Evie's War
  • Published: 24 June 2015
  • ISBN: 9781775537663
  • Imprint: RHNZ Children’s ebooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 304

Evie's War

Formats & editions
EBook
24 Jun 2015
Paperback
24 Jun 2015
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They offered up the innocence of a generation . . .

They offered up the innocence of a generation . . .

Evie is 18, straight out of school and excited by the prospect of a tour of Europe. Instead, she finds herself immersed in war; first in the Home Counties – where the young New Zealander is confronted not only by society’s restrictions and her family’s expectations, but by the burgeoning women’s rights movement – then as a VAD nurse tending injured soldiers in a local hospital.

After personal tragedy changes the course of her life, Evie impulsively travels to Belgium, experiencing first-hand the shambolic horrors in a Casualty Clearing Station just 10 km behind the Front Lines. War, at first distant, becomes increasingly personal.

When her health gives out, Evie returns to England and a new battle: that of meshing her hard won independence and experience with the still Edwardian attitudes of her family.

From where can she find strength for love and the resilience to face the future?


A heartbreaking and brilliantly poignant novel.


2016 Storylines Notable Junior Fiction Award
  • Published: 24 June 2015
  • ISBN: 9781775537663
  • Imprint: RHNZ Children’s ebooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 304
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About the author

Anna Mackenzie

Anna Mackenzie writes contemporary, speculative and historic young adult novels, mentors beginning writers, teaches creative writing and edits a couple of magazines.

Evie’s War, released in July 2015, traces Evie’s loss of innocence as she becomes increasingly caught up in the chaos and suffering of the First World War. Far from the protected world of her childhood, she discovers a strength and resilience born of friendship and love — but can it be enough?

Donnel’s Promise (2014), sequel to Cattra’s Legacy (2013), was selected as an iBooks ‘Top Five’ pick of 2014. The two books — both thrilling fantasy–adventure novels — are set in a wholly credible medieval world and follow the story of Risha, a teenaged girl whose quest to find her family leads her into a politically turbulent world where enemies outnumber allies and identifying either is far from simple.

Anna’s previous dystopian trilogy won critical acclaim. The Sea-wreck Stranger won an Honour Award at the 2008 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards, was joint winner of the 2008 Sir Julius Vogel Award and was awarded a prestigious White Raven Award for outstanding children's literature. The book has been published in both Australia and France. Its sequel, Ebony Hill, was shortlisted in the Young Adult Fiction category of the 2011 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards; while the final title of the trilogy, Finder’s Shore, netted Anna her fifth Children's Literature Foundation Notable Book Award. Anna's other titles include High Tide, Shadow of the Mountain and Out on the Edge.

Anna lives on a farm in Hawke’s Bay. In 2013 she was awarded a writing residency in Belgium, where much of Evie’s War was written, and in 2014 she returned to the UK to speak at the inaugural ‘This Way Up’ Festival in London. She is currently researching a book in East Africa.

The New Zealand Listener’s ‘Best Books of 2013’ described Cattra’s Legacy as: ‘An eloquent, richly rewarding blend of romance, warfare and domestic life in the Middle Ages that will have readers queuing up for the sequel.’ For the New Zealand Herald, Margie Thompson wrote of Mackenzie’s ‘terrific feeling for dramatic pace, and for the emotional and physical landscape her beleaguered teens inhabit’. In Magpies, Trevor Agnew described her writing as ‘careful, compassionate and convincing’.

Children’s Bookshop owner John McIntyre, reviewing The Sea-wreck Stranger on National Radio, said, ‘what really stands out for me is the sheer beauty of the writing. Here there is a wordsmith at the top of her game . . . it’s one of those novels where a great story meets a great storyteller.’

See more at: http://www.randomhouse.co.nz/books/anna-mackenzie/evies-war-9781775537656.aspx

portrait photo of Anna Mackenzie

Also by Anna Mackenzie

Cattra's Legacy
Ebony Hill
The Sea-wreck Stranger
Donnel's Promise
Shadow of the Mountain
Finder's Shore
See all

Praise for Evie's War

A New Zealand Listener 50 Best Books for Kids

NZ Listener

vivid and moving

Ann Packer, NZ Listener

This excellent novel about a New Zealand girl’s experiences in World War 1 can only be described as epic.

bob Docherty, Bob's Book Blog

utterly convincing

Lorraine Orman, Good Reads

The author invested years of intensive research and writing to accomplish this exceptional historical novel. Encompassing the sweep of the First World War, the book is a tour de force.

Jean Bennett, Bookrapt

Written in the form of a young woman’s journal, Evie’s War is dramatic and compelling.

Colleen Thorpe, Rotorua Daily Post

I was looking forward to reading Anna Mackenzie’s YA novel about a (fictional) New Zealand nurse, and I wasn’t disappointed. Anna has proved herself an expert in writing fantasy – and her skills have carried over into this vivid diary-style story...the author brings Evie and her Edwardian contemporaries to life...Recommended for all public and secondary school libraries – and to YA readers who want to know what it was REALLY like.

Lorraine Orman, Kids Books NZ

it provides a strong insight into darker times, of which the youth of today (and even those well past youth, like myself) cannot truly imagine, whilst also being a story of courage, love, compassion and friendship.

Angela Oliver, We Love Books, The Booksellers New Zealand Blog

I found this book to be a very useful tool for expanding my understanding of WWI, as it helped me to connect to an event which is distant to me. It allowed me to explore an aspect of war which is not normally covered in literature (as most focus on the soldiers' points of view), creating an impact on me as I could easily relate to Evie. . . . I highly recommend this book to girls my age, as I think that we are the demographic who can relate the most to Evie. Though, this does not mean that people outside this demographic should feel discouraged from reading it. I take my imaginary hat off to Anna Mackenzie for creating a piece of literature which gives recognition to the women of the war and all of their effort.

Sarah Dickson, 17 years old, NZ Books

I highly recommend this book to girls my age, as I think that we are the demographic who can relate the most to Evie. Though, this does not mean that people outside this demographic should feel discouraged to read it. I take my imaginary hat off to Anna Mackenzie for creating a piece of literature which gives recognition to the women of the war and all of their effort.

Sarah Dickson, aged 17, Hookedonbooks.org.nz

Awards & recognition

Storylines Notable Young Adult Fiction Award

Awarded  •  2016  •  A 2016 Storylines Notable Book

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Teachers' notes
Evie's War