Tauranga author's Rena book gains White Raven

Tauranga author Debbie McCauley's book Motiti Blue and the Oil Spill has been given a White Raven label.

White Raven books appear in an annual catalogue of book recommendations in the field of international children's and youth literature.

Each year the language specialists at the International Youth Library in Munich, Germany, select newly published books from around the world that they consider to be especially noteworthy. The White Raven label is given to books that deserve worldwide attention because of their universal themes.

The printed White Raven catalogue will be launched in just a few days at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Ms McCauley will not be attending the awards, although she said she was pleased to be invited.

"It's such an honour to be included in the White Raven catalogue.

"This puts an incredibly important local story onto an international footing".

Later this month, Motiti Blue will also be part of an Indie Book Stand at Book Expo Australia which will be held at the Sydney Showground. The Australian Book Expo regularly attracts over 10,000 people.

At the conclusion of the Book Expo copies of Motiti Blue will be auctioned off along with several other titles, with proceeds supporting the Books In Homes charity.

Earlier this month copies of Motiti Blue were sold at the New Zealand Independent Book Festival held at the North Shore Events Centre in Auckland. Local organisations Freelance and Tauranga Writers ran a stand at the event which showcased 15 local writers.

Motiti Blue won the Best Non-Fiction category in the 2015 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.