KPE Episode 458: "Traitor"

Darius interviews Shoal about a book called "Traitor" by  Andy McNab and  Robert Rigby.

Boy Soldier is a series of novels written by Andy McNab with the cooperation of Robert Rigby. It tells the story of a boy named Danny Watts and his grandfather Fergus, apparently a rogue ex-SAS soldier.

Darius and Shoal are Year 8 students in Room 21 at Pt England School.

Danny Watts' grandfather, Fergus, was a Deniable Operator in the SAS before he was betrayed, imprisoned, and falsely denounced as a traitor. Now Fergus has escaped, but the real traitor is determined to silence Fergus and Danny for good. Together Danny and Fergus are forced to go on the run in an against-the-odds battle for survival. As they try to clear Fergus' name, Danny learns all the military field craft, trade skills, and covert operations techniques that are second nature to his grandfather. When Fergus is recaptured, Danny must put those skills to the test and rescue Fergus before it's too late.

KPE Episode 457: "Meet Me in Horrorwood"

Makayla and Ashlee review "Meet Me in Horrorwood (Creepella von Cacklefur #2)" by Geronimo Stilton

This series is very popular with kids at Pt England School.

Makayla is a Year 7 student in Room 21 and Ashlee, her classmate, interviews her.

Gorgo, the monster in Cacklefur Castle's moat, is in love with the famous monster movie star Blobbina. When Creepella helps Gorgo write Blobbina a love letter, they discover that Blobbina has disappeared! Creepella heads to Horrorwood to search for the missing monster, but will she be able to find her?

KPE Episode 456: "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief"

Jasmine and Ashleigh are in Year 8 at Pt England School.  

Jasmine has read "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief" by  Rick Riordan.

Wikipedia tells us this about the story:

Percy Jackson is a twelve-year-old boy with dyslexia and ADHD, who has been expelled from every school he has ever attended. When his class takes a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, his pre-algebra teacher Mrs. Dodds transforms into a Fury and attacks him. Percy's Latin teacher Mr. Brunner throws Percy a magic sword named Anaklusmos or the English translation, Riptide, and sends Mrs. Dodds to Tartarus.

When Percy and his mother go to Montauk, his friend Grover Underwood comes to tell them to leave immediately. They drive away in a horrible storm, and a Minotaur takes Percy's mother in a blinding flash of light. In anger, Percy kills the Minotaur and takes one of its horns. He wakes up three days later, healed by nectar and ambrosia, at Camp Half-Blood. Grover reveals himself to be a satyr, and Mr. Brunner reveals himself to be Chiron the centaur. As nobody knows whose son Percy is, he is placed in the Hermes, the god of messengers, travelers, and thieves, cabin. After several water-related incidents, a trident mark appears above Percy's head, his father Poseidon claiming him.

We think you will enjoy the discussion these two girls have about the book.

KPE Episode 455: "The Adventures of BeanBoy"

The Adventures of BeanBoy by Lisa Harkrader is reviewed by Darius and Shoal, who are both Year 8 students in Room 21. 

Never underestimate the power of the bean. Tucker MacBean has been drawing comic books almost as long as he’s been reading them. When his favorite comic has a contest for kids, he hopes he has finally found a way to fix his family—all he has to do is create the winning superhero sidekick . . . Introducing “Beanboy”—the first comic book character to truly harness the power of the bean for good. He is strong, he is relentless, he can double in size overnight (if given enough water). 

Tucker MacBean is in middle school. He's not unpopular, but he's not popular either. He does all that he can to just be invisible, especially from the school bully Sam. Tucker rushes home everyday to make sure he takes care of his special needs brother because his mother works and goes to university. Tucker and his brother love comic books. In the latest issue of his favorite comic, he notices an advertisement for a contest to develop a new sidekick for the superhero. The prize is a full university scholarship. Tucker immediately decides to enter to get his mum the scholarship so she can stay home and not have to work so much, but he knows that he can not work on his sidekick drawings at home while also babysitting his brother. To solve this issue, Tucker asks to join the after school art club.

KPE Episode 454: Wolves Of The Beyond- Lone Wolf

2013 and Korero Pt England is in it's 8th year!  Welcome back to the Pt England podcasters.

The first episode of 2013 is produced by Vivienne and Marvin.  They have been reading and reviewing "Wolves Of The Beyond- Lone Wolf" written by Kathryn Lasky.


In this book a mother wolf tries to find a safe place to have her pups. Its a snowy night and you can’t really see anything. The mother wolf is struggling to find a place to have her pups when luckily she finds a den that is empty. She enters the den.....

Publishers blurb: A wolf mother has given birth, but the warm bundle snuffling next to her brings only anguish. The pup, otherwise healthy, has a twisted paw, and the mother knows what the harsh code of the pack demands. Her pup will be taken from her and abandoned on a desolate hill. The pack cannot have weakness - the wolf mother knows that her pup is condemned to die.

But alone in the wilderness, the pup, Faolan, does not perish. This his story - a story of survival, of courage, and of love triumphant. This is Faolan's story, the wolf pup who rose up to change forevever the Wolves of the Beyond.

KPE Episode 453: The Talking Stick

Serena and Mateo are both year 7 students in room 22, and have recently read The Talking Stick by Dot Meharry.

A boy named Hohepa has a dream in which he is in the marae (meeting house) with his family waiting for the talking stick to be passed on to him, so he can tell his stories but it happens to be that there isn't one.
In an effort to keep in touch with his roots, Hohepa decides to make a talking stick for his family.

Take a Listen to this awesome podcast

KPE Episode 452: Cows In Action - The Moo-My's Curse

Tana has recently done a podcast with classmate, Tevita who has been reading Cows In Action, The Moo - My's Curse by Steve Cole.

Cows In Action is a series of books that follow star agents who happen to be cows. They must travel to several places in order to stop the bad guys! 
In this series Professor McMoo, Bo Vine and Pat must find out about the Moo - My's curse by going back in time and stop the evil bulls from messing up the Earth's history.
This is a great adventurous book and will have you wanting more.

KPE Episode 451: "Beyond the River"

Brooklyn and Rita have been reading "Beyond the River" by Joy Cowley. 

This book is a collection of 12 short stories for young people. All are set in the South Pacific, some with very familiar locations in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Most use fantasy to create modern fairy tales about our surroundings and Brooklyn focuses on one of them.

KPE Episode 450: Billie B Brown, The Little Lie

Cheyanne and Taeshell are both year 6 students in room 17, and  have come together to do a review on a book called Billie B Brown The Little Lie, written by Sally Rippen

Billie has just broken her arm, playing hunters and the arrow had accidentally landed on the roof, as she climbed up to retrieve the arrow, she fell and broke her arm.
But just to make the story more interesting Billie adds in a few crocodiles. As her little white lie isn't so little anymore, her friends aren't sure what to believe...



                              Check out this awesome podcast!

KPE Episode 449: Just Jack

Marvin and Melvin are both year 7 students in room 20, and have recently joined forces to create a podcast about a book Melvin has been reading called Just Jack by New Zealand author Adele Broadbent. 
This book was a 2012 NZ Posts Children's book awards FINALIST!

Wee Jack Baines is a 14 year old boy who lives on their family farm in Ormondville  under the shadow of his older brother Robert who excels in everything he does, but one thing he is good at is his gift with horses. Jack is very small for his age, and with his gift with horses his Uncle arranges a jockey apprenticeship in Hastings.

This was wee Jack's chance to prove himself to his family, especially his brother and rid of his nickname that he hates 'Wee Jack' and just be Jack.

 Jack quickly realises that its much harder than he anticipated and comes to terms that he is more like a stable boy and his chances of a jockey apprenticeship are slipping away from his grasp.  But with some help Jack soon finds a new position in Napier and is back on his way to becoming a winning jockey.

Until the ground begins to shake beneath him...