What could be worse, Matt Turner wonders, than having to leave your parents, friends and the buzz of big city life for a remote rural school that’s so small it only has two classrooms, and two teachers who are married to each other?
The twelve-year-old soon finds out that worse things can happen. A school project plunges him into his worst nightmare – he has to make a speech in public.
Matt decides to speak about New Zealand’s First World War pacifist, Archibald Baxter.
But is that a good idea in a district where almost every family has lost someone to war?
Format: Paperback, 145 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9941102-7-5
Teachers’ resource: Download PDF
An Unexpected Hero @ NZReadAloud: read more
Official book trailer: View (Youtube)
Order: direct from author below, or eBook and paperback from Amazon
Industry and readers’ reviews for An Unexpected Hero
David Hill, author of ‘My Brother’s War’
David Hill, author of ‘My Brother’s War’, winner of both the Junior Fiction and the Children’s Choice Junior Fiction: NZ Post Awards, 2013 NZ: ‘Linda Hansen’s novel An Unexpected Hero is a mischievous, affectionate story of a very likeable, very credible young boy, who startles everyone, including himself, by what he proves himself able to do.’
Ruth Paul, author/illustrator of many award-winning books
Ruth Paul, author/illustrator of many award-winning books including ‘The King’s Bubbles’ which won the NZ Post Children’s Choice Picture Book Award 2008: ‘In An Unexpected Hero Linda Hansen cleverly exposes a hidden tale of wartime New Zealand exposed within a gripping contemporary story. Great reading!’
Barbara Murison worked with children, people and books from 1950
Barbara Murison worked with children, people and books from 1950. Member New Zealand Association of Manuscript Assessors: ‘‘An Unexpected Hero’ is one of those books where you only have to read one page and you are hooked. The story is set in the present but the reader ends up knowing a great deal about what happened to so many New Zealanders one hundred years ago.’