New Releases by David Hill

In 1788, 11 small ships set sail from England on an eight-month-long voyage over the roughest of seas, carrying 1,500 people, food for two years, and all the equipment needed to build a colony of convicts in a land completely beyond their experience and imagination. In Portsmouth, the fleet''s preparation was characterized by disease, promiscuity, and death. The journey itself was one of unbearable hardship, but also of extraordinary resilience. Upon their arrival, however, the colonists faced their biggest challenges of all: conflict, starvation, and despair. Combining the skill of a vigilant journalist with the magic of a master novelist, this entrancing history brings the sights, sounds, sufferings, and joys of the "First Fleeters” back to life. Journals, letters, reports, and pleas to England are all interwoven here with the author''s own insight, and together they convey the innermost horrors and joys of the very first European Australians. The result is a narrative history that is surprising, compelling, and unforgettable.

EAP Now Preliminary is the first level of this two level series that prepares students for academic study.

Ben is useless at sport but when he joins the writers'' group at school he finds he has some talent. Suggested level: primary, intermediate.

While working in the woods to save money for a trip to Fiji, Garth and his friends get caught up in a sudden forest fire and must do anything they can to survive the spreading inferno.

Created especially for kids who don''t like to read, the series includes science fiction, horror, fantasy, adventure, and ghost stories-a great introduction to genre study.

Something in Matt and Arlo''s apartment building smells terrible. In this humorous narrative, Matt and Arlo use their problem-solving skills to solve the problem.

In the future, society is run by an organisation known as Global. Cal and his friends become involved in uncovering a black market in body parts at the Global controlled Central Lab, putting all of them in great danger. Suggested level: intermediate, junior secondary.

There''s a bad smell in Matt and Arlo''s apartment building, but the boys can''t find the source of the problem. So they devise a plan to solve the mystery of the big stink.

Steve doesn''t have much time to write a Valentine''s message for Lara. His stepbrother, Nat, suggests that he writes Lara a poem - but Steve discovers he''s an extremely bad poet! Suggested level: intermediate.

Presents a detailed description and analysis of Offa''s Dyke that is set against the background of the political and social context of the kingdom of Mercia, over which King Offa ruled from 757 to 796. This book offers a fresh interpretation of the Dyke''s line, length and purpose. It is suitable for academics, amateur historians and archaeologists.

When Slade comes to Green Harbour College, with its rich kids and richer parents, the first person he meets is Mallory Garner. How does Slade feel about Mallory? He wants to kick her. Slowly he changes his mind, especially when he discovers the terrible secret that haunts Mallory''s life. An unsettling, top speed, always accurate story from one of New Zealand''s most popular writers for young people. Shortlisted for the Senior Fiction Prize in the New Zealand Post Children''s Book Awards 2003. Winner of the LIANZA Russell Clark Award 2003.

Jotan lives on Bellatrix, a Star-Reacher that holds 80,000 people and takes nearly three days to walk across. He is on his first mission, an attempt to explore a Black Hole, but they are in grave danger of being sucked in.

Rattlesnakes poison their prey and swallow them whole. So why do some people want to get close to these dangerous creatures?

Girls, scientists, mystery and intrigue - and an exciting trip to NASA to save the world (well, almost). A fast-moving, easy-to-read novel for early teens.

Leona Sayres, wife of a small Mississippi town preacher, has seethed in loneliness and rage since her husband, Averill, buried her newborn baby girl. The only way Leona knows to ease her pain is to murder her husband. Suddenly doing the unthinkable, Leona discovers Averill had secrets beyond her guessing, and cannot stop the chain of events that will unmask an astounding secret and change a town and its people forever.

Corey loves Mount Taranaki. Locals call the mountain "the sleeper" because it hasn''t murmured for 250 years. But one day, high up on the mountain, Corey and his dad feel the first rumblings. Deep inside the great pyramid of lava rock and scoria, the unthinkable is beginning to happen. Suggested level: intermediate, junior secondary.

Alienated at school and troubled by his parents'' separation, Kit loses himself in running, until one day an accident on the road catapults him into what seems to be a parallel universe.

Books in the series present specialised research into all aspects of New Testament textual and historical culture, taking a range of approaches. This is widely recognised as the most authoritative and prestigious forum for serious scholarly publication in the area, and series books are highly regarded by biblical scholars the world over. General Editors: Edward Adams, King''s College London

Collingdale''s first ever hockey team struggle to win the championship, with only determination, character and a great coach on their side. Suggested level: primary, intermediate.

A story for children in which Jake''s growing interest in the swamp, and what a new sports stadium might do to it, lead him to Calcott Intermediate''s Green Group, and the events leading up to a disaster at the swamp. The author has won many awards, and his stories for children and teenagers have been published internationally.

It''s all about basketball for Ethan, Hamish, Tye and Amber as they and their small-town team take on the city-slicker Banks Street team, fighting for the championship round.

Many good things are happening where Glyn and Api live. But the bad things are starting to build up - Glyn''s mother''s boyfriend, family pressures, and a stunning, scary discovery in the nearby sandhills which turns their world upside-down and almost ends a life.

Sent by his father on a five-day wilderness hike in the rugged New Zealand mountains, Rob and five other less-experienced teenagers must go it alone when their leader suddenly dies.

When Welton Intermediate School starts its own New Image rugby team, things don''t look promising; but Welton Wanderers have a few cunning plans. Suggested level: primary, intermediate.