Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84949 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 168 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8-A poetic blend of reality and myth provides a riveting tale of adventure and passion. An ancient whale ridden by a mystical man rises from the sea, the rider throwing spears that blossom like seeds into gifts of nature. One last spear "-flew across a thousand years. When it hit the earth, it did not change but waited for another hundred and fifty years to pass until it was needed." It sprouts when Kahu, a girl child, is born to the eldest grandson of the chief of the Maori in Whangara, New Zealand. Koro Apirana is disgusted; he needs a male child to continue the line of descent in the tribe. The years that follow further harden his heart toward his great-granddaughter in spite of the bottomless love and respect she showers upon him. The child's great-grandmother, the irreverent Nanny Flowers, proves to be the strength of this family; she nurtures the girl whom she knows holds the key to the future. The complex mixture of archetypal characters and cultural troubles make this novel appropriate for mature readers. Overt and sometimes violent racism is encountered and the tragic and bloody death of hundreds of beached whales may disturb younger readers. This story, originally published in New Zealand in 1987, is the basis of the recently released film by the same name. It's a tale rich in intense drama and sociological and cultural information. A Maori glossary is appended.
Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library System, FL
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
The book behind the award-winning movie opens with the tale of the original whale rider, immersing the listener in the sweep of Maori culture at the heart of this remarkable story. The new young whale rider takes her rightful name, Kahu. The girl-child's story is told by her uncle Rawiri: her breaking of the male chain of descendants, her rejection by her great-grandfather, her role in saving her people, and her extraordinary ride on the old bull whale. New Zealander Jay Laga'aia effortlessly navigates the Maori names, facilitating the listener's entrance into another culture. His pacing is confident, and his inflections, though sometimes a bit comical for the women, allow for easy differentiation among characters. Laga'aia's narration acts as a guide as the story's characters move from traditional beliefs to new awareness. The audio is instrumental in proving that even with such a wonderful movie, the book is better. S.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Gr. 7-12. Kahu is a girl, born into a contemporary Maori family that traces its lineage to the magnificent Whale Rider, a fabled ancestor who traveled the seas astride an ancient whale. From an early age, Kahu possesses a chief's mystical aptitude, but her grandfather believes that chiefs must be male, and Kahu's talents are overlooked. Rawiri, Kahu's young adult uncle, narrates this novel, which is part creation myth, part girl-power adventure, and part religious meditation. Chapters alternate between Rawiri's telling of Kahu's story and scenes of the ancient whale. The two stories come together in powerful events that, as Rawiri says, have "all the cataclysmic power and grandeur of a Second Coming." With such esoteric material and many wandering plot threads, the story may prove difficult for some readers. But Ihimaera, best known for his adult books, combines breathtaking, poetic imagery, hilarious family dialogue, and scenes that beautifully juxtapose contemporary and ancient culture. A haunting story that is sure to receive additional interest from this summer's film adaptation. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Can't
give a review on something I havn't read, whoever made an idea like that, I give a review after I've read the book.

brilliant, beautiful, powerful folk tale of girl power
I love this movie, so I decided to read the book. As with any book on which a brilliant and well-executed film is based, it's a challenge for the reader to fall in love with the original story. The film was very faithful, and so it wasn't difficult to love this novel as well. But there are some deficiencies. First of all, the characters seem more real and dimensional in the film than the book. This is especially true of the heroine, who seems a mystical and distant child in the book, but comes off more real through Keisha Castle-Hughes' portrayal. Second, the film is much more realistic, only slightly testing the boundaries of reality and disbelief. The book is much more fantastic, though it contains more insight into the tribe's culture. And yet, the book is utterly powerful, honestly moving, and incredibly beautiful. It's a brilliant modern folk tale of a Maori tribe threatened by the modern world to hold onto its traditions. The chief (Koro) rejects his great-granddaughter Kahu who has broken the male line of succession. Koro tries desperately to maintain his tribe, reinforce the old traditions, and keep their connection with their totem animal, the whale on which their ancestor traveled to their lands. Meanwhile, Kahu desperately seeks her great-grandfather's love, not to mention acceptance. It slowly becomes obvious that Kahu--despite her gender and great-grandfather's rejection--is deeply connected to the whales and the sea (which is actually a taboo for a female to engage in), and is the salvation of her tribe. Obviously, fate and destiny care not for gender and traditions, as this girl is apparently destined for great things. It's an incredible story of family, destiny, strength, girl power, expectations, traditions, and culture. Grade: A

Has its problems, but still works.
Witi Ihimaera, Whale Rider (Harcourt, 1987)

This relatively obscure little book exploded after being adapted into an award-winning film. The book still hasn't gotten as popular as the movie, though, and that's something of a crime against nature. I have not yet seen the movie-- I wanted to read the book first (and will likely see the movie next week)-- but I know how the whole book-to-movie thing usually goes. And it's usually a crime against nature when the book doesn't get popular even after the movie's a big hit, so I'm playing the odds on that one.

As for the book itself, it's quite a good little tale, full of a young adult kind of magic realism that's likely to make the reader, if he hasn't already, consider the link between magic realism, the literary cliché du jour, and folktales. Ihimaera gives us the Whale Rider creation myth while telling us the story of a Maori chieftain who refuses to see that his granddaughter Kuha is developing into the new chieftain before his eyes because of his traditional beliefs that a male must take the position. (Despite, we find out, the fact that women have held the position in the past. Hard-headed old sod, eh?) We spend much of our time just learning about the characters, with Ihimaera throwing in some interesting perspectives at times; for example, narrator Rawiri, Kuha's uncle, leaves New Zealand for two years to run a coffee plantation in Papua New Guinea (and this allows for some rather odd humor, as well as a blistering excoriation of modern racism in the region), and we find out about Kuha's development only through letters and phone calls for a while. Yet it is rare that Ihimaera takes his focus off Kuha for more than a paragraph or two at a time.

A lovely tale, well worth your time, whether you've seen the movie or not. *** ½