Nine Girls, by Stacy Gregg. Junior
Fiction.
Stacy
Gregg is enormously popular for her equine novels for children, but she takes a
different tack his time with an exploration of her own origins, so successfully
that she won first prize for this title at the New Zealand Book Awards. And deservedly so: it has just the right mixture of everything –
comedy, pathos, friendships old and new, and most importantly, family
solidarity, for we all need to be part of an enveloping, loving kinship –
whether we like it or not!
It
is 1978 and Titch is wondering how she has gone from living in Remuera,
Auckland’s most expensive suburb, to residing in a much humbler house next to
her Nan (her Maori Mum’s Mum) in Ngaruawahia – a sorry little town halfway
between Auckland and Hamilton, and all because her Geologist Dad lost his job
because JBL, the company for which he worked folded in the stock market
crash. They are no longer privileged, pãkehã and rich, and instead of their own
private pool they have to go to the scummy local pool or swim in the mighty
Waikato river. Which is not a good idea
because of the strong currents. And
several of her many new cousins reckon there’s a Taniwha – a hungry river
monster - in there, too, so she better
watch out. Yeah, right. They’d say anything to upset the new kid on
the block, but they also say that there’s buried gold on one of the derelict
old farms in the area and, despite Titch’s scornful disbelief, she can’t help but
get excited over the family rumours of betrayal and heartbreak a century
ago; in fact this is her first
introduction to her mother’s family History – her Whakapapa – and it is Titch’s
history too.
And
the plot can only thicken when Titch releases an enormous eel from a trap in
the river; it seemed to be calling her,
and sure enough, when she let him out he had plenty to say, especially about
how slow she was to get him out, for naturally he was no ordinary eel, but the
Taniwha of legend, and he had lots of things to fill her in on about her
history, because they were part of the same family, eh! And the stories are tragic; treachery and deceit from the Pãkehã Governor Grey, who wanted all the
Waikato land but not the Maori who farmed it, and murder and injustice that had
never been forgotten, as if it ever could.
‘Nine
Girls’ covers five years of Titch’s life admirably; it has a glossary of Maori words and terms
for those not familiar with Te Reo, and a great love for Whanau (family) and
country, especially Ngaruawahia, that is evident on every page of this lovely,
unforgettable book: suitable for kids of
all ages – SIX STARS!
