Elizabeth Knox is one of the country’s most esteemed authors, known best for her novels ‘Vintner’s Luck’ and ‘The Absolute Book’.

She’s also a dab hand at essay collections and young adult stories, though it had been over a decade since she last wrote for a younger audience.

That changed with the release of ‘Kings of this World’, a young adult novel focused on the sole survivor of a cult massacre.

The book is a long time coming, Knox having written it over the span of several years.

“I had the bad habit of writing several books at the same time,” she told Newstalk ZB’s Jack Tame.

“I developed the strategy when I had a lot of distractions in my life, and I decided to distract myself, so I had some power over that.”

“And then I came out of it and thought I'd solved the problem and could always keep doing that, but no,” she told Tame.

“Bad habit.”

Writing young adult fiction is not dissimilar to writing for adults, but there is one central principle Knox abides by when writing for younger audiences.

“You can’t deprive the readers of hope,” she explained.

“With that in mind, I was able to write a, you know, pretty scary thriller, and I don’t think that young readers need to be defended from suspense and fear and things like that.”

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The Vanishing Place by Zoe Rankin

A child who ran from the forest.
A woman who must return to it

Growing up with her younger siblings in the unforgiving New Zealand bush, Effie believed their parents had cut them off from civilization because they loved Nature. She never suspected that their reasons might be more menacing. After witnessing a terrifying episode of violence, she escaped the wilderness to forge a life for herself halfway across the globe.

Now, when she learns the only witness to a murder is a little girl who looks just like her, Effie is compelled to return to the scene of her troubled childhood, where the secrets of her upbringing and the terrors of her past come rushing back to the surface. In order to find out once and for all what became of her family—and possibly help this mysterious girl who could be her younger self—Effie must face her greatest fears once more.

Become Unstoppable by Gilbert Enoka

In a career spanning almost three decades, visionary psychological coach, Gilbert Enoka, changed the way the All Blacks played their game. With a 77% winning record in test match rugby, the highest of any professional sports team, they are the only international team to have a winning record against every opponent. That is only possible because they leave no part of their preparation to chance. Their winning mindset and resilience are as important as the physical training and Gilbert Enoka was their secret weapon.

For the first time, Gilbert distils his essential lessons to building unshakeable staying power – particularly at times of high pressure where others would crumble – creating a winning team mentality – and leaving things better than how you found them so that we can all learn the All Blacks way. Discover how to build a winning culture, hone your leadership to inspire your team in times of need and establish iconic rules for performance that will become your competitive advantage for years to come.

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On the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast for Saturday 13 September 2025, legendary Kiwi author Elizabeth Knox joins Jack to discuss how to approach complex subjects with young readers and what drew her back to young adult fiction after 12 years away.

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Get the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast every Saturday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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