World Tour Stellar Reading Challenge – New Zealand
3.95/5 New Zealand holds a top spot of places I want to someday visit. This probably dates back to girlhood when “Good Morning America” shot episodes from the Land of the Long White Cloud. Also, seeing the Lord of the Rings filmed there just increased the itch. While “Middle Earth” remains a leap list destination for me, I thought traveling there via literature would suffice. I searched high and low for a book in my libraries (yes, plural) that might just possess a book by a native/resident New Zealander. Ultimately, I selected Witi Ihimaera’s The Whale Rider and read it with my ears as voiced by Jay Laga’aia.
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“Eight-year-old Kahu craves her great-grandfather’s love and attention. But he’s focused on his duties as chief of the Maori in Whangara, New Zealand—a tribe that claims descent from the legendary “whale rider.” In every generation since the whale rider, a male has inherited the title of chief. But now there is no male heir—there’s only Kahu. She should be next in line for the title, but her great-grandfather is blinded by tradition and sees no use for a girl… Kahu will not be ignored. And in her struggle she has a unique ally: the whale rider himself, from whom she has inherited the ability to communicate with whales. Once that sacred gift is revealed, Kahu may be able to reestablish her people’s ancestral connections, earn her great-grandfather’s attention—and lead her tribe to a bold new future.”
I took my time reading The Whale Rider as I also read other books. I purchased the copy I read most from Audible. Laga’aia’s reading satisfied my curiosity of how to pronounce a number of unfamiliar to me terms. Kahu’s story, as told by her uncle, fascinated me. Of course, I rooted for Kahu to be accepted into her rightful spot as the chief, the whale rider. As other reviewers mentioned, the snippet of Māori music played on repeat jarred me enough that I had to work to get back into The Whale Rider but, otherwise enjoyed slipping into Uncle Rawiri’s view as he spends time in Australia and Papua New Guinea to grasp his own understanding of his Māori identity.
Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.
Starry Night Elf 