Books with author Sandy May

A powerful and moving YA story about two brothers, one of whom goes off to fight in World War One.It’s 1917 and Jack enlists. And although 13-year-old Tom is envious of his elder brother, he soon changes his mind as the reality of war becomes more apparent. We follow Jack’s story through his letters home and through the eyes of his younger brother. Tom writes about life at home in New Zealand: living with Mum and their young sister, Amy, learning to hunt with his uncle, getting a puppy and learning to knit…for the war effort.Jack writes of his first-hand experience in Trentham, the troop ship, Britain, France, the Battle of Messines and finally, Passchendaele. Sadly the story ends with Jack being killed at Passchendaele along with hundreds of other Kiwis. (Of the 180 soldiers in the 2nd Otago Division, 148 lost their lives in one day in New Zealand’s worst ever military disaster.) When Our Jack Went to War is a fictional account of a real life tragedy, based on the author’s research into the death of her own great uncle, who died in 1917. The NZ Post Award-winning Sandy Mckay ably conveys how war affects everyone – it’s a superb meditation on war and its devastating effect on soldiers and their families.

NZ Post Children's Book Award-winning young adult novel about a young girl’s journey back from anorexia to health and independenceJohanna is in hospital, writing letters to her best friend, Issy: letters because for Johanna, most things that we take for granted have turned into privileges. She can only have visitors, leave her room, or even use the phone, if she starts to eat. Johanna suffers from anorexia, and her condition has reached a point where doctors, nurses, and counsellors have had to find new ways to encourage, bribe, cajole–or, as she thinks, punish her–into returning to a normal weight. As Johanna exchanges letters with Issy, and her own family, the novel is also peppered with extracts from Johanna’s diary, quotations from the hospital notice boards, poems, and even bathroom graffiti. Johanna offers us wry, insightful portraits of her fellow patients in the ward. Counterbalancing her experience, Issy offers us a picture of a full family, school and social life, a life that Johanna has left behind … for a while at least. Slowly, we–and Johanna–start to unravel the history that brought her to these desperate circumstances. It’s the story of a young girl struggling to understand her mother’s actions, and taking on too much responsibility because of an adult’s inability to cope; it’s also the story of how Johanna, through witnessing the worst possible outcome of anorexia, begins to pull herself back to recovery. Sandy McKay tackles a very sober topic with a lightness of touch that neither undermines the gravity of the subject, nor skirts the most difficult truths about the condition.

On the first day of school her senior year, Julie met Roberto, the new exchange student from Italy. When she looked into those beautiful dark eyes, she was hooked. Roberto was the most handsome guy she had ever met, and the best part was, he seemed to like her also.Could their senior year of High School be the year that changes both their lives? Could their love for each other overcome outside forces that seemed destined to tear them apart? How would they deal with Roberto returning to Italy after graduation?

The funny, imaginative, award-winning story of a boy who tries to save the world through recycling.Every year in the developed world, an average person throws away 45 kgs of plastic, two trees worth of paper, 160 cans and 107 bottles. Colin takes his recycling school project to heart and tries to convert his own family first, with great difficulty, before he tries to save the world. He becomes a self-appointed eco-warrior and comes up against his sister, who delivers junk mail, his mother, who sells real estate and hang-glides for de-stressing and his father who spends a lot of time in the garage. Colin becomes involved with the Roseview Rubbish Rescue Centre and the character who runs it. They along with others, organise a campaign to protest selling off the centre for development.This is a well-told story with many hilarious episodes that will delight young readers.The text is playful and imaginative, lighthearted and funny, but also intelligent and informative. It won the Junior Fiction category of the NZ Post Children's Book Awards in 2002.

What is Colin doing scrambling about in the rubbish bin? Has he lost something? His sister thinks he's lost his marbles, his father thinks he's lost his manners, and his mother - well - she's losing her temper very quickly. But Colin wants to save the world. And the rubbish bin seems a good place to start. But his family are NO help at all! 'During a year an average family will probably throw away 1.5 tonnes of rubbish - the equivalent of half the weight of a good-sized elephant' His Dad has no job, his Mum works too hard (and hang-glides in her spare time!) and Colin's sister, Allie, gets a job delivering junk mail. Saving the world is harder than it looks. And when the council threaten to close down the local recycling center - some drastic action is called for... A well told story with many hilarious episodes to delight young readers. The text is playful and imaginative, lighthearted and funny, but also intelligent and informative. A high spirited story, playfully told, which includes great recycling tips and startling facts about ecology.

'I'm sure it'll be much more fun at the goldfields'. Dunedin, 1865 Charlotte loves to play marbles with her best friend Harry and read about adventures on the high seas. But Charlotte will have to leave school soon and help her mother with the house and the younger children. Charlotte can't imagine anything worse. When it looks like her mother is going to keep her home for good, Charlotte and her new friend Cyril board a Cobb & Co coach and head to Hogburn Gully, where the Otago gold rush is in full swing. But the mining town isn't what Charlotte imagined. Can Charlotte find a fortune in the goldfields? Or will she have to return home to a narrow life of sewing, cooking and looking after her little sisters?