Books with author John Parra

Vex is a ten-year-old juvenile delinquent headed toward a life of gangs and crime in the Outer Galaxy. After the death of a good friend, he decides to turn away from gang life and discovers a growing talent for gaming. Despite his poverty and limited education, the ambitious young boy has dreams of winning the premier prize that signifies he's the best gamer in the galaxy, the Super Rumbles Tournament. He knows that his planet's education system is poor and his options are limited. With a mind set on escape, he studies hard for entrance exams to a prestigious boarding school in the Inner Galaxy, which would give him the edge he needs to succeed as a gamer. His ambitions are interrupted when his father is taken into custody and he finds himself an orphan at a group home. His struggle is complicated by the fact that he is being heavily recruited by a violent, criminal gang known as the Tri-Town Boyz. Vex's troubled past as a juvenile criminal and a homeless street kid may derail his future dreams. Will he achieve gaming success? Can he stay out of trouble? Can he overcome his obstacles for a better life or will the pull of the Tri-Town Boyz and gang life be too much?

Freddy spends his weekend staying a bush cabin with is father and their pet dog,Sue.They have lots of adventures hiking around the bush clad hills behind the coastal township of Tapu.Tapu is situated on the Coromandel Peninsula of New Zealand's north island.On of Freddy's adventures is to catch fish from their small boat and then to cook them fresh on the beach.Freddy's evening often end with a long soak in their wonderful bush-bath while his father tell him stories related to days activities.

Belonging was written with reluctant boy readers in mind. It is a fast moving story of eleven year old Liam Morrison's struggle to find a sense of belonging. Liam gets in trouble at school when he fights with a much larger boy to defend his father's honour. Liam is seen as the trouble maker and is sent to live with his grumpy old Grandfather in an isolated farming district many miles away from his city home and his family. There he has to try and fit into a new school and a different way of life. It seems to Liam that his only friend in the world is, Toss, one of his grandfather's working dogs. Toss is both playful and affectionate and the boy and the dog soon form a close bond.

Lucy and her little brother, Max set out on an adventure to the abandoned school not far away from the farm their family had recently moved to. It was turning out to be a pleasant and normal adventure until they got caught in a thunder storm. It was then that the real adventure started. Lucy and Max had cope with some very strange situations. They were both sure that no one was ever going to believe when it was time for their morning talks at school on Monday morning.

Lucy and Max must leave school early because the roads are flooded. The heavy rain washes away the bridge so there will be no school for Lucy and Max for a few days, but Lucy needs to practice playing her violin, so she will be ready for the upcoming school concert. Problem, Lucy has left her violin at school and is very upset because she knows she must practice to be good enough to be allowed to play at the concert. Her old friend, Mary comes to the rescue and lends her the violin that belonged to Mary's father. Lucy is still not sure that she will be good enough and asks for help from Mary's now departed little brother, Brian who once used to play the same violin. Will the bridge be fixed in time for the concert? Will Mrs. Wallace even let Lucy play at the concert? And if so, will the spirit of little Brian be there to help her be the best that she can be?

Simon?s young body is crippled with arthritis and he can see little hope of living a normal active life. That is until the day he has a chance encounter with, Rory of the fields. Rory is part of a band of misplaced Irish fairies that for many years have managed to remain hidden from the rest of mankind, concealed in their fortress far back in the misty hills of New Zealand?s Coromandal mountain range. The fairies have been too long and too far from the source of their magic and doubt that they can help Simon but agree to try so long as Simon completes a list of tasks that the fairies set for him. First Simon must help someone with greater needs than his own, but who? His mother? No, her needs are too closely related to his own, that would not be accepted by the Fairies. But who? Simon finds the answer in the form of Shannon. The young girl who catches the school bus at the same bus stop as Simon. Together they set out to end the chaos that has become Shannan?s life.