Falling into Rarohenga, by Steph Matuku. Young Adults.
Tui and Kae are twins,
and contrary to all the stories we hear about the close bonds of twins, that
happy state doesn’t apply in this case:
Tui is a school prefect at the small-town high school they attend; she’s a swot and gets consistently high marks
in everything, the object of which is
to get away from this little nothing place, get to the big city and eventually
cover herself with academic glory. Kae
is just the opposite – who cares about good results, as long as he has his
mates – and his ukulele, the source of his biggest pleasure, for if there’s one
thing Kae worships, it’s music, and composing his own songs: music is the most important thing in his
life, certainly not his snobby sister, who is Nigel No-Friends because she’s
too smart.
Until they arrive home
from school (fighting all the way) one day, to discover that their beloved Mum,
their mainstay through the divorce of their jailed fraudster Dad and the death from cancer
of their darling aunt Huia, has disappeared without a trace – but what follows
next is so unbelievable it can’t be happening:
what they at first thought was one of the frequent earthquakes that
plague Aotearoa New Zealand turns out to be a summons from Aunty Huia in
Rarohenga, the Maori Underworld: they
have to fall through the portal to look for their mother, who has been abducted
by their father, of all people! Only the
intervention of the twins will save her from dying before her time and staying
in Rarohenga. Neither of their parents
are meant to be there, but their father learnt some pretty dreadful magic from
one of his cellmates; now, he has his
prize, their mother, and who cares about the twins? They were only distractions to divert their
mother’s attention from him.
There begins a series
of hair-raising adventures for the twins, including meeting Hinekoruru, Goddess
of Shadows; a fearsome taniwha with
paua-shell eyes and many sad memories; and
an unbelievably handsome fairy called a túrehu. They all
provide assistance for the twins’ quest, but all demand payment – in the túrehu’s case, it’s Tui’s hand in marriage. To which she agrees, fervently hoping that
she will be able to get back to the real world before she has to honour her
promise – which, perhaps, would not be that bad: he’s pretty damned hot!
Once again, the author
of ‘Flight of the Fantail’ delivers the
goods: an exciting, topical meld of
today’s New Zealand with Maoritanga and its ancient myths and legends - and she
does it so well. Twins Tui and Kae are heroes for the ages! SIX STARS.
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