Read this when
Potiki
They wanted the beach for a resort. The family had been there for generations. Potiki is what a community does when it refuses to disappear. 🌊
Who it's for
Potiki tells the story of a Māori coastal community resisting a developer who wants their land, in several family voices including Roimata, Hemi and the gifted, disabled boy Toko.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Patricia Grace's 1986 novel follows a Māori coastal family and community resisting developers who want their ancestral land for a resort access road that would destroy their burial ground and meeting house. It is told by several narrators, including Roimata and Hemi, who raise Toko, a disabled boy with the ability to foresee events.
Where to find it
In print (Penguin NZ; reissued as a Penguin Classic in the UK in 2020), in libraries. Not public domain.
Before you start
Heads up: A disabled child killed in an attack.
Age: Ages 14+
Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself,” Leaves of Grass
