Shadow Chaser

This book is about a girl named Faye Delaney, who moves around New Zealand with her parents to look after different houses. She loves seeing new places and learning how to take care of the animals, but she’s also a bit sad because she doesn’t get to hang out with other kids her age since she is homeschooled.

In the story, Faye hears about a strange creature in New Zealand and gets really curious about it. She starts to think she’s seeing the creature at the places they stay, and it feels both exciting and a little scary! People in the story think the creature is dangerous, but Faye believes it’s actually something special, and she tries to protect it.

One of the coolest things about the book is how the author describes each place Faye visits. Since the book is set in New Zealand, we were able to think about the places we've been to and remember them! We also really liked hearing the Māori words in the book, especially when the author talks about guardians of New Zealand and our whakapapa. It made us think about our own connection to animals and nature.

We would recommend this book to kids who are 9 years or older because there are some things in the story that might be a little tricky to understand, but it’s also really fun to follow Faye on her adventure! You’ll also learn about Māori culture, which is pretty cool.