Just Arrived: Rachael King’s “Red Rocks”
Red Rocks is the new-out novel by NZ author, Rachael King, from Random House. It’s her first novel for young readers though—her two previous novels, The Sound of Butterflies and Magpie Hall were both adult fiction, both also published by Random House.
In terms of ‘age bracket’, at first glance I would put Red Rocks down as “junior” fiction, for readers within the 8-12 year range, rather than YA.
And here’s a synopsis drawn from the publisher’s website says:
“While holidaying at his father’s house, Jake explores Wellington’s wild south coast, with its high cliffs, biting winds, and its fierce seals. When he stumbles upon a sealskin, hidden in a crevice at Red Rocks, he’s compelled to take it home and hide it under his bed, setting off a chain of events that threatens to destroy his family.
Can he put things right before it’s too late?
Red Rocks takes the Celtic myth of the selkies, or seal people, and transplants it into the New Zealand landscape, throwing an ordinary boy into an adventure tinged with magic, with beautiful writing and an eerie atmosphere…”
With selkies and the wild southern bays of Wellington harbour juxtaposed, this promises to be an interesting story, and at 254 pages I hope to get through it relatively speedily. 😉 (Unlike the nine month wait for The Quantum Thief!)
There are also teaching resource kit available via the Random House website, here.