Juno of Taris (31 page)
Authors: Fleur Beale
I am Juno, daughter of Taris. I have a story to tell. It is of the last days of Taris, and of what went before. I tell it to honour those who created Taris, those who worked to keep it viable, and those who strove so hard to keep the dream of it alive. I tell it to remember and to understand.
Fleur Beale was born in Inglewood, Taranaki, New Zealand. She has written 28 books for children and young adults and been published in New Zealand, the US, the UK and Australia. Her first stories were written for the children’s radio programme
Grandpa’s Place
. Her first book was a picture book for young children, and she began writing for teenagers in 1993.
Fleur has won and been nominated for numerous awards for her writing. Her young adult novel
I Am
Not Esther
received an Honour Award in the 1999 NZ Post Children’s Book Awards. A former teacher, Fleur was inspired to write
I Am Not Esther
when one of her students was beaten and expelled from his family for going against their religious beliefs. In 1999 Fleur was granted the Dunedin College of Education Children’s Writing Fellowship and left teaching to write full time.
Her young adult novel
The Transformation of Minna
Hargreaves
was nominated for the 2008 NZ Post Children’s Book Awards and
A Respectable Girl
was nominated for the 2007 NZ Post Children’s Book Awards. Fleur also won the 2007 Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award for a Much-Loved Book for her first novel for children,
Slide the Corner
.
Juno of Taris
is Fleur’s twelfth novel for young adults. She currently lives in Wellington.
I Am Not Esther
Further Back Than Zero
Playing to Win
Deadly Prospect
Red Dog in Bandit Country: A True Story as told by Bill
Redding to Fleur Beale
Lucky for Some
Lacey and the Drama Queens
My Story: A New Song in the Land – The Writings of
Atapo, Paihia, c. 1840
A Respectable Girl
My Life of Crime
The Transformation of Minna Hargreaves
For more information about our titles go to www.randomhouse.co.nz
A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of New Zealand
A RANDOM HOUSE BOOK
published by
Random House New Zealand
18 Poland Road, Glenfield, Auckland, New Zealand
First published 2008
© 2008 Fleur Beale
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
ISBN 978 1 86979 526 9
This book is copyright. Except for the purposes of fair reviewing no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Random House NZ uses non chlorine-bleached papers from sustainably managed plantation forests.
Lyrics for the
Song of Taris
are from the hymn and English patriotic song
I vow to
Thee My Country
, the lyrics of which were adapted by Cecil Spring-Rice (1859–1918) from his earlier poem ‘Urbis Dei’ (also known as ‘The Two Fatherlands’).
Lyrics on p41 are adapted from the hymn
Abide with Me
, lyrics by Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847).
Quote on p65 is from
The Merchant of Venice
, Act IV, Scene I, by William Shakespeare.
