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Dieback is a now available through the purchase menu. Here is the full synopsis:

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Eleven-year-old Peter MacNeill climbs out of bed knowing this is going to be the worst Saturday ever. The MacNeill’s house has been sold by the mortgage company forcing them to move into an old broken-down rental in Auckland’s Birkenhead. It’s a big change and Peter hates change. He also hates meeting new people and today he must work with the Oxley twins, two twenty-somethings he’s heard lots of bad things about. Their mother, Brenda - a friend of Peter’s mum - is the owner of the house in Birkenhead, just one of the many properties owned by the family that they hope to turn into apartment blocks.

The day starts badly when Gary Oxley calls Peter a weirdo. Peter responds by using multisyllabic words to prove he’s not weird or dumb. This goes down badly with Gary but is enjoyed by his twin Stephanie.

Peter discovers the new house is not so horrible after all: the backyard wilderness with its large pūriri and kauri is a haven for indigenous wildlife, and there’s an old henhouse that could become a secret hideaway. Later explorations lead to Hiwi Reserve, a native bush remnant in a gully adjacent to the house. There he meets Agnes McLeod, a retired teacher. Agnes enlists Peter’s help in her fight to preserve a kauri grove from the multiple threats of dieback disease, invading wilding pines, and residents who want clear views of Auckland’s harbour and CBD.

Peter soon finds himself blamed for everything going wrong in the area: dead animals, stolen property, and the intentional spread of dieback organisms. Agnes and her mokopuna, Tui, think the Oxleys are trying to illegally remove trees with Peter being an easy target as the fall guy.

Then pekapeka bats are found roosting in the pūriri tree, quickly followed by revelations that the Oxleys have previously used arson to clear spaces for their developments. The Three Macs – Peter, Agnes and Tui ­– form a team to battle the Oxleys and save the trees and the pekapeka.

All seems lost when the Oxleys frame Tui and Peter as kauri poisoners. With the Three Macs under fire from police and everyone else, Gary employs a gang to fell the trees in the backyard. In one final effort to save the pekapeka, Peter and Tui, climb the pūriri. Soon all the Oxleys are there, and when the twins start arguing, their criminal plans begin to unravel. Under pressure, Gary reverts to action that has worked in the past – arson. He sets fire to the pūriri tree with the children still in the tree.

As the flames rise, the thought of the pekapeka dying gives Peter an inner strength he has never known before. He leaps from the tree and extinguishes the fire. Peter has saved the pekapeka along with his, and his family’s future.