In praise of mass weddings

The founder of the Moonies passed away recently and he was a big one for mass weddings. Where funds are hard to muster then mass weddings are a sensible solution.

Three couples married in Ysabel, July 2010.
Source: B. Montgomery

   When I last went to the Solomons my nephew was getting married and it was a giant day in the village. One of my daughters was selected to be a flowergirl and I assumed it would be a ceremony involving one groom and one bride. I was astonished to see three brides out the back of the church getting into their wedding dresses. Yes, the village was about to witness three couples getting married at once. What a terrific idea! 
   Each bride selected a dress from the wardrobe out the back which also had a range of flowergirl dresses, men's suits and white shirts. When the ceremony was over all the bridal parties put their 'dress-ups' back in the cupboard. This seemed so sensible because how many of us ever wear our wedding dresses a second time?
   The other thing that was fabulous about the day was that the whole village was invited and many folk from surrounding villages as well. No great aunts were snubbed, no-one was left out. Every family was involved in baking and preparing the wedding feast. A great day of celebration was had by all and it cost so little. I truly think my home village has its priorities set right and the Western ways of expensive showy weddings don't really grasp the true essence of the ritual.

Missionaries, Headhunters & Colonial Officers by Peter Maiden

Missionaries, Headhunters and
Colonial Officers (CQUni 2003)

I've been trying to do some research lately into the practice of cannibalism in the Pacific. I came across this interesting book on the topic in my local library. Missionaries, Headhunters and Colonial Officers tells about the posting of Rev. James Chalmers to PNG, or British New Guinea as it was then known, in the late 1800s.  Rev Chalmers, or Tamate as he was known throughout the Pacific, was murdered by Goaribari warriors in 1901 off the south coast of PNG.
   The work of this energetic, inspiring missionary and the daily dangers he faced in harrowing conditions is engrossing reading. Then there are the gruesome details of how the Papuans of old practiced various forms of cannibalism. Hideous stuff, but fascinating.
   There are a few black and white photographs of Chalmers and his colleagues and some of the Papuans through out the book but more would have been better.
   Maiden's style drags at times as he lists endless facts and dates but it's easy enough to skim over the dry bits and reach the juicy, human-interest parts of this biography of Chalmer's life. If you are interested in the history of PNG or of church missionaries in the South Pacific, then this book is a good one.

Torn Pages by Sally Grindley

Torn Pages (Bloomsbury, 2009)

   This book made me cry, over and over. But they weren't tears of hopelessness and despair at the young protagonist's miserable situation. They were tears where a smile shone through, with the promise of hope. Sally Grindley has done a terrific job of portraying the plight of children orphaned by AIDS in a village in rural Africa. Straight away we are taken into young Lydia's world of hardship, grief and hunger as she struggles to take on the role of parent to her two younger siblings. Lydia has little to remember her parents by, save for a diary in which her ailing mother wrote words of comfort and encouragement. 
   Poor Lydia has to give up school and outwit her proud and trecherous Grandmother who treats the children as pariahs. And then there is the new man to the village, Jabu, who keeps hanging around. What are his intensions?
   Torn Pages isn't an island story but it is a story about village life and family relationships. There is plenty here for Pacific Island students to relate to. There is water to fetch, a garden to tend and the all too familiar desperate search for transportation when loved ones are sick.
   Although this book is aimed at children in late primary school, I am sure older readers would enjoy it too.

Whale Pot Bay by Des Hunt

Whale Pot Bay
(Harper Collins, 2009)

Teenager Jake lives with his dad on a remote coastline in New Zealand where whales sometimes beach themselves. Their rich celebrity neighbour Milton Summer seeks seclusion, away from the media. Jake forms a friendship with Milton and teaches him to surf but the arrangement is shattered when a photographer tricks his way onto the property and reports the partnership in a trashy magazine. This is seemingly the end to the story but the plot takes off after this incident. A whale beaches itself in the bay and Milton, Jake and his family work together to rescue it and forge stronger ties. However they don't count on the deceitful tactics that the photographer uses to get information on tracking the whale.
   Kiwi author Des Hunt usually has a wildlife theme running through his books and Whale Pot Bay is no different. Hunt has obviously done a lot of research into not only current marine tracking technologies but also the history of whaling in New Zealand. 
   But this story isn't just a whale watching narrative. It is also action packed with both a photographer stalking Milton Summer and a menacing and violent gunman on the loose. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it for secondary school students, particularly those interested in wildlife.

What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted by Alan Duff

What Becomes of the
Broken-Hearted
(Random House, 1996)

What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted is the sequel to Once Were Warriors and Alan Duff just doesn't let up in his portrayl of a drunken, violent and disfunctional family. The book follows the fortunes of Maori man Jake Heke and his estranged wife and kids after the tragic climax of Once Were Warriors. Jake ends up sleeping on the streets and the gang culture is still part of his sons' lives. This book is just as shocking as the first but Duff takes the reader to such a depth of understanding and compassion for this damaged family that I found myself totally captured by his writing.
   Again he uses an odd style of limited punctuation that takes a few pages to adjust to, but once you get the rhythm of the voice you are spell-bound, right to the end. If you can put up with the violence and grasp the small snippets of hope that Duff throws out, then you will make it to the end, breathless and satisfied.
   I wouldn't recommend this one to young readers, the content is just too confronting. But many adults would no doubt enjoy it.

Pacific Poets #3 Jully Makini

Jully Makini
(pidp.eastwestcenter.org)

Jully Makini is a poet from the Solomon Islands, also known by her maiden name Jully Sipolo. Her first collection Civilized Girl was published in 1981 and her second, Praying Parents in 1986. Her more recent collection Flotsam and Jetsam was published in 2007.
   The poem 'Civilized Girl' is a terrific one for PSSC students to memorise and use in the English exam. The six stanzas are short, compact and punchy. The images are clear and the narrator's confusion and loss of identity is obvious. I particularly like the tactile image of the girl's straightened hair ...Now soft as coconut husk/ held by a dozen clips...
   'Civilized Girl is an ideal poem to compare with Konai Helu Thaman's 'Island Fire.'

When the Kehua Calls by Kingi McKinnon

When the Kehua Calls (Scholastic, 2002)

This short novel was written by the late Maori author Kingi McKinnon and tells of a youth called Rewi relocating from the city to the country with his family. The young city-slicker forms a close bond with his cousin who explains many Maori customs and tells Rewi about ghosts, or kehua that can haunt places for many years. Rewi has a form of second sight, where he can sense an evil kehua around his new country home. But Rewi doubts his own visions. Eventually he finds he must trust his Maori instincts in order to save the life of his little sister.
   For such a short book, McKinnon did well to create a sinister feel early on and to ratchet up the tension quickly.
   I learnt a lot about Maori customs from this story, which from the author's notes was his main intention of writing the story.
   When the Kehua Calls has a glossary in the back to help readers with the Maori words. I recommend this well crafted book to middle school readers as it's short and sweet and not too challenging a read.

On Board the Boussole by Christine Edwards

This week I had the pleasure of working at a Secondary School alongside another Australian author. Christine Edwards, also known as Chrissie Michaels has like me, written both novels and teacher resources. I have decided to review her historical novel On Board the Boussole as much of it is a sea-faring tale and Laperouse's voyage came to a mysterious end in the Solomon Islands in the late 1700s. 

On Board the Boussole
(2002, Scholastic)

   Commander Laperouse was a famous French navigator who set sail on board the Boussole when France was in a state of unrest, with revolution brewing. This novel, set out as a diary, tells the story of a young stowaway Julienne Fulbert who hides her gender and becomes a cabin boy for the officers on one of Laperouse's ships, the Boussole. The journal documents Laperouse's journey to the Americas, through the Pacific and finally his time at Botany Bay, observing the first fleet and its cargo of convicts.
   This book is one of a series entitled 'My Story' which aimed to showcase historical moments from the perspective of teenagers of the time. The hope being that contemporary teens would develop an interest in history. The prose is straightforward but to catch Julienne's voice, Edwards has had to use stilted and semi-formal dialogue. It takes a few pages to get used to, but then the story takes over and it's not so noticable.
   On Board the Boussole is a good book for junior Secondary School readers interested in history.

Ship Kings: The Coming of the Whirlpool by Andrew McGahan

The Coming of the Whirlpool was the one book I took to NZ to read while I was away. Written by award-winning Australian author Andrew McGahan, who usually writes for adults, I thought it would be a terrific book. The story was original and interesting but I felt the start was too tame which meant that the story lacked pace at the beginning.


The Coming of the Whirlpool
(Allen and Unwin, 2011)

   So what was the story? A young lad discovers that he doesn't want to be a wood-cutter, he wants to go to sea and his family are troubled by this. Eventually he gets his wish and joins an old fisherman who has lost his son and grandson to a whirlpool. Their relationship is prickly and the hero Dow Amber feels as if he has been cheated of his ambition, slugging it out each day in the bay fishing instead of voyaging the high seas. And then when the Ship kings come to the bay everything starts to get worse for Dow and the whirlpool comes again. 
   The setting is a fictional island but it's hard to tell when the story was set. It has a timeless quality, the ship kings have distinctly Spanish names and the characters have almost medieval voices. Some of the characters were terrific. I particularly liked the cranky old man Nathaniel and the innkeeper Boiler Swan.
   I would recommend this book for stronger readers and those interested in adventure, sea stories and even pirates. I think that many boys would be annoyed with the lack of pace in the beginning though and ditch what ultimately becomes a fascinating read.