New Zealand & Related

It's a perfect world, where everything looks right. But ugly truths lie beneath the surface!

When Kirby's mother tells her she is going away for two years, and is leaving her with relatives she's never heard of, it is every teenage girl's nightmare. These relatives are members of a closed religious sect. They have no television, radio, newspapers or mirrors and Kirby mus...t wear long, modest clothes and behave in a 'Godly' way, or else. They even give her a new biblical name, Esther. Suggested level: intermediate, secondary.
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Pete dreams of being an All Black but life isn't easy - other boys in the rugby team are bigger and stronger, the new principal is trying to take Maori culture away from school, and his annoying daughter wants to be Pete's friend. Stuff that. She's a straight up weirdo! The schoo...l bully wants to smash his face in every chance he gets, and on top of that, his best mate isn't being himself lately. What's going on with him? A book where young characters begin to question their world in Aotearoa. Was land stolen off Maori years ago? If so, what does that mean now? Why was there a war between Maori and Europeans on the banks of the Waikato river? How different are New Zealand Maori from New Zealand Europeans today, and how different did their cultures used to be? When it seems like everything is against Pete, he has to stand up and fight for what he believes in, and he learns that help can come from the most surprising places.
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There has never been a New Zealand novel quite like The Parihaka Woman. Richly imaginative and original, weaving together fact and fiction, it sets the remarkable story of Erenora against the historical background of the turbulent and compelling events that occurred in Parihaka d...uring the 1870s and 1880s. Parihaka is the place Erenora calls home, a peaceful Taranaki settlement overcome by war and land confiscation. As her world is threatened, Erenora must find within herself the strength, courage and ingenuity to protect those whom she loves. And, like a Shakespearean heroine, she must change herself before she can take up her greatest challenge and save her exiled husband, Horitana. Surprising, inventive and deeply moving, The Parihaka Woman confirms Witi Ihimaera as one of New Zealand's finest and most memorable storytellers. Always surprising and inventive, THE PARIHAKA WOMAN reveals a working writer constantly extending his range and humanity, continuing his exploration into the history of New Zealand and working at its intersections with fiction. It affirms Ihimaera's place in New Zealand literature as one of our finest technicians and storytellers.
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Magic Caterpillar Big Book with Quick Reference Cards