Wow! This book is amazing. It has Maori mythology, Kiwi history, suspense, humour and relentless pace. If you enjoy fantasy, thrillers or any supernatural themes, you will love this book.Young Matiu Douglas has a bone tiki he stole and the owner, Puarata, is out to get him. The trouble is that Puarata is no regular bad guy. He's a supernatural nasty fellow with power to call up all manner of terrifying henchmen. The Bone Tiki is like a magic lantern which can store a genie. In this story it holds a good warrior, called Wiri, whom Matiu befriends.
The story is basically a good versus evil plot but the setting jumps into another world where ghosts are prevalent and the history of New Zealand comes alive. Mythical creatures also inhabit this other world called Aotearoa.
The Bone Tiki is the first in The Aotearoa Series written by David Hair. If the other books are anything like this one, I'm hooked and can't wait to read the whole series.
Hi Beth, I just came across your blog in a google search and I look forward to perusing it some more...We are a home educating family and will be studying pacific islands next year. Just wondering if you have some recommendations for around age 11-12 both fiction and non-fiction. The Bone Tiki sounds really interesting, what age would you suggest for it? Thank you so much! Cathy
ReplyDeleteHi Catherine. Sorry for the delay in responding. I don't blog very often at the moment. I think the Bone Tiki is a brilliant book. A confident reader would probably be fine with it. New Zealand authors are your best bet for Pasifika. I would really recommend Mandy Hager's Blood of the Lamb series (for girls, mainly). Maori author Witi Ihimaera writes mainly for adults but The Whale Rider is suitable for teens/confident tweens. Joy Cowley's Hunter (set in NZ) and The Silent One (set in Fiji) are both great books for that age group. Also The Shadow of the Boyd is another good one, by Diana Menefy (Historical fiction). Also Cry of the Taniwha by Des Hunt is good. For non fiction try NZ authors. If you have a look at the Wheelers website they will give you an idea of all the non fiction available. I'm not sure if they offer retail sales anymore, I think they just supply libraries now, but their pasifika collection is extensive. Good luck with it. I hope you find some suitable books.
ReplyDeleteThanks for suggestions, Beth. I'll look into those authors and titles.
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