Mission Girl - Fleur Beale

Published by Scholastic New Zealand Limited: Auckland, New Zealand, 2020 (2010).
First published in the 'My Story' series as 'A New Song in the Land', 2004.

I saw this book in the local library on the same visit that I saw Sunrise on the Reaping, and wondered if it might be a topic and book that could possibly work for a high school text. 

The author, Fleur Beale, is someone I have read in the past, and usually find her books decent, if not super gripping. This follows that trend, telling the story of a young Māori girl named Atapō, living around the time of the Treaty of Waitangi being signed. Indeed, the narrative includes Atapō being present at the signing.

It's an interesting setting and topic, with Atapō having been a slave in a local village before escaping to a mission station. She receives dreams that she interprets as visions from her grandmother, but is also interested in this new 'atua' that the Pākehā speak of. Over time, she begins to embrace Christianity, but only to a point. By the end of the book, she is kind of 'working' for both Jesus and her ancestors...

...this is where author Beale loses me. It is a very 'modern' take on faith, where both religions have some sort of value, but it is also quite 'fence-sitting.' This is clearer to me particularly because throughout the book Atapō and others have admitted that the Pākehā's Atua seems more powerful than their own. However, the reasons why are never explored. And when Atapō is 'miraculously' saved from death at one point, she very quickly decides her ancestors are the ones who saved her, despite having already 'learned' that Jesus is more powerful.

In the end, this is a work of fiction, and is probably a 'real' take on faith for many people. From a Christian perspective, however, I do wish that some of the implications had been explored a little further. There are parts that are well done - the missionaries seem to all be sincere - but its just lacking a little something to push it into the category of a 'good' novel.

Completed 23 December 2025.

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('My Story' series)

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