From the you-have-to-laugh-or-you'd-cry department ...

Or maybe you'll laugh so much you'll cry anyway.

BP Spills Coffee

Into the Wilderness

It's being sold as young adult fiction, but there's no reason why this stunning dystopian novel can't be devoured also by - er - old adults.

I've just started doing children's and YA book reviews every 8 weeks for Your Weekend in the DomPost - yippee. And one of the many pleasures so far has been reading this book by Wellington author Mandy Hager (yep, sister of Nicky Hager). It's the sequel to her award winning The Crossing - although you don't necessarily need to read them in order.

Publishers and booksellers are saying that in these globally worrying times they're doing a roaring trade in dystopian fiction. I have this horrible feeling that we'll see a slew of  mediocre dystopias hitting the market to cynically capitalise on this trend.

But perhaps it's all right as long as there is also still beautiful, thought-provoking and moving work around like Hager's!

I won't say any more until the next reviews are out.