Showing results by narrator "Naomi Barton" in All Categories

Twisty scares with heart. Ghosts, sea monsters, and a rest home for troublesome witches all feature in this collection of paranormal stories set in Wellington, New Zealand. By turns spooky and laugh-out-loud funny, these tales stew with malevolence and mischief. Climb aboard the ghost bus for a wild ride of sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and humor, and hop off a little more in love with Aotearoa's capital city.

Big Red is more than a pet…so much more. The large ginger ball of fluff is not the only one taken, which is a catastrophe for the owners who, like Maddie, consider them family. Of course, the body found behind her bakery takes precedence, with the police and the town is scared, but why is no one else searching for the pets? Sheriff Tanner, who happens to be her ex-boyfriend, is doing what he can to solve both crimes. Still, Maddie can’t sit by and wait. Going against her darling Gran’s wishes, she once again does her own detective work - with a little help from her friends.

Sylvie is a friendly snail who loves to explore. More than anything else in the world, she wants to go on a big adventure. When Sylvie discovers that her neighbors Ben and Kate are going on holiday, she wants to go too! So, she hides inside Ben's favorite toy truck, so she can go with them. But, the world's a big place. Things go horribly wrong.

Em Rogers life changes forever when she gets her first after-school detention. If she'd known Dad would die in a traumatic accident, and Mum would have a nervous breakdown, she never would have talked in class. Was it all her fault? After losing friends, confidence, and hope, Em moves north to live with Nan and finds a future filled with promise, with the help of new friends, a mermaid, and a magic rock.

“Haven’t you heard about the virus?” When her BFF asks this question at the bus stop, there was no way 10-year-old Emilia could know that the global pandemic of COVID-19 was about to turn her life upside down. Based on true events, this story follows the journey of Emilia, who lives in South Korea with her teacher mother, where they both enjoy their international school community. Life is wonderful until the rapidly spreading global pandemic of COVID-19 prompts her mother to take Emilia from her home in Korea to her home in New Zealand.

In a German Pension (1911) was Katherine Mansfield’s first published collection of short stories. Many of these works had been previously published in the British weekly magazine, The New Age, which also featured work by figures including G. K. Chesterton, H. G. Wells, and George Bernard Shaw. The word “pension" in the title refers to a European guest-house.

This collection of short stories, by celebrated New Zealand writer Katherine Mansfield, was first published in 1920. Many of Mansfield’s short stories explore New Zealand landscapes and identity, and her work has been a shaping force in the short story genre.

Set in the forest in northern New Zealand, Mila is a young woman descended from healers. A family death causes her terrible guilt and sets her on a path away from home and to the distant city. Her friend Tommy, the quirky boy next door who makes models from bones, helps to bring her home, where she belongs.

New Zealand-born Pania Hayes has won the hearts of her Californian crowds. But after her husband’s untimely death, the opera singer realizes fame and fortune mean nothing without loved ones to share it with.

Fourteen-year-old Sid Everett longs for the excitement and glory of being a famous jockey. Despite having nothing but an old farm horse, he dreams of riding to victory with his name in the headlines and money in his pockets.

On a perfect summer's day, at a school picnic beside a lake, four-year-old Gemma Anderson goes missing, leaving a family devastated and a community asking questions. Seventeen years later, Gemma's older sister Stephanie is practising as a psychiatrist. A new patient's revelations force her to re-examine the disappearance. Why are their stories so similar? Unable to let the matter rest, Stephanie embarks on a journey to find out what really happened to Gemma on that long-ago afternoon.

When traveling singer Graysie Castellanos inherits a rundown mine, she thinks it’s her golden opportunity to provide her adopted daughter with a happy childhood and a prosperous future. But their bright new beginning crumbles underfoot when the townsfolk of the Sierra Nevada mining town start dropping dead of mysterious causes.

California, 1868. Isabella Wilmington’s dream of taking center stage feels empty without her long-lost twin brother cheering her on. When a bullet cuts through the crowd, she’s convinced the murderous act is a warning shot against her search for her missing sibling. Determined to crack the case, she tags along with a rugged ex-soldier who’d rather keep her out of harm’s way than put her on the frontlines of a dangerous investigation.

Earth as a new Dungeon World means opportunities and dangers galore. One of the enduring aspects of the System is the Shop, an interdimensional series of stores that compete for the opportunity to service clients and make a profit doing so. New clients on a new Dungeon World mean rare and heretofore unseen items and massive profits. No surprise that the vultures have arrived, searching for easy marks.

Troubled teen Faith Marsden was one of several girls abducted from Crawton, a country town known for its picturesque lake and fertile farmland. Unlike the others, she escaped, though sixteen years on she still bears the emotional and physical scars. Zoe Haywood returns to Crawton to bury her estranged mother Lillian. As she and Faith rekindle their high-school friendship, they discover notes left by Lillian that point to two more young women who recently disappeared from Crawton.

New York, 1847. Elanora dreams of marrying her childhood sweetheart Eustace. The proposal on her 21st birthday is everything she hoped for, until her fiancé’s father dispatches him to the West Indies. After the promise of a white Christmas with the man she loves evaporates, she stumbles upon a secret that could tear Eustace’s family apart....