Ursa

Author(s): Tina Shaw

Teenage/Young Adult Fiction

This alternate history coming-of-age YA is the Winner of the 2018 Storylines Tessa Duder Award.


“An inferior people, that’s what the Director called us at the beginning of his reign, but still useful.” There are two peoples living in the city of Ursa: the Cerels and the Travesters. Travesters move freely and enjoy a fine quality of life. Cerel men are kept in wild camps and the women are no longer allowed to have children. The Director presides over all with an iron fist.


Fifteen-year-old Leho can’t remember a time when Cerels lived without fear in Ursa. His parents once tried to organise an uprising – his mother was blinded, and his father was taken away. But now his world is changing. Revolution is coming. People will die. Will Leho be able to save his family?


Product Information

Finalist - Young Adult Fiction Award for the 2020 NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults

Tina Shaw is a novelist, short story writer and editor, and has written for both adults and children.  She has received many awards including the Berlin author residency. Her first novel Birdie was widely praised. She has also self-published City of Reeds, Dreams of America, edited A Passion for Travel, and later wrote The Black Madonna, Paradise and Fluff Helps Out. Some of her titles have been published in Pearson's Nitty Gritty and Mainsails series aimed to encourage reading. About Griffen's Heart was a Storylines Notable book and a LIANZA shortlisted title in 2010.  The Children's Pond was shortlisted for the 2015 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel.

General Fields

  • : 9781760651244
  • : Walker Books Australia Pty, Limited
  • : Walker Books Australia
  • : 0.266
  • : June 2018
  • : ---length:- '21'width:- '13.5'units:- Centimeters
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Tina Shaw
  • : Paperback
  • : 1904
  • : English
  • : 823.2
  • : 299