Winner of the Young Adult Fiction Award - 2025 NZ Book Awards for Children & Young Adults When Kieran was twelve, he crashed a "liberated" car deep in the suburban wilds. The accident left his cousin Lucas in hospital and Kieran pretty much done with breaking rules. Four years later, he's reconsidering. Lucas's Allocated recovery time is almost up, and if Kieran can't help him, Lucas is dead. Midnight hospital break-ins and dodgy internet remedies look a lot more tempting when you've tried everything else. Meanwhile, Kieran finds an accomplice in Mira, a girl hiding losses of her own. He can't help being drawn to her, but there's one problem: their Match is outlawed. In their search for solutions, Kieran uncovers truths that make the rules meaningless. The truth could save Lucas, could sanction his match with Mira. Or it could get him killed.

In 1992, builders demolishing a Devonport home stumbled across a skeleton, triggering an investigation that sent shockwaves across the community. The remains belonged to a woman who had died in the 1930s, and whispers soon emerged of the deadly legacy of Nurse Elspeth Kerr. Now all but forgotten, a series of court trials gripped New Zealand in the early 1930s. Nurse Elspeth Kerr was formally accused of poisoning her husband, her foster daughter and an elderly resident at her Devonport nursing home, and other victims were also suspected. Bodies were exhumed, top lawyers were engaged, expert witnesses were called, and the public waited with baited breath for each next revelation. The Trials of Nurse Kerr lays out the untold story of Elspeth Kerr, her victims and the twists and turns of bringing the case to justice. Applying a modern understanding of poisoning cases to the events of the time, and with his trademark meticulous research and insight, Scott Bainbridge reveals the tale of a woman who may well have been New Zealand's most prolific poisoner.

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​What does a wealthy Auckland stay-at-home mother and wife do all day? What really goes on when the cat's away? On the surface Sam has everything any woman should want: successful husband, nice house, holiday home, two lovely kids, and a desirable, expensive car. Yet Sam is frustrated and unfulfilled. When her usual distractions fail her she retraces the steps of how her life turned out like it has. At breakfast Sam takes up’s her daily dose of magic mushrooms. This transforms a normal day into an enjoyable, surreal, roll around Auckland. Till she is cruelly dragged back to reality by a worrying call from her daughter’s school. Prepare to laugh out loud, gasp, cringe, be aroused, and entertained, as the real Sam is revealed.

The wildly popular TV series The Red Stag Timber Hunters Club showcases the exploits of a close-knit team of intrepid and passionate hunters, who regularly put themselves to the test throughout New Zealand's spectacular wilderness areas in pursuit of big game. Join Dave, Dre, Anto, Dan, Tim and Sam on some of their most memorable back-country hunting adventures, shining a light on the trials and tribulations, near misses, close calls, and all the previously unseen material not fit for broadcast captured throughout the show's production. Told with equal measures of humour and heart, and punctuated with stunning location photography, Off the Beaten Track is a must-read for both hunters and adventure seekers alike.

Following on from the successful He Iti te Kupu: Māori Metaphors and Similes, Hona Black’s new book explores the rich vein of humour in Māori life. Want to know how to call a silly person a ‘roro hipi / sheep’s brain’, or tell someone to get stuffed in te reo Māori? The answers are all in Te Reo Kapekape (literally, ‘the language of poking fun’), with more than 130 humorous and unique phrases in te reo and English that can be used to describe people, events and actions. The sayings are divided into four chapters — above the hip, below the hip, other phrases, and idioms. Using a cast of characters and dramatised dialogue, Hona explains each phrase and gives examples and suggestions for use — whether to tease, crack a joke or just add some flair to your daily use. This book is a valuable resource for anyone wanting to spice up their te reo or English with some fun and cheeky sayings, and will appeal to both language learners and fluent speakers of Māori.

​Nell — a life Nell is born to a new century, her life forged in the expanses of the New Zealand High Country. She yearns to go beyond the confines of family expectation and vows to keep alive the flame of her inner freedom. Yet that freedom is tested: by her husband’s pride and the rigours of family life on a Maniototo sheep station. Her trust is betrayed. Another love must be reckoned with. Tragedy befalls her. Two wars, a pandemic and the Depression keep Nell tethered by duty. Is it even possible for a woman of Nell’s era to carve her own path? Nell dares to step beyond the bounds; she revels and stumbles in love; encounters the perils of a woman’s life and of motherhood; she embraces the consolation of friendship and seeks a worldview that can hold it all. Readers will resonate with the quintessentially New Zealand character of Nell – her failings and her integrity, her compassion and strength.

The story of this Bushman's youngest son starts in 1960s' small town New Zealand where life didn't come without its challenges. This true story begins with a lot of rugby, beer, pig hunting and the socialising that was all part of our basic Kiwi lifestyle. However there was me, Terry, different from the rest of my siblings, separated by design and confusing to my parents... This book takes you through a journey out of Tokoroa and into the world where I tried most things, tasted as much forbidden fruit as I could and did my best to experience all life had to offer at the time, but maybe all that glitters isn't always gold. My extended family's backstory paints a picture of love, heartache, rebellion and loss that many of us would not recover from. Did I conform, did I behave, did I make amends and forgive? Prepare to be challenged, pushed and pulled in all directions as this story seldom has a quiet moment. Desperate times call for desperate measures and sometimes in our lives we react in a way that we later regret, or at least try to. Fatherhood, coming out as gay, sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll all rolled into one story. Not just drama - more like adventure with the everlasting search for a resolution. Ngaru Nui Ngaru Roa Ngaru paewhenua

It's 1818 on the East Coast of Te Ika-a-Māui, Aotearoa. Hine-aute, granddaughter of the legendary warrior Kaitanga, is fleeing through the bush; a precious yet gruesome memento contained in her fishing net. What follows is the gripping tale of a people on the cusp of profound change that is destined to reverberate through many generations to come. The Europeans have arrived, and they've brought muskets and foreign diseases, ushering in a whole new world of terror and trouble. They've also brought a new faith, which will cause Māori to question everything they had believed to be true. Hine and her sons, Ipumare and Uha, are caught in the crossfire of change that is creating fractures in their close familial bonds and undermining everything they hold dear. From raids by musket-wielding war parties to heightened internicide warfare; from the influx of whalers, traders and Christian missionaries to the signing of The Treaty of Waitangi, Kāwai: Tree of Nourishment strikes hard and deep into the heart of the impact of colonisation on Māori, and is guaranteed to leave readers stunned.

One Friday evening in October 1984, a security truck pulled into the car park of the Foodtown supermarket in the Auckland suburb of Birkenhead. It had already made a few stops at other supermarkets that day, so there was plenty of cash on board. A few minutes later, as the security guards emerged from the supermarket carrying the day's takings, a white van skidded to a halt, narrowly missing one of them. Three armed men piled out of the van, and within three minutes, they had stolen $294,524 (the equivalent of over $1.1 million today). The investigation that followed the heist soon fanned out from the North Shore suburbs to greater Auckland, into Northland and then across the Tasman to Sydney. Along the way, it shined a light on the activities of several well-known figures in New Zealand's criminal underworld, who between them had links to at least three unsolved murders. In The Heist, Scott Bainbridge recounts a classic true-crime tale drawn together from his extensive research and interviews with several of the key players – including both cops and robbers!