Tina Makereti

A vivid novel about a Māori boy exhibited in Victorian London – a provocative tale about what makes us human. 'The hour is late. The candle is low. Tomorrow I will see whether it is my friends or a ship homewards I meet. But I must finish my story for you first. My future, my descendant, my mokopuna. Listen.' So begins the tale of James Pōneke – orphaned son of a chief; ardent student of English; wide-eyed survivor. All the world's a show, especially when you're a living exhibit. But anything can happen to a young New Zealander on the savage streets of Victorian London. When James meets the man with laughing dark eyes and the woman who dresses as a man, he begins to discover who people really are beneath their many guises. Although London is everything James most desires, this new world is more dark and dazzling than he could have imagined.

A literary page turner that explores the intertwined lives of three neighboring families in a small coastal New Zealand town—a blend of Little Fires Everywhere and The Island of Missing Trees, combining domestic drama, suspense, indigenous folklore, and the threat of extremism on ordinary lives. Three women give birth in different countries and different decades. They eventually become neighbors in a coastal town in Aotearoa—New Zealand. Single parent Keri has her hands full with rambunctious four-year-old Walty and Wairere, a teen with a unique gift that allows her to connect to the world in extraordinary ways. Drawn to the waters of the indigenous wetlands, Wairere finds peace and solace communing with nature. Living next door is Janet, a sharply opinionated older white woman. New to the neighborhood is Sera, her husband, and their two-year-old daughter, refugees from ecological devastation. When Janet’s adult son Conor unexpectedly arrives home sporting a fresh buzzcut and a disturbing tattoo, no one suspects just how extreme the young man has become—no one except Wairere, who can feel the danger pulsating around him. As friendship are formed, prejudices, too, arise, and discord surfaces between the trio of households, threatening to tear them apart. Their fate rests with young Wairere. By accepting who she truly is, the teenager can become the connective tissue that unites her community and helps them forge a better future together.

A literary page turner that explores the intertwined lives of three neighboring families in a small coastal New Zealand town—a blend of Little Fires Everywhere and The Island of Missing Trees, combining domestic drama, suspense, indigenous folklore, and the threat of extremism on ordinary lives. Three women give birth in different countries and different decades. They eventually become neighbors in a coastal town in Aotearoa—New Zealand. Single parent Keri has her hands full with rambunctious four-year-old Walty and Wairere, a teen with a unique gift that allows her to connect to the world in extraordinary ways. Drawn to the waters of the indigenous wetlands, Wairere finds peace and solace communing with nature. Living next door is Janet, a sharply opinionated older white woman. New to the neighborhood is Sera, her husband, and their two-year-old daughter, refugees from ecological devastation. When Janet’s adult son Conor unexpectedly arrives home sporting a fresh buzzcut and a disturbing tattoo, no one suspects just how extreme the young man has become—no one except Wairere, who can feel the danger pulsating around him. As friendship are formed, prejudices, too, arise, and discord surfaces between the trio of households, threatening to tear them apart. Their fate rests with young Wairere. By accepting who she truly is, the teenager can become the connective tissue that unites her community and helps them forge a better future together.