Books published by publisher Random House New Zealand Ltd

An essential guide for keeping relationships safe.In 2008, the horrific murder of Sophie Elliott by her former boyfriend and university lecturer, Clayton Weatherston, shocked New Zealand. During the police investigation it became clear Sophie’s murderer was a typical abuser who had a track record of treating partners badly. Sophie’s mother, Lesley Elliott, driven to research domestic and partner abuse, was astonished to find the very characteristics evident in abusive relationships were right there in Sophie’s. Lesley quickly realised that if she and Sophie, ‘through ignorance and naivety’ missed the signs, then so could many others. It became obvious that education was the key; Lesley set up the Sophie Elliott Foundation to raise awareness among all young women, their friends and families to the signs of partner abuse. The Loves Me Not programme was developed by the Sophie Elliott Foundation along with the New Zealand Police and members of the Ministry of Social Development. Its primary aim is to help young people help themselves to keep safe. Loves Me Not includes advice and suggestions on how to identify problems, how to deal with them and where to seek help.Also included is ‘One for the Boys’, a chapter written by well-known clinical psychologist and commentator, Nigel Latta, as well as a chapter written by school guidance counsellor, Gayna McConnell.

Stories from a life spent in the emergency services - true tales of rescue and adventure.When Dave Greenberg was just 13 years old, he saved a life for the first time, using CPR. He already knew that he wanted to spend his life helping others in times of crisis, and that harrowing event on a city footpath only confirmed this desire. He went on to spend 25 years working with Life Flight - the Westpac Rescue Helicopter service in Wellington, New Zealand, taking part in many daring rescues on land and at sea, often taking the role of 'the dope on a rope' - their own term for the rescuer who dangles from a winch over stormy seas trying to pluck people from heaving ship decks or from the ferocious waves. These are his stories.

Ten stories from the 'brilliant' Katherine Mansfield set in New Zealand.As Vincent O'Sullivan states, those encountering Mansfield's stories for the first time have invariably found they 'were alive, they were witty, they were moving, they covered new ground'. But with about 70 stories to choose from and a vast array of themes and approaches, where do you start, and how do you begin to understand and best appreciate her writing and achievements? This series features selections of her best stories, grouped by subject and introduced by Mansfield scholar Vincent O'Sullivan, who is also a writer of fiction in his own right. Each volume offers a different way to view Mansfield's work. This selection includes her most-loved stories about the New Zealand of her childhood. As O'Sullivan explains, his choices cover 'everything of importance that happened to her, that she observed and experienced, between childhood in Wellington's wooden houses, to her deciding in Switzerland in July 1922, that her final paragraph about a singing bird was the place for her to stop'.Other titles in the MANSFIELD SELECTIONS series:In Bavaria: ISBN 978-1-77553-498-3Marriage & Families: ISBN 978-1-77553-501-0Sex & Lies: ISBN 978-1-77553-499-0Women Alone: ISBN 978-1-77553-502-7

It's war-time and Dad's away, so Mum has to run the farm. Sometimes the stress of it all gives her funny ideas, in this hilarious tale by a much-loved, award-winning junior fiction author. 'You wait till Constable Cuff hears about this . We're going to tell everybody in the district you sold your children for sixpence.' In When Mum Went Funny, the cry of mothers everywhere is heard loud and clear. Ideas like trying to sell off the children, making nail soup and sleeping out in a haystack to catch whoever's 'bandicooting' the potatoes. When Mum gets that look in her eye, the children go on high alert. They watch Kate, to see how worried they should be, because Kate, the eldest, is an even match for her Mother. Their frequent battles of wit and will-power keeps everyone entertained. In spite of Mum's tricks and grumbles, she never loses control; the children know they can rely on her, even as they try to frustrate her at every turn. Mum's mischievous tugging at the rug under her children's feet provides lots of delicious fun and fretful anxiety.In this gently comic novel, Lasenby draws a heart-warming but unsentimental portrait of a family and community under duress, and of a mother who channels her exasperations into inventive ploys that not only help save her own sanity, but also bring grist and intrigue to family life.

YA thriller about a teen discovering the truth of his grandfather's terrible past as a World War Two fighter pilot.When 17-year-old Matt dreams that he is a World War Two pilot in a dogfight against the Germans, something strange happens. Was it a dream? Because later that morning, the family gets news that Grandad died at exactly that time, 3.15 a.m.This is the beginning of a bewildering set of adventures, into which Matt is plunged. At Grandad's funeral, two of his old squadron mates turn up and he becomes aware that something that happened in the last days of the war, to do with the death of his Squadron Leader, Jingo Brook.After the funeral, Grandad's house is trashed. With the help of a local 'bad boy' Matt discovers who did it and what was taken — his grandad's log books and journal from World War Two. The second part of the novel is Grandad's story, told in the first person, when he was a little older than Matt. He joins a Tempest ground-attack fighter squadron, operating in Germany, in the last months of the war. Matt, financed by his grandad's estate, goes to Europe and, on the banks of a northern Holland canal finds the evidence that clears his grandfather's name. Now the skies above are blue and quiet but he has won his Grandad's last victory.

Life inside a religious cult becomes too much for 16-year-old Rebecca when she finds out who she is to marry. An award-winning and thrilling sequel to the bestselling classic I am Not Esther, by the acclaimed Fleur Beale.Winner of a Storylines Notable Young Adult Fiction Award 2015LIANZA Librarian's Choice Award 2015When she turns 14, Rebecca will find out who she is to marry. All the girls in her strict religious sect must be married just after their 16th birthdays. Her twin sister Rachel desperately wants to marry the boy she's given her heart to. All Rebecca wants is to have a husband who is kind, but both girls know the choice is not theirs to make.But what will the future hold for Rebecca? Is there a dark side to the rules which have kept her safe? Can the way ahead be so simple when the community is driven by secrets and hidden desires?Award-winning YA writer Fleur Beale's gripping sequel to the bestselling classic I am not Esther is a psychological thriller.

A classic bestseller that's been in print for over 20 years, this gripping YA thriller follows a teenage girl caught in a religious cult. Imagine that your mother tells you she's going away. She is going to leave you with relatives you've never heard of - and they are members of a strict religious cult. Your name is changed, and you are forced to follow the severe set of social standards set by the cult. There is no television, no radio, no newspaper. No mirrors. You must wear long, modest clothes. You don't know where your mother is, and you are beginning to question your own identity. I am not Esther is a gripping psychological thriller written by New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards-winning children's writer Fleur Beale. In Esther she creates an enthralling and utterly compelling portrait of a teenager going through her worst nightmare.

The gripping sequel to the award-winning and bestselling YA novels I am not Esther and I am Rebecca. In this breathtaking follow-up to I am not Esther and I am Rebecca, Fleur Beale revisits the Pilgrim family and its closed religious community, The Children of the Faith.Four years have passed since Rebecca ran away. The community simmers with tension and rumours of an approaching split, and life has become terrifying for Rebecca’s remaining siblings as Elder Stephen seizes any chance to take revenge on them. Twelve-year-old Magdalene lives in fear that her strong-willed little sister, Zillah, will be his next target.The girls have run out of people who can protect them. To Zillah their path is clear but Magdalene is torn. How can she cause more hurt and shame for her parents? But, equally, how can she face a life with no freedom to be herself?And another question scares her most of all. Without the elders’ suffocating rules that tell her how to live, who would Magdalene be?

The past lives of Bess Gray catch up with her in this passionate young adult novel by a NZ Post Children's Book Award-winner. On the night of her seventeenth birthday Bess Grey sees images of a witch-burning unfold in front of her as if in a movie. She also sees images from a different time — lovers, and the girl, she’s sure is — was – herself. When she meets Nick she recognises him as the boy. There’s an immediate connection. However when her father nearly dies from a heart attack there’s no time to brood as Bess tries to save her father’s business. She falls in love with Nick but her difficult mother interferes, forcing Bess to make the hardest decision of her life. She must decide whether to lose her mother or the boy she loves.Fleur Beale, winner of the 20123 Margaret Mahy medal, weaves Bess's mysterious past lives into her very realistic current-day life. The result is a beautifully told love story.

A powerful award-winning young adult fantasy — the second novel in the excellent Travellers series.Pursued by the hateful Salt Men, Ish flees south with his friend Taur, the mute Bull Man. But nowhere is there refuge from the brutal Squint-face, who wants his greenstone god back, and wants Ish's life. Across the ice of Cook Strait lies the South Land. Can Ish and Taur find peace there? 'Taur', winner of the 1999 Senior Fiction category in the NZ Post Children's Book Awards, is the riveting sequel to 'Because We Were the Travellers', winner of a 1998 NZ Post Honour Award and shortlisted for the 1998 Esther Glen Medal.Lasenby writes impeccably...with an uncommon preciseness, a poetic flow. His language is poignant, profound, yet held back from sentimentality, each word weighted for relevance.

A gripping, gritty and award-winning coming-of-age novel for young adult readers.When Te Arepa Santos is dragged into the river by a giant eel, something happens that will change the course of his whole life. The boy who struggles to the bank is not the same one who plunged in, moments earlier. He has brushed against the spirit world, and there is a price to be paid; an utu (revenge) to be exacted.Years later, far from the protection of whanau (family) and ancestral land, he finds new enemies. This time, with no one to save him, there is a decision to be made: he can wait on the bank, or leap forward into the river.At the 2013 NZ Post Childrens Book Awards Into the River was judged the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year. It also won the Young Adult Fiction category of the awards. An engaging coming-of-age novel, it follows its main protagonist from his childhood in small-town rural New Zealand to an elite Auckland boarding school, where he must forge his own way - including battling with his cultural identity.This prequel to Ted Dawe's award-winning novel Thunder Road is gritty, provocative, at times shocking, but always real and true. The awards' chief judge Bernard Beckett described a character "caught between two worlds ... the explicit content was presented as the danger of people being left adrift by society. And within that context, hard-hitting material is crucial; it is what makes the book authentic, real and important."The Deputy Chief Censor of Fim and Literature ruled that the book is not offensive: 'The book deals with some stronger content. There are sexual relationships between teenagers, encounters with possible child sexual exploitation, the use of illegal drugs and other criminal activities, violent assault, and a moderate level of highly offensive language. These are well contextualised within an exciting fast moving narrative that has as its protagonist, a young teenage Maori boy from a rural community who is finding his way through the strange uncomfortable environment of a boys' boarding school and unfamiliar social mores. The story captures the raw and real extremes of adolescence in teenage boys along with their yearnings and obsessions. The book is notable for being one of the first in the New Zealand which specifically targets teenage boys and younger men - a genre that does not have great representation. The genre character is therefore significant. The content immerses the reader in action, wit, and intrigue, as well as a level of social realism, all likely to engage teen and young adult readers and with particular appeal for older boys and young men.'

A coming of age story for teenage boys, especially car lovers. Shortlisted for the 2012 NZ Post Book Awards and the 2012 LIANZA YA Award.Jake's life is sweet. He's got no money and doesn't have a mobile, but he's got two best mates; Buzz and Robbie. Buzz is generous and doesn't mind buying stuff for his mates. Jake wouldn't change a thing. But then Robbie has the idea of the century: rescue the old wreck from the ditch and make it into a paddock basher. Yes! Buzz, however, puts a spanner in the works by saying he's not paying for it all. Even stevens or no deal. Robbie gets a job. Jake refuses. It's just not his style to work for a boss. But he desperately wants to drive that car, and the others are going to go ahead without him. The summer holidays are looming ahead of him in a desert of boredom and friendlessness. He needs a game plan ...A writer with an uncanny understanding of young male teenagers, Fleur Beale also wrote Slide the Corner which won the Storylines Much-Loved Book Award - and teachers have been crying out for more books in this genre. Dirt Bomb fills this gap beautifully.