Reviews


Sat, 30 Jan 2010

Fifi Colston's Glory introduces Florence Bright, a stroppy computer whizz who decides to get revenge when she loses the school IT prize to the impossibly perfect Emma Harrison, who already has a mantelpiece full of shiny cups and is lined up to dance the lead role in the ballet concert.
The system isn't fair; and Florence Bright is just the girl to change it! She comes up with a cunning and complex plot to take Emma down, but nothing goes to plan and Florence finds out that the price of glory might be higher than she is willing to pay.
Readers aged 10-12 will laugh at Florence's exploits and have fun spotting familiar landmarks as the story takes place in Oamaru. Caroline Bouffard is a Dunedin educator who works with young children.

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August 21st 2009

Florence devises a plan, involving her older brother, her cat with attitude Boris and a fantail, to cause an accident to happen to Emma. What follows is a captivating story full of humour and twists.
Florence is a very engaging main character who truly means to cause no real harm and in places I laughed aloud as she found herself in one scrape after another. All is not as it seems and the final chapter draws the story together beautifully. A must read especially for Year 7/8s and great to be read aloud to that level as well. Niki.


….Girls in the 10-12 age group will relate to the characters and family situation in this novel. The main characters are thoroughly believable as are the antics they get up to, in and out of school. Commended.

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Magpies
12/10/2009

…the resolution is surprising, realistic and, at the same time, very funny.
The most satisfying aspect of this story is the comic detail, whether it is the description of Oamaru’s Santa Parade or the contents of Florence’s school desk. The situations are amusingly described, the small-town atmosphere is neatly captured and the characters are well sketched (including the adults). Florence’s on-again-off-again relationship with her best friend Natasha is one of the comic gems of the novel but her sister’s eye view of Jake is also a feature that all readers will enjoy. Fifi Colston has captured the mood of a young girl’s world perfectly. Trevor Agnew

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Sept 2009

…Fifi's sense of humour is liberally sprinkled throughout the book; making this a voice that fills a gap in the New Zealand market. Eight to Twelve year old girls will chuckle, while some will perhaps identify with the injustice of being passed over for an award. A laugh-out-loud enjoyable read for Years 5 - 8.
 Fifi Colston is one talented gal. She paints, illustrates books (26), has constructed a few craft books and written three chapter books for children. When she isn't working in her studio she does stand-up comedy (so now you know why she does humour so well), makes craft on television and enters wearable art competitions. Maria Gill

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Aug 2009

… The novel moves along with great pace and great humour and I’d recommend it for upper primary, intermediate and junior secondary students. Oamaru probably hasn’t been the scene of many New Zealand novels but has a major part here. Fifi is a Jill of many trades, with art, craft and tv presenter credentials as well as her writing, but this reads as well as many a novel by a single-minded writer. Malcolm 

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The Children’s Bookshop, Kilbirnie

… This is a witty, fast paced romp, featuring a credible and delightfully outrageous heroine, that will appeal to girls, particularly aged 91-12 years. Colston’s last novel was the zany Janie Olive.