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 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 411: "The Short Voyage of the Albert Ross"

Waata has read "The Short Voyage of the Albert Ross" by Jan Mark while he was in Room 17 in 2011 and Darius interviews him about it.

A young boy finds a raft down by the river but before he can take it on its maiden voyage he must stand up to the school bully.  The day Steven found the raft by the river was special. But the next day John found out about the raft. John was a bully and thought the raft should be his. This is the story of how Steven stood up to John and how the raft fared on its maiden voyage.

KPE Episode 391: "The Wednesday Wizard"

 "The Wednesday Wizard" by Sherryl Jordan is presented by Darius and Marvin from Room 17. This is a medieval wizard / time travel  story. They have a really interesting  and wide ranging discussion in this podcast and we are confident you will enjoy it.

Check it out and tell us what you think...

When apprentice wizard Denzil miscasts a spell, he finds himself transported from his medieval village to the twentieth century. After much mischief and mayhem, he manages to return to his own time and place.

KPE Episode 388: "Tongue-Tied"

Crusader from Room 17 has been reading "Tongue Tied" by Paul Jennings and Darius interviews him about it.  

"Tongue Tied" is one of 8 stories in an anthology and it may surprise you to hear these boys enjoyed it!  

Sure it takes place behind a toilet!!! BUT it has romance, kissing and a creepy scene with a fish!  We think you need to check this out....

Have you ever

* Swallowed a live fish

* Seen bugs in hailstones

* Had luminous teeth

* Used a smell-detector

* Been a ghost

No? Then read about kids who have – eight twisted tales to leave you tongue-tied.

By the master of madness – The one and only Paul Jennings

KPE Episode 386: "Singenpoo Strikes Again"

Marvin has been reading "Singenpoo Strikes Again" by Paul Jennings and Darius interviews him.

Cats are dumb. They can't read. At least that's what Major Mac thinks. But Scott knows that Singen Poo is a special kind of cat, and if he can prove it, they'll beat that bulldog Mungo the Marvellous and mean Major Mac. Scott knows that his cat, Singenpoo can read. But will he be able to prove it? The competition is on... The hilarious sequel to The Paw Thing.

KPE Episode 371: "Kura Toa: Warrior School"

This podcast by two Room 17 boys, Waata and Darius , reviews "Kura Toa: Warrior School" by Tim Tipene.


In this book, a high school student named Haki must learn what it takes to become a warrior.  


After a mysterious old man who seems to know a lot about him steals a precious jade stone from him, Haki’s search for his belongings brings him into conflict with his family, his friends, and his school. Throughout the search, he must confront his fears, find a way to answer the challenge to serve his people and his land, and fight the taniwha, a dangerous mythical predator that lives in deep rivers and dark caves.

KPE Ep 368: "Nasty Stinky Sneakers"

Darius and Waata from Room 17 review
 "Nasty Stinky Sneakers" by Eve Bunting.


You will enjoy their banter and their fun graphics!



Colin has spent weeks perfecting his sneaker odor for the Stinkiest Sneakers in the World contest. If he wins, he'll get three brand-new pairs of Slam Dunkers sneakers: one for himself, one for his little sister, Amy, and one for his best pal, Webster.
But now, after weeks of working toward stinky perfection -- not washing his feet, wearing no socks, jogging to get his feet juicy, and even sleeping with his sneakers on -- the nasty, stinky sneakers are missing!

KPE Episode 348 :"Something Weird About Mr Foster"

Darius and Waata from Room 17 have been reading "Something Weird About Mr Foster" by Ken Catran.

Joe Bennett is a typical intermediate student. He enjoys school for the most part but would like it even more if it weren’t for Raymond. Raymond is the school bully. He is mean and ugly. Raymond takes money off the other kids and never pays them back. He’s always getting into fights. Joe spends a lot of his time avoiding Raymond so that he doesn’t have to give him money. 

Raymond is the reason why Joe leaves school through the teachers’ car park one day, instead of out the front gates. This is when he sees something extraordinary. His favourite teacher, Mr Foster drops a ball on the ground and instead of going over to pick it up he simply reaches out his arm, which grows and grows to over 4 metres long! Joe can hardly believe what he has seen, but he’s sure he’s not imagining it – especially when weird things start to happen. Joe has a very strange feeling that Mr Foster can read his mind and suddenly he has this amazing power and strength. Raymond is no longer a problem anymore – in fact, now the other kids aren’t scared of Raymond; they’re scared of Joe! But it seems that time is running out for Mr Foster. He is from outer space and all of the parts that make up his physical form are becoming weaker by the day. Earth is too polluted by humankind and Mr Foster is slowly dying. Joe needs to use all of his resources in order to save Mr Foster. The only problem is that he needs Raymond’s help to do it…

KPE Episode 328: "Black Gold"

Darius and Crusader bring us this novel by Julia Owen for their latest KPE podcast.

Ollie and Rimu have been planning and dreaming about their week at the coast for two months - one week of fishing, swimming, and camping all by themselves. No adults, far away from the rest of the world, free to do whatever they want, whenever they want.

Equipped with only the bare essentials, they head off into the dawn for what would turn out to be a much more exciting and dangerous adventure than they had dared to hope for.

Other people had set up camp in their cave! These people were armed and very dangerous-looking. Whatever they were up to, they had nearly finished and were making ready to leave very soon.

When Ollie was captured, Rimu has to use his wits to out-think the crooks.

Aided by the abused Storm, he set in action a daring plan to rescue Ollie, free the contraband and escape the clutches of the avenging poachers.

We know you will enjoy this book...

KPE Episode 305: "Whitebait Fritters"

Darius and Waata from Room 15 have finally published their podcast of "Whitebait Fritters" by Kingi McKinnon.  This is a pretty popular book with Pt England readers and you may have seen Leauma and Sam's earlier podcast of the same book. Of course it is a really interesting story, but we supspect all the talk of food and fishing is popular with our readers too. Why don't you check out both podcasts and see what each pair of podcasters found interesting to them.

KPE Episode 250: "Harry Houdini - Wonderdog!"

Waata and Darius - Room 15

For our 250th episode of Korero Pt England Waata and Darius have chosen to bring us the exploits of William Taylor's Wonder Dog - Harry Houdini!