KPE 219: "A Very Wicked Headmistress"

"A Very Wicked Headmistress" by Margaret Mahy
Helen and Destiney from Room 18 bring us another crazy story from Margaret Mahy.
When the wicked Miss Taffeta—notorious cheater at cards and blackmailer, and former trapeze artist and human cannonball—opens an exclusive boarding school for rich young ladies, everything seems perfectly normal. But when strange things begin to occur at the school the students become suspicious, and they begin to wonder just who Headmistress Taffeta really is. As well as taking on the roles of all the different teachers in the school, Miss Taffeta plots to gain control of a neighbouring farmer's fortune by marrying him!
We are pretty sure you will love this book and this podcast.

KPE 218: "Fish Tale"

"Fish Tale" by Lorraine Orman
Victoria interviews Rachael from Room 18 for this episode of KPE. This book is very popular at Pt England School and is another in the Kiwi Bites series.

"Kathleen is worried about her Great-Grandfather. Ever since Great-Gran died, and since he's been living with Kathleen and her Mum, Gramps has been very quiet and sad-looking all the time. And on top of that, Kathleen s Mum has been working long hours now that Gramps is around to look after her. It's easy to get bored that is, until Kathleen realises Gramps funny-looking garden gnome can actually talk! What follows is a crazy adventure as Kathleen sets out to give the gnome what he most desires, in exchange for making her Gramps happy again."

The girls tell us that the author is reminding the readers that everyone needs good friends, no matter what age you are.

The book has been reviewed by KPE in the past so part of the challenge for these girls was to give a different perspective on the book. You might like to click here and listen to the first podcast of "Fish Tales" after you have listened to Victoria and Rachael and leave both sets of podcasters some feedback.

KPE Episode 217: "Rugby for Rosie"

"Rugby for Rosie" by Frances Adlam
Shaniah interviews Helen about a book they have read which really appeals to them because it is about a girl who wants to play rugby - and both of these girls like playing rugby at Pt England School.
The story goes like this....
"Rosie wants to play rugby for the school team. And she's good too. The only thing is that Rosie is the only girl who wants to play, and the team need three girls to qualify. So to do what she loves she has to convince the pink-loving, doll-bearing girls at her school that rugby is the sport for them. Things seem impossible until a celebrity the girly girls know very well turns up to give Rosie a hand!"
They tell us that the theme of this story is that you should be yourself, nothing good ever comes from trying to pretend you are someone else.
Have a listen and tell them what you think.

KPE 216: "30 Weird and Wonderful NZ Stories"

"30 Weird and Wonderful NZ Stories" edited by Barbara Else.
Maree and Gabrielle from Room 17 discuss several stories in this collection of New Zealand tales for this latest episode of KPE. You will want to read the book after you have listened to the podcast and you will find out something very interesting about where Maree gets to go for her family holidays.
When you figure out where that is, why don't you tell us if you have ever been there too?