Maori Boy – Witi Ihimaera

READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS

An honest, emotive work detailing not only Ihimaera’s childhood but also early life in rural New Zealand and Māori history. Ihimaera (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki) tells of the myths that formed his early imagination, and the real life experiences that influenced his fiction. The book is a record of what it means to grow up Māori in present-day New Zealand.

➤ “Māori Boy gives not just a stunning insight into the early years of Witi Ihimaera’s life, but also historically captures the whanau dynamics and social norms of a particular time in Aotearoa’s history.

It is filled with lovely, warm anecdotes interspersed with factual information, eg the high prevalence of Māori playing lawn tennis in the late 1800s/early 1900s and the author’s own experience in the father-son Māori Poverty Bay championships. It’s definitely not all warm-fuzzies and there were sections of the memoir I chose to skim rather than completely immerse myself in. 

“I understand there are two more books to come that will continue on from this childhood memoir and I will happily add each of them to my bookshelf.” – Suzy

➤ “What I loved about Māori Boy was how Ihimaera’s own stories were interspersed with Māori history and how his stories were told in the same manner that myths and legends have been told by Māori throughout the years. This provides the memoir with a special feature that escapes most books – fiction and non-fiction.

“Learning about the life of Māori through the generations as they adapted to English norms was interesting and I can say I learnt a lot more about these topics from this memoir than many books I’ve read. There were also deeply personal and shocking moments in the book, which I know I’ll never forget. That Ihimaera can combine this densely detailed history with the moving story of a humble Māori boy and his whanau is outstanding.” – Rachel

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Published 2014
Random House
375 pages