Hooked on NZ Books

Hooked on NZ Books He Ao Ano is a thriving programme that aims to increase teen awareness of and engagement with Aotearoa NZ writing. We provide review copies of books self-selected by the readers, and work with teens to revise their draft reviews before publishing on the Read NZ Te Pou Muramura website. Our reviewers age from 12-18 years old across a range of ethnicities, and hail from everywhere from the far North to the Chatham Islands. The students currently engaged with the programme are a real mix of ages, abilities and reading tastes. The reviews they produce are outstanding and demonstrate both the enjoyability of reading for pleasure and the extent to which participation in the programme develops critical analysis and fluid writing skills.

The funding received from the Mātātuhi Foundation will help to transform Hooked on NZ Books He Ao Ano into a more authentic programme run by teens, for teens. We will hire a recent alum of the programme on a part-time basis to drive awareness of the programme, build teen-teen mentoring relationships, create a virtual community of HoB reviewers, and create a development/upskilling programme for participants.