McIndoe Publishers, 1993, 133 pages. Wear at edges, otherwise good secondhand copy.

One of the great things about Owen Marshall's marvellous stories is that they appeal to people of all ages. Collected here in The Ace of Diamonds Gang are many of the most loved Marshall stories about the joys and pit-falls of growing up in New Zealand. And two new stories - 'The Big Time' and 'The Bank Section' - capture perfectly burnished moments of youth. Marshall's stories are always entertaining, sometimes tragic, profoundly truthful. No one is better at exploring both the physical and emotional landscapes of adolescence. Here are wonderful tales of friendship and betrayal, hypocrisy and corruption, changing loyalties, and the search for solace and understanding.