Books with author David Hills

A gripping novel for young adults that captures both the daring and the everyday realities of serving in the Air Force during the Second World War. Pete and Paul yelled together. 'Bandit! Nine o'clock! Bandit!' Jack spun to stare. There was the Messerschmitt on their left, streaking straight at them. Eighteen-year-old Jack wanted to escape boring little New Zealand. But he soon finds that flying in a Lancaster bomber to attack Hitler's forces brings terror as well as excitement. With every dangerous mission, he becomes more afraid that he'll never get back alive. He wants to help win the war, but will he lose his own life?

It's New Zealand, 1914, and the Great War is raging on battlefields in Europe. King and Country are calling! William eagerly enlists for the army but his younger brother, Edmund, is opposed to the whole idea of war and he refuses to join up.While William trains to be a soldier, Edmund is arrested and put in prison as a conscientious objector. Both brothers discover that the shocking realities of war are a far cry from what they had imagined.And what they experience challenges each of their tightly-held beliefs to the maximum. This book is a triple award-winner by acclaimed New Zealand writer of YA fiction, David Hill.'...there are stories that need to be told over and over again, to introduce a new generation of readers to important ideas and to critical times in their country's history...' --New Zealand Post Book Awards'Real, raw ... and fabulous all at the same time.' --Adele Broadbent, writer/reviewer'Beautifully written and deeply engrossing...' --Otago Daily TimesDavid Hill is one of New Zealand's leading writers for children and young people. He studied at the Victoria University of Wellington and initially became a high school teacher, teaching both in New Zealand and the UK. David's books have been published internationally and his short stories and plays for young people have been broadcast worldwide.He has won numerous awards for his writing in New Zealand and overseas and was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2004.

Life began to make sense in the summer of 1971. With his best friend George, the author travels to England where they buy BSA motorcycles tor a trip lasting the summer and crossing a dozen and a half countries. Sleeping on the ground, eating at markets and traveling the back roads, they see a continent of magnificent beauty, full of fascinating people. While traversing Czechoslovakia they see the misery caused by communist rule. First on the scene of a fatal traffic accident, they learn how fragile life is. From a farm family in Austria they find kindness and friendship more powerful than cultural and language differences. This is the true story of a summer spent by an eighteen-year-old boy who grew up quickly in those three months. The author shares what life was like during one summer of youth, how he felt and what he learned as he crossed the threshold to adulthood.

Featured on the New Zealand Listener's 50 best children's books 2013 Something in the water, a hundred yards or so away. Russell jerked the binoculars back, trying to find it again. He had to be sure; mustn't make a fool of himself. Where was it? Then he saw it through the lenses once more.His voice rang along the deck. 'Mine! Bearing 290 degrees. 100 yards. Mine!' Sixteen-year-old Boy Seaman Russell Purchas is stationed on HMNZS Taupo, which has just entered hostile waters off the coast of Korea. It's 1951, and his ship is part of the United Nations force fighting in the Korean War. Russell is determined to prove himself against the communists - not just because he wants to be brave, but because he wants to escape the shadow of his Uncle Trevor, killed in World War II. Everyone thinks Trevor was a hero, but Russell knows the shameful truth. But can Russell keep himself together when the shells start falling? And does he really know what courage means? A gripping novel about the Korean War for 9-12 year olds.

Winner of the Junior Fiction Award and Children's Choice Junior Fiction Award, New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, 2013.Winner of the Lianza Librarians' Choice Award, 2013.It's New Zealand, 1914, and the biggest war the world has known has just broken out in Europe. William eagerly enlists for the army but his younger brother, Edmund, is a conscientious objector and refuses to fight. While William trains to be a soldier, Edmund is arrested. Both brothers will end up on the bloody battlefields of France, but their journeys there are very different. And what they experience at the front line will challenge the beliefs that led them there.In 2002, David Hill won the Children's Literature Foundation Award for See Ya Simon and the same book won the TES Award for Special Needs in 1994. In 2003, he was the Robert Lord writer-in-residence and in 2005 he received the Margaret Mahy Medal for his significant contribution to children's literature in New Zealand. His books have been translated into French, Chinese and Estonian. His short stories and plays for teenagers and young readers have been published and broadcast in New Zealand, Australia and the USA."It is a searing read but the book speaks with great authority." Clare Morpurgo, The School Librarian (UK publication)“...this is an important and highly readable book.” NZ Listener“...there are stories that need to be told over and over again ...” NZ Post Book Awards for Children & Young Adults“Beautifully written and deeply engrossing.” Otago Daily Times

When of hundreds of Japanese captives arrive at Featherston POW camp, the tiny town is divided. Tensions run high and then, on 25 February 1943, disaster strikes. Three boys witness it all. A compelling new novel by an award-winning author.'We knew straightaway that something was happening. Extra men in khaki uniforms stood at the main gates. Behind the wire, figures in blue sat on the ground. None of the usual moving around, washing up, wrestling, anything like that. Just rows of prisoners, sitting silently.' It's 1942, and the tiny farming town of Featherston is about to receive hundreds of Japanese soldiers into its prisoner-of-war camp. Ewen, whose dad is a guard there, can't stop wondering about the enemy just down the road. Some say the captives are evil and cruel and should be treated harshly – or shot. But when Ewen and his friends ride out to the camp to peep through the barbed wire, the POWs just seem like . . . well, people. Then a new group from a captured warship arrives and the mood in the camp darkens. Guards and inmates begin to clash. As tension builds the boys are told to stay away. But on 25 February 1943, Ewen and his friends are there at the moment the storm breaks – and terrible, unforgettable events unfold before their eyes. A compelling novel by a master storyteller.