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Valerie Bloom
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Genre
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Media
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Book
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Publisher | Macmillan Children's Books | ||
ISBN | 978-140504782 | ||
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Reviewer
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Selina
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Synopsis
Maruka is different to the other girls; she likes to hunt and fish deep in the forest, even though it's dangerous. But she should have stayed in the village the day the Kalinas tribe came and stole her mother. She would have stopped them.
Two years later, Maruka sees giant white sails rearing up on the horizon. She is sure of a Kalinas attack but a deadlier enemy wades ashore and plants a flag on the beach. Her tribe welcome the pale-skinned men but are repaid with treachery and forced to mine the white man's God - gold. Maruka knows that the tribes have one option: they must put aside their differences and defeat their common enemy. And if the tribes unite, Maruka might even find her mother again . . .
Review
A compelling story told from the eyes of a young tribal girl who experiences the 'conquoring' of her homeland by early white explorers.
The detail in which her life is described really gets the reader involved in the story, and you develop an understanding of how the tribe live in harmony with the land. The vivid detail continues as the story progresses, and you become appalled at the behaviour of the white explorers and the indecency with which they treat the native people who have been so kind to them. It makes you ashamed to realise how badly our ancestors behaved and treated others.
This is an emotive story and one which i think many young people will enjoy.
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