A bus that has seen better travels, winds its way through a river gorge. Full of high school students and their teacher, it suddenly swerves and plummets over the side…..

Plunging into the river below, student’s are tossed like confetti inside and outside the bus. The few that make it out of the water are in shades of shock, disbelief and horror at what’s happened.

Unlike on the bus and at school, the levels of popular and not – are wiped clean and survival skills become king (or queen).

Most students are at the complete mercy of nature while they hope for rescue.  The least expected of them holds the knowledge to keep them alive. But it’s not only nature or the terrible tragedy affecting their physical and mental well being.

Others are scrambling to find them and control the outcome of everything – the waiting parent’s expectations, the teen’s lives and a long hidden secret.

Steph Matuku is an accomplished author across multiple genres and also a multi award winning NZ author.

Flight of the Fantail has long been on my list and I’m glad I finally dived into this page-turning genre-crossing YA novel.

Matuku has captured the many faces of teenagers in this novel. Popular and not. Bully and victim. Wealthy, spiteful, leader, follower, gay, straight, friend or foe.

But these personalities and pecking orders, either perfectly cultured throughout school years or forced upon them by their peers – is upended along with the camp bus they are travelling in, smashing apart in a deep river gorge.

Survival is key, but added complications beyond any of their imaginations steps this novel up another level of gripping, into thriller territory.

Loved it.

Author – Steph Matuku
Age – 12+

(2018, Huia Publishers, NZ, Aotearoa New Zealand, Accident, School Trip, Popular, Bullying, Survival, Survive, Grief, Secret, Corporation, NZ Bush, Maori, Relationships, Friendships, LGBTQ+, Cover up)