This page lists and summarises books for young adults, including fiction and non-fiction. Listed books have been published by Top of the South writers and are available for purchase.
To find out where to buy the book and learn more about the author, click on the author's name.
To find out where to buy the book and learn more about the author, click on the author's name.
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Kidnapped by Majic
Nyria Fey (2023) Wen doesn't believe in majic, but when she tries a spell it is so explosive that she attracts the attention of the authorities. Wen finds safety with Brin in the majical forest and he teaches her how to use and control the power of her spells. When the local people ask her to help reinstate their true rulers, her newfound magic is put to the test. Will it help - or will it only make thin gs worse? |
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Magic to Mindfulness: a Pathway to Science
Patricia Berwick (2020) The central aim of the book is to encourage young people to enter science with open minds and to enjoy the process. Difficult concepts are explained by comic characters arguing together to clarify meaning. The biographies of famous scientists explore scientific methodology. An avatar ties all the biographies together. |
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Rebel Robot
Nyria Fey (2021) Juvenile Robots are popular with Sanna's friends, and she hopes to get one for her birthday. Instead, she gets Jade: a utility robot reprogrammed with juvenile software. But when several attempts are made to steal him, she realises that there is something special about Jade. With her robot's help, she and two friends try to solve the mystery of Jade's former occupation and reprogramming. |
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Shield
Rachael Craw (2016) Evie is out of options. She must comply with the Affinity Project – obey their rules, play their deadly games, give up Jamie. And her losses keep growing. When she decides to help a small group of Shields trying to affect change, Evie finds herself in the firing line. To protect her family, Evie must betray those closest to her. The odds of success – let alone survival – are slim. |
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Spark
Rachael Craw (2014) Evie doesn’t have a choice. One day she’s an ordinary 17 year old, grieving for her mother. The next, she’s a Shield, the result of a decades-old experiment gone wrong, bound by DNA to defend her best friend from an unknown killer. The threat could come at home, at school, anywhere. All Evie knows is that it will be a fight to the death. And then there’s Jamie. Irresistible. Off-limits. |
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Stray
Rachael Craw (2015) Evie is a Shield: designed to kill in order to protect, and the Affinity Project has finally come for her. But Evie isn’t ready for the sinister organisation to take control of her life, her body, her mind. She isn’t ready to follow their rules about who may live and who must die – not when it condemns the innocent. She has one option: risk losing everything and everyone – including Jamie – and run. |
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The Body Snatcher
Kaye Kelly (2015) When he finds a body under the wharf, fourteen year-old Brian Lowe suddenly has more to cope with than his new found interest in girls. But the body disappears before the police arrive and since Brian’s been known to stretch the truth at times, nobody believes his story. Humiliated, he begins to wonder whether he dreamt the whole thing and determines to forget all about it, but fate decrees otherwise… |
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The Last Wyvern
Sue Perkins (2024) Kerridee was banished from her village and had no choice but to travel south, as the way north was guarded. She sought shelter in the trees, but one night a deafening roar startled her. Seeking refuge from a powerful rainstorm, she stumbled upon a cave and encountered a lone wyvern, the last of his kind. Together they forge an alliance, but what will their future hold? |
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The Rift
Rachael Craw (2018) For generations, the Rangers of Black Water Island have guarded the Old Herd against horrors released by the Rift. After nine years away, Meg Archer returns to her childhood home only to find the Island facing a new threat that not even the Rangers are prepared for. Can Meg and apprentice ranger Cal West ignore their mutual attraction and save the Island from disaster? |
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Whakaari
Marion Day (2023) Roa is a troubled teen, from a small town, and has too many dads. She lives near Whakaari/White Island, which is both beautiful and dangerous. She's being crushed by the weight of two secrets: the men her mother has brought into their lives have damaged her; and she is a criminal. Roa never forgets Whakaari. As she hangs out with her street gang the volcano her feelings. A botched robbery, a rash encounter with a boy. Can she escape the ruins? |