An Unexpected Hero
by L P Hansen
$21.95
What could be worse, Matt Turner wonders, than having to leave your parents, friends and the buzz of big city life for a remote rural school that’s so small it only has two classrooms, and two teachers who are married to each other?
The twelve-year old soon finds out that worse things can happen. A school project plunges him into his worst nightmare – he has to make a speech in public.
Matt decides to speak about New Zealand’s First World War pacifist, Archibald Baxter.
But is that a good idea in a district where almost every family has lost someone to war?
Comprehensive Teachers’ Resource Kits available as free downloads
RUTH PAUL: author/illustrator of The King’s Bubbles which won the NZ Post Children’s Choice picture book award, 2008 – :
‘Linda Hansen cleverly exposes a hidden tale of wartime New Zealand within a gripping contemporary story. Great reading!
DAVID HILL: author of ‘My Brother’s War’, winner of both the Junior Fiction and the Children’s Choice Junior fiction NZ Post book awards 2013, plus the LIANZA Librarians’ Choice Award 2013 and Storylines Notable Book Award 2013. – :
‘Linda Hansen’s novel is a mischievous, affectionate story of a very likeable, very credible young boy, who startles everyone, including himself, by what he proves himself able to do. There’s tension, trouble and triumph, all authentically rendered. Young readers will know people just like Matt, will recognise his world and his problems, and will delight in the success of this genuinely unlikely hero.’