Karl's Reading List

Published by One Tree House Ltd: New Zealand, 2021. A very easy book to read, The Tomo follows Phil Davidson, a New Zealand teenager who is sent to work on a sheep farm over the Christmas holidays when his father - sick with cancer - is undergoing special treatment. Phil doesn't want to go, and so the family allow him to take Blue, his dad's beloved dog, with him as a treat. When Phil arrives at the farm, he firstly meets Chopper, the grumpy farm manager who sets him to work on the most menial jobs, and then later meets Emara, a girl his own age who becomes his potential love interest. Emara is also quite environmentally savvy, and has discussions with both Phil and Chopper about ways to run the farm in a more environmentally-friendly fashion. A Maori farm worker, Toko, brings the Maori perspective to the story as well, making this a book which has clear study-able themes (should a teacher choose to do it with a class of English students).  Drama arises when Blue falls down a t...

Published by Lawrence & Gibson Publishing Collective: Aoetearoa/New Zealand, 2023. Taking a break from looking at potential Level 2 texts, this is a potential Level 1 text instead! At the heart of Turncoat is an extended metaphor, an allegory, in which Māori culture and worldview is represented by the book's portrayal of humanity as a whole, and non-Māori culture - aka, the European-centric worldview - is represented by literal aliens, who invaded in past centuries and have now interbred with humanity to the point that most humans look just like them. Our main character, Daniel, is one such human, who understands and operates in Alien culture (called the Hierarch) all the time, but still seeks to influence the Hierarch to honour the original covenants they signed with humanity all those years ago. The metaphor isn't subtle, and at times it purposefully (often humorously) becomes incredibly obvious, particularly for readers from New Zealand. So, in place of Captain Cook bein...

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...

Published by Golden Press: Auckland, Christchurch, Sydney, 1975. First published 1845. This abridged edition (by Joan Stevens) first published 1955. This book is part of the New Zealand Classics series, which I have several of. It also has the distinction of forming the basis for a recent historical novel, Jerningham, which creates a fictionalised version of the author's life.  As the title suggests, Adventure in New Zealand tells the story of Edward Jerningham Wakefield's adventures in New Zealand. Jerningham was the son of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, and nephew to both William Wakefield and Arthur Wakefield, the former of whom was one of the founders of Wellington, and the latter of whom was notably killed during the Wairau Affray.  All of the Wakefields were involved in the New Zealand Company, an organisation that today is viewed with much suspicion. Jerningham, of course, paints a much rosier picture of the NZ Company's dealings, putting any fault over land-sale controver...

Published by Huia Publishers: Wellington, Aotearoa, NZ, 2023 (2021). This is the second book I've read by this author, and - I think - the second book by this author, too! The first book, Flight of the Fantail , was very weird, and in my review I mentioned that I was still processing whether I liked it or not. Falling into Rarohenga is somewhat similar in that way. We follow twin siblings, Tui and Kae, who live with their mother after their no-hoper father left. Tui is the academic, Kae is the musician slacker, and both have that semi-antagonistic-but-secretly-looking-out-for-one-another thing that many siblings do, both in fiction and real life. The twins arrive home from a bad day at school (Tui loses her prefect status and Kae is suspended) to find that their mother has gone missing, kidnapped by their father and taken into Rarohenga - the Māori Underworld. Tui and Kae then also end up on Rarohenga, and must try to rescue their mother while resisting the urge to eat anything fro...

Published by Huia Publishers: Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, 2022 (2021). Niho Taniwha is a book written for teachers, looking at Māori learning and how teachers can support (particularly) Māori students to greater success academically. The author brings a lot of her own understanding (she is Māori herself, and has had her children go through the schooling system), as well as quoting a number of studies to support her claims - including numerous studies that she herself has taken part in (she has a teaching background and  a doctorate). It is a very interesting book and is also one that my Head of Department at Nayland has used quite a bit, so elements of it are quite familiar to me. There are aspects of the book that might be controversial to some people, because of particular buzz-words or phrases which can, admittedly at times, be used to attack certain cultures or understandings. In particular, phrases like 'white privilege' or 'historical trauma' may cause some ...

Published by Bridget Williams Books Ltd: Wellington, NZ, 2017. This book is the life story of Tuai, a now-obscure Māori chief who lived in the era of early European missionary work in New Zealand. As a young man Tuai, along with another young Māori named Tītere, travelled to England, living with missionaries in both London and the district of Madeley and learning much about European culture and beliefs (he often wore European clothing), before returning home and acting as a go-between for his tribe in their dealings with Pakeha. Tuai's ability to speak English made him quite an important and well-known figure in his day, with his death even announced in some English newspapers. Not a lot is known directly about Tuai; what he did is now mostly determined through reading European letters that happen to mention him in passages. The fact that the authors have managed to reconstruct his life from these is quite impressive, although in order to 'pad out' his life to full book len...

Published by Oati: New Zealand, 2017. This is a hard book to categorise. It begins with the author sharing a prophetic dream from his wife, in which there was a giant chicken standing by a tree, and then a voice saying 'Huia, Come Home.' The dreamer - an American by birth - didn't even know what a huia was when she had the dream, and it took some time for the couple to interpret it. The book then moves to a history of Christianity in New Zealand from the perspective of a Maori Christian, including some mini-biographies of not-always-well-known individuals, such as Piripi Taumata-a-Kura and Wiremu Tamihana. The difference between Christianity in this country pre- and post-Treaty is highlighted. Then, the author moves into a challenge for Christians in Aotearoa to decolonialize our faith and briefly exploring some ways in which a Māori worldview sits closer to the Hebrew worldview of the Old Testament than our Western worldview does. This is thought-provoking, challenging (in...

Published by Auckland University Press: Auckland, NZ, 2021 (2020). I am fascinated by the historical figure Te Rauparaha, one of the greatest of the Maori warrior chiefs who were living around the time of the first European settlers. Te Rauparaha achieved a lot in his life, particularly in the area of warfare, and as such he is a very controversial figure (depending on which iwi you talk to). Born as the youngest child in his family (when younger children were not expected to do as much) Te Rauparaha led his tribe, Ngati Toa, to settle Kapiti Island, and from there launched a series of campaigns which ended up conquering much of the lower North Island and the majority of the South Island! He is most famous now for writing the haka 'Ka Mate' (sung by the All Blacks), but his life has so much more to it than just that! This manuscript, translated carefully from te Reo (and with extensive editorial notes) by Ross Calman, was written by Te Rauparaha's son Tamihana Te Rauparaha....

Published by Hodder Moa Beckett Publishers Limited: Auckland, NZ, 1997. First published by Barry Crump Associates Ltd, 1988. A collection of short stories and poems by Crump. Some elements are a little dated/offensive by modern standards, but otherwise they are an interesting mix of stories, covering a lot more genres than I expected.  'Warm Beer' is a ghost story with a punch of an ending. 'That Way' is a dark drama involving a ruthless man quick to kill his pets. 'Cave' is a slightly supernatural poem involving possible time travel. More than one story has a protagonist contemplating, if not outright committing murder!  And of course, there are a number of the humorous slice-of-rural-life yarns that Crump was well known for. My favourites include 'Overheard in the Pub' which tells a shaggy dog story about a live fish being transported in a four-gallon kerosene tin through the outback, 'Double Scotch', in which the protagonist believes his publi...

Published by Huia Publishers: Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, 2018. This is a new book in the English department, another by an up-and-coming new Maori author, and whoo boy it ramps up quickly! At the end of the first chapter a bus full of highschool students crashes in the New Zealand bush. Most die. A few chapters later one student needs his leg operated on by another student. A few chapters later another student turns murderous. Somewhere in the midst of all this the survivors begin getting nose-bleeds and seeing visions. Eventually a spaceship and a sinister corporation are introduced. It's so much and it all just keeps escalating! The book is a page-turner, helped by the amount of plot and the very short chapters (the shortest chapter is made up of a single line of text), and I can imagine students really enjoying it for its realistic New Zealand teens (well, before they turn murderous), its fast pace, and even its occasional romantic subplots (which do at times get a bit mo...

Published by Bridget Williams Books Limited: Wellington, New Zealand, 2016 (2015). This is an interesting little book about the first contact between Europeans and Māori and the subsequent journeys undertaken by Māori out into the wider world. The earliest journeys often reflect fairly badly on the Europeans, who seem to have abducted numerous Māori for various reasons, and which often end with the New Zealanders dying of scurvy or some European disease. Perhaps the strangest example in the book of Māori being kidnapped is that of Tuki Tahua and Huru Kokoti (told on pages 19-26) who were lured onto a ship with the offer of gifts and then forcibly taken to Norfolk Island in order to instruct the European prisoners there how to properly "dress the flax" (remove the straw from the fibres) for turning into useful materials. As O'Malley then states: "A huge amount of effort had gone into a scheme with one fatal flaw. For as the Lieutenant-Governor soon discovered from the...

Published by Random House New Zealand: Auckland, New Zealand, 2011. Another book I got from the school library as I was researching my Year 10 English module, Tupaia: The Remarkable Story of Captain Cook's Polynesian Navigator is a far more in-depth look at Tupaia than The Adventures of Tupaia was. Considering the time-frame of both releases, I have a strong suspicion that the other Tupaia book was based on this one. This is much more a traditional 'historical biography' than The Adventures of Tupaia, starting with an examination of life in Tahiti pre-European contact, then moving forward to the arrival of the Dolphin - the first European ship confirmed to have visited the island, though the possibility of others having visited earlier is discussed. Tupaia's role in these early encounters is highlighted, and when he eventually decides to join the crew of the Endeavour - the third ship to have visited - we have some understanding of his motivations.  Having the main sub...

Published by Allen & Unwin: Auckland, New Zealand, 2019. Text by Sina Meredith. Illustrations by Mat Tait. The second book I read cover to cover during my research for a Year 10 module, The Adventures of Tupaia tells the story of Captain Cook's Tahitian navigator and translator, Tupaia, as well as Tupaia's young assistant Taiata. The book is quite pictorial, with segments of it told in comic form and most pages having far more image than text, meaning that getting through it was a relatively simple process. The book also portrays the story through Tupaia's worldview, meaning that the character 'Oro - the Tahitian God of War - also has an influence on the story, occasionally appearing in scenes involving some conflict or another. When Tupaia and Taiata eventually die, this worldview is continued, as the final pages present a 'crossing over' poetic event of sorts focussing on the Tahitian beliefs about such things. By presenting the story of a lesser-known fig...

Published by A.R. Shearer, Government Printer: Wellington, New Zealand, 1969. This year the high school I teach at has decided to do English modules at Year 10. The module I am developing is called Worlds and Journeys, and is slowly working through from ancient mythical journeys, to modern explorers, while also including fantasy and, eventually, science fiction elements. As a result I am doing a lot of research into various explorers, particularly ones with some connection to New Zealand. This short book gives a straight forward and relatively thorough description of Captain James Cook's circumnavigation of New Zealand, including within it the 1852 account of Te Horeta, a Maori chief, who was a boy at the time of Cook's visit. Te Horeta recounts the first impressions of Cook and his men arriving in Mercury Bay: "As our old men looked at the manner in which they came on shore, the rowers pulling with their backs to the bows of the boat, the old people said...'These peop...

Published by Hazard Press Limited: Christchurch, New Zealand, 1993. First published 1965. I think I first heard about this book in an article written by Margaret Mahy, or possibly Joy Cowley - two of the great New Zealand children's writers - in which the writer praised this book as being an early inspiration for them. Having now read it, I can see how reading this could help a young writer to realise that New Zealand stories could be told and told well. The Runaway Settlers tells the true (but fictionalised) story of Mary Small, who, along with her six children, escape from life with her abusive husband in Australia, and resettle near Lyttleton in Canterbury, New Zealand. Mary shows a lot of forethought when it emerges that she has been planning their escape for some time, sending small amounts of money to a friend in Sydney and putting it aside to enable the family to fund their escape. She also shows a lot of determination when facing various disappointments, even standing up to...

Published in an omnibus edition "The Essential Crump Collection" containing: "A Good Keen Man"; " Bastards I Have Met "; " Wild Pork and Watercress ", by Hodder Moa Beckett Publishers Limited: Auckland, NZ, 2003. Originally published 1986. Although in his lifetime Barry Crump was probably most well-known for the books A Good Keen Man and Hang on a Minute, Mate, his later book Wild Pork and Watercress  may now be his most successful work, if not recognised as such by many people. This is because it is the inspiration for Taika Waititi's movie Hunt for the Wilderpeople, the movie that helped launch the Kiwi Director's international popularity a few years before he made Thor: Ragnarok.  Wild Pork and Watercress, like Hunt for the Wilderpeople, tells the story of Ricky Baker, an early teen Māori boy who is sent to live with his Aunty Bella and Uncle Hec on their remote farm. In the movie these terms are honorary, given by Bella to help Ricky ...

Published by Huia Publishers: Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, 2013. This one wasn't for me. A Young Adult novel written by a Kiwi author (and one whom I had previously enjoyed reading ), Bugs seemed like a good book to try as we look for more English curriculum books in my college. But, nah... Bugs is a Maori teenager living in Taupo with her solo mother. We never learn Bugs' real name (although it starts with 'Al'), with her nickname being given early on in life - based on Bugs Bunny. Bugs is tough, argumentative, and very intelligent, although none of her teachers seem to see it. Bugs' mother does , and is trying to push her daughter to study law at university. Bugs resents the amount others in her life are focused on her future, just wanting to enjoy being a teenager, and hanging with her good friend Jez (Jeremy). The arrival of a new rich white girl, Charmaine 'Stone Cold' Fox, threatens to upset even this, as Jez develops a crush on the new girl, and ...

Published by Random House New Zealand: Auckland, NZ, 2002. I'm starting to get a taste for non-fiction Alphabet Soup books; who knows what I'll pick for Z! With a little extra time on my hands while Elise and I recover from Covid, I've been able to get through this 10 person biography about prominent New Zealanders - or at very least, people with some connection to New Zealand. I say prominent, but there were a few individuals covered in this work that I had never heard of, and that is coming from a New Zealander with an interest in history. Not a full-on passion I guess. I mean, if I was full-on passionate about history I'm sure I would have heard of these people before, right? What makes this different from a regular biography is that the majority of the chapters were originally written as New Zealand Geographic articles. This results in an unusual feel; each chapter tells us the story of the individual in question (or at least part of it) while also describing the...

Printed by yourbooks.co.nz: New Zealand, 2019. Despite the outsized title, White Lies, Māori Myths and Fairytales is not a collection of white lies, Māori myths and fairytales; it is a novel. 12 year old Pētera (Pete) and his best friend Hone (John) dream of making the under-14s side at their local school, and eventually the All Blacks. Pete, however, is starting to become less confident that he will do so, as he is one of the smallest in his year and is also starting to be targeted by the bully Wiremu, who wants to steal his prized Damian McKenzie autograph. On top of this, Pete is having to cope with a racist principal and his annoying daughter Wendy, a sister who smirks at him constantly, the pressures of his father, the departure of his mother, and before too long, a serious illness that strikes close to home. If this sounds like a lot of storylines, it is. This is Dowling-Mitchell's first book, and although it  does show a very authentically 'Kiwi' voice coming throug...