The Shetland Bus

 By: David Haworth  

Location: NF 920 HOW

Genre: Conflicts

From the author of We Die Alone, The Shetland Bus recounts the hundreds of crossings of small boats from the Shetland Islands to German-occupied Norway to supply arms to the Resistors and to rescue refugees--all under constant threat by German U-boats and winter storms.

“...though wars can still bring adventures which can stir the heart, their true nature is of innumerable personal tragedies, of grief, waste and sacrifice, wholly evil and not redeemed by glory.”
― David Howarth, The Shetland Bus: A WWII Epic of Escape, Survival, and Adventure

Review by Peter

WWII seems to have been so overwhelmingly huge that I don't think I'll ever stop finding books that tell stories that surprise me. This one is the story of an undercover supply line between the Shetland islands and occupied Norway. Participants were Norwegian civilian fishermen and UK soldiers and sailors, including the author who was one of the commanders.

I continually had to remind myself that the Norwegians involved were not only volunteers, but were also civilians. These were patriots who wanted to see their country free of the German occupiers and would do anything to help, even something as seemingly small as transporting undercover agents in their fishing boats. Several crews were killed during these operations, yet the remaining crews never faltered in their commitment to the cause.

Stories told include a mission to sink the German battleship Tirpitz, the journey of a single survivor of a mission as he treks over the frozen Scandinavian ice and snow towards neutral Sweden, and descriptions of missions to drop off agents, weapons, and rescue partisans and those in danger of capture by the German secret police.

A briskly told story, the author gives the impression that it was all just a great adventure, but does end with a note explaining how deadly it truly was and how lucky he and the remaining crews were to survive the war.

Once The Deed Is Done

 By: Rachel Seiffert  

Location: FIC SEI

Genre:  Historical Fiction

To be truly alive means having to make choices.
To be truly alive is also, quite simply, to love.

Northern Germany, 1945. Dead of night and dead of winter, a boy hears soldiers and sees strangers - forced labourers - fleeing across the heathland by his small town: shawls and skirts in the snowfall. The end days are close, war brings risk and chance, and Benno is witness to something he barely understands.

Peace brings more soldiers - but English this time - and Red Cross staff officers. Ruth, on her first posting from London, is given charge of a refugee camp on the heathland, crowded with former forced labourers. As ever more keep arriving, she hears whispers, rumours of dark secrets about that snowy night.

The townspeople close ranks, shutting their mouths and minds to the winter's events, but the town children are curious about the refugees on their doorstep, and Benno can't carry his secret alone.

"In a small, isolated town near Hamburg the war is reaching its end. The soldiers in the forced labour camp are deserting and the townspeople know it's only a matter of time before the Allies arrive. A forced march passes through the town one night and the repercussions can only stay shrouded in darkness for so long. This is a tale with multiple narrators, from the Red Cross officer tasked with finding home for the displaced prisoners of war and finding families who have been split up, to the townspeople themselves, some delighted that the war is over, some not. In the background hums a darker catastrophe and shame. This is generously written, beautifully imagined and powerful in scope."- Kate Wheatly

Sing To me

 By: Jesse Browner    

Location: FIC BRO

Genre: Mythlogy 

IF YOU WATCHED  Odyssey THEN THIS BOK IS FOR YOU!

"This beautiful and poignant novel should become a classic." Nancy

"Deeply Bronze Age. I like."

After the fall of Troy, an eleven-year-old boy sets off for the razed city once his father and sister fail to return home; an extraordinary, intimate retelling of a familiar legend, for lovers of Circe.

His family farm and the surrounding community now emptied by war, young Hani embarks on an epic quest – assisted by a brooding yet brilliant donkey – to find his lost sister in the ruins of Troy. Some war stories transcend time and circumstance, and so it is with the resourceful and heartbroken Hani, who must employ every bit of intelligence, every scrap of ingenuity, and ultimately every ounce of his spirit and humor to withstand the forces of civilization’s collapse.

Hani is no ordinary boy, however, and a character unlike any you’ve ever met. His interior world is one of startling depth and complexity. His insights into life, lives, and history are breathtakingly fresh. And his hope for survival--not a given, and in fact, less than likely--will propel you to the startling conclusion of this brief, elegiac, and singular work.

"Sing to Me is a small gem of a book. The setting (after the fall of Troy) is what hooked me, although this story could really be set after any violent conflict. The plot is very simple; thoughful, resourceful, abandoned Hani is from a farming village a few days from Troy and heads there to try to find his family. His interior narration is gentle and compassionate, in a world that is decidedly not so. The prose is lovely, a mixture of rich description and Hani's reflections on what he's learning about the world as he goes. I liked this very much."- Maree

Finns Epic Fails

 By: Phil Earle   

Location: FIC EAR

Genre: Humour

‘A comedy classic and hilarious page-turner from a genuinely brilliant writer.’ Liz Pichon, author of Tom Gates series

A  hilarious new series by award-winning author Phil Earle which introduces Finn N. O. Hope and his life of epic failure! Perfect for readers of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Loki and Tom Gates. 

Finn just wants to survive Year 7, but his life is destined to be a series of epic fails. It's only Tuesday and his scheming, unicorn-obsessed little sister has already stuck a horn to his head (with superglue) and his properly evil older brother has wedgied him 278 times. And don't even ask what happened at swimming, in front of the WHOLE CLASS. At least he has best friends Laszlo (a hopeless romantic) and Google (ask her anything) by his side as he attempts to turn failure into victory in his very own book that is definitely not a diary. 


 
‘Pure comedy genius – Finn's Epic Fails will have you howling with laughter and cheering for more! This book belongs on every kid's bookshelf!’ – Jenny Pearson, author of The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates

‘Failure has never been this funny. Finn is my new hero!’ – Rob Biddulph, author of Draw With Rob

Jake Whyte- Pig Hunter

 By: J D Crouchley 

Location: FIC CRO

Genre: Hunting- Adventure

Jake Whyte has always loved being out in nature. Growing up with a single mum in a small town means money's tight, but when he discovers an injured piglet while out for a run one day, he gets an idea for how he might be able to help put food on the table.

Jake teaches himself to hunt, pushing himself to learn the skills it takes to survive in the wild and discovering a love for the sport he wasn't expecting. But not everything can be learnt from a book. Jake's stoked to be invited hunting with the Marshalls, especially if it gives him a chance to get closer to the gorgeous Georgie, but will he be able to put up with Bevan who has intimidated him since kindergarten?

Book Overview

• The Plot: The story follows Jake Whyte, a small-town teen raised by a single mother. When money gets tight, discovering an injured piglet sparks an idea: he will teach himself to hunt to help put food on the table. He falls in love with the outdoors but faces social challenges when invited to hunt with the Marshall family—bringing him closer to his crush, Georgie, but forcing him to confront his childhood intimidator, Bevan.
• The Authors: "J.D. Crouchley" is the writing partnership of Dave and Joy Crouchley, based in Te Anau, Fiordland. Dave brings decades of outdoor and hunting expertise, while Joy is a writer and retired teacher. 
• The Target Audience: The book is specifically written to encourage young readers—particularly boys or reluctant readers who love the outdoors—to engage with literacy through high-stakes, authentic Kiwi adventure stories

Love Me Tomorrow

 By: Emiko Jean   

Location: FIC JEA

Genre: Romance

"My favorite thing about Emiko Jean books is how well she captures teenagers and the magic of YA romance omg i loved this!!! 4.5 stars -Anzanio

What if your true love could write to you from the future?


Seventeen-year-old Emma Nakamura-Thatcher doesn’t believe in love, not after her parents’ bitter divorce. So when she attends the festival of Tanabata, her wish is simple: proof that love is real and can last.

Emma thinks little of her wish…until she finds a note from someone claiming to be her greatest love writing to her from the future. It has to be a prank, right? But as the notes pour in, each revealing secrets only she knows, Emma is forced to accept the impossible: This is really happening. Someone is actually reaching out to her from across time.

But who? Ezra, the musical prodigy who makes her pulse race? Theo, the literal boy next door who’s known her since childhood? Or Colin, the overly confident, overly handsome, overly rich kid she meets while cleaning his mega-mansion?

As Emma races to uncover the identity of the letter writer, she’ll discover that love is more than real—it’s the most powerful force in the universe. And it’s been waiting for her all along.

"It’s a beautiful thing to open your heart. Someday I hope you’ll say, like I say to myself: The hurt was good, the hurt was worth it... love doesn’t ever end. Not really. Love contracts and expands, but it is never truly gone."

Drift

 By: Caryl Lewis   

Location: FIC LEW

Genre: Around the World but it is Genre Bending- Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction - Romance???

A tender, unusual and gorgeously wrought love story' RACHEL JOYCE

Nefyn has always been an enigma, even to her brother Joseph with whom she lives in a small cottage above a blustery cove.

Hamza is a Syrian mapmaker, incarcerated in a military base a few miles up the coast.

A violent storm will bring these two lost souls together - but other forces will soon try to tear them apart...

Moving between the wild Welsh coast and war-torn Syria, Drift is a love story with a difference, a hypnotic tale of lost identity, the quest for home and the wondrous resilience of the human spirit.

Rhian

Heartbreakingly beautiful.

I don’t think anything I can say can capture this book. It was like a dream, one that you don’t want to wake from. It was bitterly realistic and walked the broken-glass edge of how cruel humans can be, but it wasn’t dark; instead it was almost child-like in its luminous beauty, its kindness, and the kind of magic that so much fantasy will never quite capture.

I will read this one again, probably multiple times. As close to perfect as I have read in a very, very, very long time.