Winner of Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Novel (Young Adult) 2012.

'The battle scene is one of the best I have read.' Barbara Murison

Feeling homesick is horrible. The new place, while exciting, just isn’t as good. The food is different, nothing is familiar, and people talk funny. It was like that when I moved to Wisconsin. Then I discovered Wisconsin’s intriguing animal-shaped effigy mounds, ancient sites with no known purpose. I imagined these mounds were secret portals to other places. If I found the right one, perhaps it would whisk me home to New Zealand. But they say you can never go home. Things change while you are away; new buildings go up, new roads develop, and people move on. So, when I wrote Annie’s adventure, I thought I might explore this idea, while also drawing on my experience of trail running on forest trails. I sent Annie back to a time when Moa and Te Hokioi dominated the wild New Zealand bush. Eventually, I came to love Wisconsin with its red barns, yellow school buses and blue, blue lakes. I loved the sound of my shovel in the snow, cheesey bagels, fall leaves, sledding, and the lovely friends I made there. Perhaps it’s time I look for a New Zealand portal, so I can pop back for a visit!