The first volume of Maurice Gee's acclaimed trilogy wherein Susan and Nick are transported to the terrifying land of O... 'Nick had seen the birthmark on Susan's wrist. It had two parts. Each was shaped like a tear drop, curved like a moon. One was bright red and the other golden brown.' Susan had always been a bit odd and never really got on with her cousin Nick, but the mark on her wrist draws them together in a frightening adventure. They are summoned to the b...

Winner of the Gaelyn Gordon Award for a Much-loved Book, this thrilling children's novel is an enduring classic. Beneath the extinct volcanoes surrounding the city, giant creatures are waking from a spellbound sleep that has lasted thousands of years. Their goal is the destruction of the world. Rachel and Theo Matheson are twins. Apart from having red hair, there is nothing remarkable about them - or so they think. They are horrified to discover that they have a strange an...

The Burning Boy is a vivid picture of life in a provincial town in times of disturbance and change. Certainties collapse in the face of violence. People start along strange ways, some to loss or ruin, others to unexpected happiness. The Burning Boy won the New Zealand Book Awards in 1991. 'Written with verve and economy, Maurice Gee's novel has a wealth of penetratingly observed incidents, some spectacular and dramatic, some distinctly un...

Prowlers is a picaresque journey through an agile mind and a richly populated memory: and through the town of Jessop, whose roots lie back in the early years of the century. Noel's repossession of the past leads to some unexpected discoveries. He sees himself as a prowler at the window; and now and then an occupant reaches out and takes his hand, or tugs him in...

A bundle of the first four BWB Texts by Paul Callaghan, Maurice Gee, Kathleen Jones and Rebecca Macfie.A moving selection of Sir Paul Callaghan’s writing, offering eloquent narratives that will endure in this country’s literature. Published on the first anniversary of Sir Paul’s death, with a foreword by Catherine Callaghan, Paul Callaghan: Luminous Moments celebrates the life of a remarkable New Zealander.Widely regarded as one of New Zealand’s greatest fiction writers, Maurice Gee has wr...

Award-winning New Zealand writers Martin Edmond, Maurice Gee, Kirsty Gunn and Owen Marshall explore life and memory in this bundle of BWB Texts. These four works are combined into one easy-to-read e-book, available direct and DRM-free from our website or from international e-book retailers. Martin Edmond’s Barefoot Years is a memoir in which the author attempts to re-inhabit the lost domain of childhood.Widely regarded as one of New Zealand’s greatest fiction writers, Maurice Gee has writt...

Widely regarded as one of New Zealand’s greatest fiction writers, Maurice Gee has written virtually no non-fiction. The exceptions are the two exquisite childhood reminiscences combined here into a memoir in this BWB Text.In this little known work, Gee describes in fascinating detail his boyhood and family life in West Auckland and offers illuminating insights into some of the creative forces which have driven some of his fiction: the creek with its dangers where, he writes, he gli...

In the second volume of Maurice Gee’s acclaimed O Trilogy, Susan must stop terrible things being done in her name... Face the High Priest. Face him alone. That was why she was back on O. To end the religion grown up in her name. Susan Ferris and her cousin Nick return to the world of O, which they had saved from the evil Halfmen, only to discover that a hundred years have passed and O is now ruled by cruel and ruthless priests. Susan is inspired by the dreams and ...

In the third novel of Maurice Gee’s acclaimed trilogy, Susan and Nick engage in a last desperate quest for O. 'King,' they said, trying out the word, 'Osro is King. 'Now, stand up,' Osro said. 'Take me to Susan's door. You are my hands and I am your head. Soon O will be ours.' For Susan and Nick the adventure at last seems at an end. They are leaving the magical land of O, the scene of The Halfmen of O and The Priests of Ferris. But even as they prepare t...

He let the matchstick burn, knowing the power in his hand... flame filled the inside of his head. It ran along his arteries. It licked around his bones. Kitty Wix is knocked over as a strange loping figure is seen fleeing the burning stables. But who is the 'fire-raiser' and why is he creating such terror? Kitty has her own suspicions, and so do other children in the town. When the crazed man with fire in his head strikes again, the children find themselves in terrible danger. A t...

What do you answer when people say, 'Who was the most important person you've ever known?'... It was Jackson Coop. He changed my life - Jackson and the things that happened in those two weeks. It is summer 1943 in a small New Zealand town, and a wounded American soldier is coming to stay with 12-year-old Rex and his family. Rex is full of expectations, but from the moment Jackson steps down from the bus there are surprises - and how could anyone predict the dramatic events which will unfol...

This gripping, page-turning fantasy adventure follows a dangerous quest through a divided world. From the high reaches of a tree, Fliss watches the soldiers attempting yet again to break through the invisible wall. Amid the explosions, a drummer boy tries to escape. As he is about to be shot, Fliss reaches through the wall and pulls him to safety. But Fliss is dismayed to find she has saved an overfed rich boy. She is even more dismayed to learn that she must accompany him...