White Lies, Maori Legends and Fairytales

Book excerpt: For teens 13 years and over - White Lies, Maori Legends and Fairytales is a powerful, engaging story about a boy called Petera, and his best mate Hone, growing up in small town Aotearoa. The book is full of childhood antics and adventure - surfing the sand dunes, dreaming of being an All Black, doing anything they can to stop a weirdo girl from joining their gang, and avoiding Wiremu, the school bully, who wants to smash their faces in any chance he gets! But meeting new people prompts the boys to ask questions about their world. What happened between Maori and Europeans over land all those years ago? Was it fair? What does it mean today? Why did there have to be a war where people died? Why did people sign the Treaty of Waitangi? How different are New Zealand Maori people, from New Zealand European people, and what do they think of each other now? The boys discover that not everyone views the world in the same way and that sometimes you have to fight for who you are in a world that seems to be changing around you About the author Falstaff is from Aotearoa/New Zealand. He is thirty-four years old and grew up in Huntly with his mum, dad, and five younger siblings. He used to spend the weekends at the brickworks, flying down the sand hills with his mate Tony, or playing Ninja Turtle gangs with his brothers and sister by the nearby lake. In 2011 he completed a Bachelor of Primary School Teaching at Waikato University. These days he spends some of his time teaching at Te Kura o Noera, and some of his time touring nationally and internationally as an actor, performing in a range of theatrical productions over the years.