Saturday, 21 June 2014

Fiction Age 10 up


NZ Writer 
Leonie Agnew
Conrad Cooper’s Last Stand
Puffin Books   2014  $19.99pb  223pp
ISBN 978 0 1435 7119 3
Themes: Bastion Point Occupation, 1978/ Family problems/ Search for God/ Stepfathers/ Tane, God of the Forests  

Conrad thinks he believes in Tane as he talks and shares his worries with him. But, he is not too sure if a Maori god would really want to listen to a Pakeha kid. However, he needs to persevere as Tane is the only adult ‘voice’ that seems to be listening as Conrad struggles with his search for a faith in God and with increasing problems with his family on the home front.  Written against the  background of the Bastion Point Occupation in Auckland in 1978  with a sense of humour to which children will really relate makes for an amazing and totally original story.  
Recommended. 

Year 6 up/ Age 10 up

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