Predictably, this year is seeing a rash of new books with wartime themes and they don't come better than Jill Harris' novel, The Red Suitcase.
Ruth has returned to Auckland with her father, after a terrorist bomb in Indonesia kills a colleague and students at the Christian university where he lectures.
The teenager is finding it difficult to settle back home, especially as her mother is still in Java and her best friend is out of touch. She reconnects with an old friend, Sally, so things look up but life gets worse for Ruth when she begins having blackouts.
In them, she shares the life of a World War 2 airman. She is terrified but is helped by a classmate, Thomas, who uses Einstein's theory of relativity to try to explain what is happening.
A beautifully balanced novel about war and its aftermath, with timely material about changing Muslim attitudes in Indonesia. Ages 12+.
