THE GROOVE BOOK REPORT

Artwork by Ivana Nikolic - https://dribbble.com/ivananikolic

I can't share with sheep, said Wolf. I... ah... have a tendency to eat them. It's in my nature. But would Lamb listen? No! He bleated on and on, determined to be Wolf's knitty-knotty new housemate... So begins this quirky little take on the classic wolf vs. sheep story.    Our poor lamb is desperate to find accommodation and is convinced that Ms. Wolf will lie her as a potential flatmate if only he can push the right buttons and convince her.   Lamb brings good references.  It does't work.  He loves to knit, is quiet and helpful.  It doesn't convince anyone.  He brings in a 'sheepnotist' to try and cure the wolf's natural hunting urges.  No effect! He appeals to her sensitive side.  No dice.  He tries dressing in wolf's clothing. That also fails. Despite the wolf's protestations he persists in begs her to let him stay.  It finally works.   The twist comes at the end, with a small throwaway reference to ...

The winner for the 2020 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing is  Andrew Paterson for his brilliant novel,  Rainfish .  Rainfish  tells the story of Aaron, who lives with his single mother and his bookish older brother Connor in a small town in Far North Queensland with a ramshackle chook shed and an old bath full of rainfish in the backyard. Aaron, feeling left out as the younger brother, commits a theft to impress an older, alluringly rebellious kid. His guilt, regret and attempts to put the situation right take him on a journey that’s unexpected, at times humorous and ultimately tragic. Andrew's win was announced at online event on Wednesday 20 May.  You can watch the video on our Facebook or YouTube channel. Read about the 2020 shortlist  here . Now in its thirteenth year, the $10,000 Text Prize aims to discover incredible new books  by exciting authors and is one of the most renowned prizes for young adult and chil...

A $175 million package to boost the arts and creative sector in the wake of Covid-19 was announced by the Prime Minister, Jacinda Adern, at an event in Napier today. It included a new job seeker programme and four new funds. "The arts and music sectors have been decimated by Covid-19," the Prime Minister said in a statement. "Treasury forecasts suggests that without government intervention, the cultural sector will be hit roughly twice as hard as the rest of the economy, and 11,000 jobs could be lost within a 12-month period." First up is the Careers Support for Creative Jobseekers programme, allocated $7.9m of the total and builds on the Pathways to Arts and Cultural Employment (PACE) programme. It is estimated this could help The government expect up to 2000 people into creative jobs over four years. Ardern said the intiatives would  provide more opportunities for those in the Arts sector to keep rebuild their careers. The rest of the money will be di...

Wear and share your favorite band tee Donate to the MusicHelpsLive appeal! @musichelpsnz  #musichelpstshirtday You can text  MUSIC to 2448 to donate $3  (that's less than a price of a coffee!) Uniting in support of the unsung stars of the New Zealand music scene New Zealand’s musicians and the teams behind them are always there for us in times of trouble and tragedy, like the Band Together concert after the Christchurch earthquakes and You Are Us/Aroha Nui concerts following the Christchurch terror attacks. Now they are the ones that need our help. COVID-19 is having a devastating effect on the live music industry and the livelihoods of thousands of kiwi music people and businesses. Shows are cancelled, venues are threatened; production suppliers, roadies and crew are without work. With almost no notice, these hard-working, ordinary New Zealanders and their dependents are facing levels of distress and hardship never seen before. For 8 yea...

Marion Keyes calls this book "Powerful, compulsive and brilliant." Was she right about this deliberately controversial debut novel? It's a book that immerses readers in the twisted world of teen  abuse. For the #METOO world this is a very uncomfortable scenario to willingly participate in. Perhaps naively we'd hope that stories like this would never go like this. But they still remain. The real difficulty is the way the story is told through the adult narrator. Delusional and in clear denial, our main character simply refuses to acknowledge her childhood trauma - not because she's blocking it, or it's just too much to bear but because, to her it simply didn't happen that way. Even as a rational adult she recalls the events with complete emotional distance. In another era, this would be a perfectly acceptable love story between an older man and a young woman, a coming of age tale. But nowadays, this is a twisted and disturbing Lolita story. Uncom...

Join Text Publishing for the announcement of the winner of the 13th annual $10,000 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children's Writing! Unfortunately, they can't throw an IRL party for our wonderful shortlist this year, so it'll be streaming the party straight into your living room instead! From hundreds of manuscript submissions, it's been whittled it down to a shortlist of seven, but who will be the winner? All will be revealed on Wednesday 20 May - 6pm Melbourne Time / 8PM NZ Time -  https://www.facebook.com/textpublishing  or  https://www.youtube.com/user/TEXTPUB Text is delighted to announce that seven manuscripts have been shortlisted for the 2020 $10,000 Text Prize for young adult and children’s writing. THEREFORE I AM by Miranda Luby Sarah is determined to leave her old life behind when she is rejected by the guy she likes and moves to London with her family. But in her new friendships she becomes embroiled in a complex web of bullying and the mystery of an...

First Time Writer Writer Becky Manawatu has taken out the top prize at the Okham Book Awards this year for her novel 'Auē'.  The Awards were announced in an award ceremony broadcast live on YouTube  tonight.  She also took out the MitoQ First Book Award. Here's the full list of winners. JANN MEDLICOTT ACORN PRIZE FOR FICTION Becky Manawatu Auē -  Becky Manawatu  (Mākaro Press) Auē, by first-time novelist Becky Manawatu, introduces readers to the orphaned Arama, who is deposited in rural Kaikōura with relatives, and his brother Taukiri, a young man fending for himself in the big smoke. There is violence and sadness and rawness in this book, but buoyant humour, too, remarkable insights into the minds of children and young men, incredible forgiveness and a massive suffusion of love. With its uniquely New Zealand voice, its sparing and often beautiful language, the novel patiently weaves the strands of its tale into an emotionally enveloping...