Fleur Beale

ABOUT

In Brief

Residing in Wellington, Fleur Beale has written over twenty novels for teenagers. In 1999, Beale was Writer in Residence at the Dunedin College of Education. She has been shortlisted several times in the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and has twice won the Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award. In 2207 the award was for her first children’s novel, Slide the Corner followed a couple of years later for I am not Esther. Beale participates in the Writers in Schools programme.

In Detail

Fleur Beale has received several grants from the QEII Arts Council (now Creative New Zealand). She has been a finalist in the Aim Children's Book Awards Junior Fiction category with Driving A Bargain, and received an Honour Award at the 1999 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards for her tale of a girl struggling to deal with her new life in a fundamentalist Christian family, I Am Not Esther (1998).

In 1999, Fleur Beale was Writer in Residence at the Dunedin College of Education.

Beale' s titles include The Great Pumpkin Battle (1988); A Surprise for Anna (1990); Slide the Corner (1992); Against the Tide (1993); Driving a Bargain (1993); Over the Edge (1994); The Fortune Teller (1995); Dear Pop (1995); the Rich and Famous Body and the Empty Chequebook (1995); Fifteen and Screaming (1995); Rockman (1996); I am not Esther (1998); Further Back Than Zero (1998); Keep Out (1999); Destination Disaster (1999); Playing to Win (1999); Trucker (2000); Deadly Prospect (2000); The Transformation of Minna Hargreaves (2007); My Life of Crime (2007); Juno of Taris (2008); No Time for Dreaming: Gilt Edge (2008); Quin Majik and the Marvellous Machine (2008); Ambushed (2000), was shortlisted in the Junior Fiction category for the 2002 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards.

Lucky for Some (2002) is a book for 10-14 year olds about Lacey Turner, a city girl who moves to the country. A story of personal growth and overcoming prejudices.

Beale is a former teacher who 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 2003, the book was reprinted with a new cover.

Red Dog in Bandit Country: A True Story as told by Bill Redding to Fleur Beale (2003). Bill (Red Dog) Redding flies a perilous payroll delivery to the heart of Colombian bandit country, then takes explosives work with a construction company where 'safety last' seems the motto. With a nose for adventure and an instinct for survival, Red Dog quickly makes his mark, but suddenly he must flee for his life through bandit-riddled mountains. Red Dog's real life exploits are told in his own vernacular to writer, Fleur Beale.

Walking Lightly, illustrated by Michaela Sangl (Mallinson Rendel, 2004) is the story of Millie, a girl of extreme independence and resourcefulness. The other kids at school think she’s just weird, but they are about to find out that, sometimes, extreme resourcefulness is exactly what is needed.

Lacey and the Drama Queens (Scholastic, 2004). Ever since Lacey Turner went to Australia to be her cousin's flowergirl, her best friend Vanessa has been acting really mean. And when the new girl at school, Belinda, tells the girls that their beloved dance teacher doesn't know what she's doing, things get really tense. Lacey just wishes everything could get back to normal.

Beale's book My Story: A New Song in the Land - The Writings of Atapo, Paihia, c. 1840 (Scholastic, 2004), tells the story of Atapo. When her tribe is defeated in battle, Atapo is captured and becomes a slave of her enemies. To save her life, she escapes to the Pakeha mission station at Paihia. There, Atapo is taught to read and write, and learns of the threat to Maori by some unscrupulous settlers greedy for land. In 2010 the book was republished under the new title of Mission Girl.

My Story: A New Song in the Land —The Writings of Atapo, Paihia, c. 1840 and Walking Lightly were both finalists in the Junior Fiction Category of the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2005. A New Song in the Land was also a finalist for The Esther Glen Award at the LIANZA Children's Book Awards 2005.

Beale published two books in 2006: A Respectable Girl (Random House, 2006) is a young adult, historical romance novel, and Saving Mr Spender (Mallinson Rendel, 2006). Also in 2006, Playing to Win (Scholastic) was reprinted with a new cover. A Respectable Girl was shortlisted in the Senior Fiction category for the 2006 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, and was listed as a 2007 Storylines Notable Young Adult Fiction Book.

The Transformation of Minna Hargreaves (Random House, 2007) deals with the effect being in a reality TV show has on a teenage girl's social life. It was also nominated in the young adult fiction category for the 2008 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, and was listed as a 2008 Storylines Notable Young Adult Fiction Book.

Fleur Beale won the 2007 Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award for her first novel for children, Slide the Corner (Scholastic NZ, 1993).

Juno of Taris (Random House, 2008) is a post-apocalyptic book set in the bio-dome world of Taris, and centres on the plight of a troubled girl who struggles to comply with the rules and regulations set by the governing oligarchy. Juno was nominated in the Young Adult Fiction section of the 2009 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. The work was also listed as a 2009 Storylines Notable Young Adult Fiction Book.

In 2009, Juno of Taris won the LIANZA Esther Glen Award for fiction. In the same year, Beale received her second Gaelyn Gordon Award for I Am Not Esther.

Quin Majik and the Marvellous Machine (Mallinson Rendel, 2008), illustrated by Philip Webb, is a book about ignoring the Jones's and fitting in your own way.

Sins of the Father (Longacre, 2009) tells how one man’s unyielding vision casts a long shadow in which his son, and other ‘victims’, will always live. Whether in the community or out of it, Phil continues to measure or to pit himself against the monstrous figure of his father. This is the true story of a family who escaped from the strict religious community of Gloriavale on the West Coast of NZ.

Quin Majik and the Hairy Roof Rescue (Mallinson Rendel, 2009), illustrated by Philip Webb, continues the story of Quin Majik, as he unleashes his creative talents to rescue a neighbour from the roof.

End of the Alphabet (Random House New Zealand) was listed as a 2010 Storylines Notable Young Adult Fiction Book. Shortlisted for the NZ Post Children and Young Adults book awards.

Fierce September (Random House 2010) is the second in the Juno series and has a separate and complementary web story that can be read in conjunction with the book.

Winner: YA category NZ Post Children's Book Awards 2011 for Fierce September, the second book in the Juno trilogy.

Winner: YA category Esther Glen medal LIANZA awards 2011 for Fierce September.