Christchurch Kids Blog

Hollie Chips has always been different, even as a baby.  For one thing, she can never tell even the tiniest lie- it makes her tongue burn like fire.  She is also very inquisitive  so when she and her mother move to Puriti Road, Hollie is full of questions, such as  “What does Barry Buckscud want?”, “Why is he sizing up Puriti Road, and talking about a dog food factory?”, and the most important, “How am I going to stop him?”  She makes it her quest to be friendly to her neighbours, and make them so happy at Puriti Road that they will refuse to leave. But then Barry Buckscud tells a huge lie to her and her neighbours, and only Hollie knows the truth. It is now up to her to save Puriti Road from Barry- before it’s too late!

When I first saw this book, I have to say that I was the smallest bit discouraged by the cover.  Because of this I was very surprised to find out how well-written it was.  It was only after the first 2-3 pages that I realised how wrong I had been. This book is currently a finalist in the NZ Post Children’s Book Awards, and I am definitely going to vote for this book.  Girls would probably like this more, but boys would as well if they read it.  Again, never judge a book by its cover! My favourite character was probably Ethel Bainbridge, who is Hollie’s neighbour. She generally hates all children, but by the end she’s a little softer.  I enjoyed the use of dialogue in the book, I thought that it was very life-like, like something that someone would really say. Children from about 8 to 12 would like this book, and I give it an 8 out of 10.

Tierney.