I wanted Mrs Ho out of my life. I wanted her to leave Trinity College. But God and your angels, shut your eyes on my vengeful plans, I never wanted Mrs Ho to be dead.
If you love smart and funny girls who tell it like it is, there’s a new girl for you to meet in A Month with April-May by Edyth Bulbring. Her name is April-May February … seriously. And her bizarre name is only the beginning of April-May’s troubles.
April-May has won a scholarship to the ultra-posh Trinity Academy, but her disastrous first day doesn’t bode well for the year to come. After being yelled at for having the wrong colour bag and too-bright socks, she is forced to sit next to the class mouth-breather and is soon engaged in a power struggle with the infuriating Mrs Ho. Isolated and unable to fit in, she finds solace and inspiration in the beautiful Sebastian and his gang, who are impressed by her rebellious attitude.
Will April-May hang on to her scholarship at the Academy? Will her father “Fluffy” ever get her school uniform back? And will Sebastian lead her into more danger than even April-May can cope with? Her story is a funny one but will pull on your heartstrings.
Author Edyth Bulbring is a South African writer whose books are so popular that they are part of the national curriculum for year 7 to 8, and this book is flavoured with the youth culture and slang of Johannesburg. Keep an eye out for the sequel 100 Days of April-May.
In the lead up to Waitangi Day, why not find out more about one of the most signficant Treaty claim made to date. Wai 262 is sometimes known as the “flora and fauna” or “intellectual property” claim. Noted academic, Sacha McMeeking will present a talk on this topic with time available for questions and answers.
Every year Ngāi Tahu commemorates Waitangi Day at one of three locations where the iwi signed the Treaty — Awarua, Ōtākou and Ōnuku. In 2017, the Ngāi Tahu Treaty of Waitangi commemorations are at Ōtākou Marae, Tamatea Road, Otago Peninsula.
Subscribe to the Ngāi Tahu Treaty of Waitangi commemorations event on Facebook.
On Monday 6 February, the Okains Bay Maori and Colonial Museum has its 42nd annual family day to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Highlights include a pōwhiri (traditional welcome), hangi lunch, children’s races and the paddling of the magnificent waka on the Opara River 1pm. View the Museum’s collections and enjoy continuous demonstrations all day including bread baking in a traditional clay oven, master weavers, wood chopping and sheep shearing. Crafts, stalls, pony rides, lolly scramble, sausage sizzle, espresso coffee, garden bar, cafeteria and more.
Entrance cost: Adults $10, Children $2. Please bring cash. No ATM available. Gates open at 10am. Pōwhiri commences at 10:30am. Phone the Okains Bay Museum 03 304 8611 for more details.
Waka launch, Waitangi Day, Okain’s Bay, 6 February 1977 Flickr: HWC08-SO10
Commemorate Waitangi Day at the Christchurch Art Gallery with performances, art and family-friendly activities that celebrate Aotearoa New Zealand and tangata whenua. The day will include including harakeke weaving, and a kapa haka demonstration at 1pm.This will be followed by a performance of Dudley Benson’s incredible ‘A Wedding’ at 3pm — a bold and visceral declaration of our relationship with the land, expressed through engaging pop music.
The “I Love New Brighton” Annual Event is a local festival day that celebrates New Brighton — south, north, central and beyond. The 2017 event is at Thomson Park, Marine Parade from 11am to 3pm. Lots of free activities, have-a-go sports, market stalls, food stalls, bouncy castles, face painting, games and a LIVE stage featuring local bands.
Subscribe to the I love New Brighton event on Facebook.
Kaiapoi’s Annual Waitangi Day family celebration event is on again at Trousselot Park, Kaiapoi from 10am to 2pm on Monday 6 February. Activities include: live entertainment, school kapa haka performances, market and food stalls, bouncy castle, pony rides, face painting and ‘walk about’ quiz. Support Kaiapoi High School and buy a hangi meal for lunch, tickets are on sale from the Kaiapoi i-site $10 each.
Free fun activities for the whole family at Darfield’s Waitangi Day Community Country Picnic. Pedalmania, bouncy castles, pony rides, petting zoo, games — plus market stalls and more. Bring a picnic and top up at the food stalls while listening to local storyteller and puppeteer Liz Weir. Local emergency services will be there including rides on the old fire engine with a lolly scramble. Join in a game of backyard cricket, enjoy a Devonshire tea, ice cream, candyfloss and lemonade.
In the hunt for Iolanthe Green, Anna Treadway takes you through a simpler time in many ways, with a notable absence of all the technology and urgency that dominates our existence today. This is what I found quite charming about the book – stepping into a time where you seemed to survive on tea and toast, your entire wardrobe could fit in one bag, you walked to get from A to B and you felt wicked if you stayed on the bus beyond the stop that you had paid up to.
I definitely had preconceptions before reading Miss Treadway and the Field of Stars – as we all do when we read the blurb on a book. I was expecting a really gripping mystery that would take me behind the scenes of the theatre district – so that I could literally peek behind the curtain of a world that I’ve never seen. This didn’t quite transpire, but I wasn’t disappointed because instead I was taken on a tour of 1960s Soho. But even this was secondary to witnessing some of the less pleasant aspects of life and relationships in this time.
Miranda Emmerson does a great job of highlighting the multitude of social issues that reigned during the mid 1960s. The story winds its way through racism, social hierarchy, police brutality, unplanned pregnancies – a time with some very big restrictions on personal freedom as abortions and gay relationships would both still be illegal for a couple of years. My overactive sense of fairness left me continuing to hope that the characters Anna and Aloysius would stand up and rebel against their treatment and segregation – and in small ways they did – but ultimately they were somewhat resigned to their place in the world. Ahh the frustration!!
Now this kind of book isn’t normally my cup of tea as I prefer to escape from the ugliness of our world when I read – or at least know the characters will have a win somewhere in the mix; but I still found it quietly entertaining and feeling very grateful for the rights that I was born in to!
I wanted Mrs Ho out of my life. I wanted her to leave Trinity College. But God and your angels, shut your eyes on my vengeful plans, I never wanted Mrs Ho to be dead.
Will April-May hang on to her scholarship at the Academy? Will her father “Fluffy” ever get her school uniform back? And will Sebastian lead her into more danger than even April-May can cope with? Her story is a funny one but will pull on your heartstrings.
Christchurch City Libraries Blog 