTV Generation's ascent to adulthood. Soon after came the Backstreet Boys, the Spice Girls, and the invention of AutoTune, as mainstream pop music sought to overthrow the alternative scene that had ruled for much of the decade. In 1999, however, a new class of agitators stormed the charts, ushering in the sounds of the new millennium. With them came the la...

Riley Poole's Book of Secrets: History for National Treasure Hunters"Someone did something in history and had fun. Great. Wonderful."This is how National Treasure (2004) fan-favorite character Riley Poole feels about oft-repeated stories of the distant past: dismissive and uninspired. Poole clearly gravitates toward lesser-known tales from history-the kind typically missing from high school classrooms.In this book, franchise expert Aubrey Paris exp...