Into the World Ted Dawe

Into the World (2016)
Ted Dawe,
Mangakino University Press,
NZ$25
Reviewed by Trevor Agnew

Ted Dawe’s gritty first novel, Thunder Road (2003) contained a lively secondary character, Devon Te Arepa Santos, who was proud of his Spanish ancestry but denied his Maori heritage.  I was very pleased that the award-winning prequel Into the River (2012) gave us a vivid introduction to Devon’s early history. It also brought a strange notoriety when, after three years of circulation, Into the River was for several months banned from being sold, displayed or distributed. Luckily an exemption for “educational purposes,” meant I was able to read from my plain-wrapped copy at several book-lovers’ gatherings, without facing a $10,000 fine.  Page 93 has Devon, resentful of his elite boarding school where “Maori things are sneered at,” finding a moment of enlightenment in a Latin class. Hannibal and the Carthaginians are “defiant in the face of impossible odds…It all made sense. They were the Maori.”

Into the World begins at the moment when Into the River ended, with Devon escaping his school, echoing his Spanish ancestor’s cry of ‘Freedom.” At first Devon’s new world doesn’t offer much freedom to a young rebel.  Unwilling to return home to Whareiti, Devon lives in a shed and helps his dodgy friend Mitch carry out equally dodgy car repossessions. There is excitement but no scope for Devon to re-invent himself. Inevitably a combination of gang influences, drugs and alcohol leads to Devon losing his cherished freedom. Fortunately prison also gives him a chance to consider his future. A second chance comes when he is offered an early release programme which will let him train in journalism, while living in a hostel run by the inspirational Pita.

Finally shunning the easy options, Devon makes good use of his intelligence and drive. He really seems to have a chance and he even finds love but his future hangs in the balance when the scheme is cancelled because others lack loyalty. The gripping final section shows Devon, defiant in the face of impossible odds, using his wits and battling to make his freedom a reality.

A promised third volume will reveal whether Devon can fulfil a tohunga’s prophecy, “This boy will make a rain that will drench us all.”   

Trevor Agnew

Note: This review appeared in Fairfax newspapers in May 2016

Publishing Details

Into the World  (2016) Ted Dawe,
Mangakino University Press, NZ$25
ISBN 978 0 473 34880 9

Adventure Novels for Young Readers

And Did Those Feet… Ted Dawe, Longacre Press, 192 pages, paperback, NZ$18.99
ISN 1-877361-49-6
Too Close to the Wind, and other stories Tessa Duder, HarperCollins, 169 pages, paperback, NZ$16.99 ISBN 1-86950-608-1
Where Cuckoos Call Des Hunt, HarperCollins, 175 pages, paperback, NZ$16.99
ISBN 1-86950-607-0
The Amazing Adventures of Razza the Rat Witi Ihimaera, ill. Astrid Matijasevich, 54 pages, paperback, NZ$19.99
ISBN 1-86978-004-3

In the same month in 2007 that Investigate magazine claimed (falsely) that there are no healthy adventure novels for young adults in New Zealand, I received eight for review. Here are the first four.

When his mother dies and his father fails to cope, Sandy is sent to live with his Uncle Frank and Aunt Lorna on their Taranaki farm. In the lively first-person narrative of And Did Those Feet…, Sandy adjusts to the different routine of country life, pulling turnips, milking, and befriending a pig. Sandy’s acceptance of country life is humorously drawn but a more interesting issue lies at the heart of this novel. Uncle Frank is no ordinary farmer; he has developed a philosophy of life based on the writings of William Blake, which at first baffles and then intrigues Sandy. At school, Sandy is viewed with suspicion as a ‘cultie’ but finds acceptance and fulfilment during a traumatic class camping trip on Mount Taranaki. This is a strikingly original novel with well-drawn and likeable characters. As well as winning prizes, it is also likely to have young readers seeking more information about William Blake.

Des Hunt’s novels follow an enjoyable pattern where a young person becomes aware of the importance of nature. On his twelfth birthday Ben Mansfield finds a Shining cuckoo chick and tries to raise it, in Where Cuckoos Call. Ben has no illusions. “Cuckoos are parasites,” he declares but he soon has Bigmouth thriving. The rest of Ben’s life is not going as well. His father is ill and the family’s Coromandel Peninsula farm is being developed into a coastal marina.
A keen birdwatcher, Ben tries to protect the local coastal birds, erecting fences and signs, but hostile trail-bikers destroy some nesting sites. When all seems lost Ben receives a message from Vanuatu: Bigmouth has migrated there. The unexpected events that follow, including Cyclone Alex, create a roller-coaster of surprises for Ben and his readers. A well-paced, often exciting novel.

Environmentalists were depressed that a monitored rat named Razza had swum half a kilometre to Otata Island, but Witi Ihimaera scented a story. The Amazing Adventures of Razza the Rat follows Razza as he defies his tribal elders and heads off on the ultimate OE. Razza swims and flies (on an albatross) to several world capitals, survives a tsunami and collects a Mousehood from the Queen on the way. By the end, Razza has his beady eye on even higher goals: “one long step forward for mousekind.” Ihimaera uses a frisky mixture of poetry and prose to produce a light yarn for young readers. Astrid Matijasevich’s colourful cartoon illustrations add to the genial mood.

Tessa Duder has been publishing stories for more than quarter of a century and Too Close to the Wind brings together ten of the best. Duder’s sailing and swimming interests predominate, especially in my favourite, the very funny Freddie Bone, where the main character’s plump build proves an advantage in a midwinter endurance race. His wily sponsor’s horror as dogged Freddie reaches 109 laps for $9500 is well portrayed. Other stories have young people recognising their abilities in everything from making music to telling stories. One of the several boating stories contains a good joke in its title; when big-headed Robert goes over the side, Robin calls ‘Person Overboard’ because ‘you’re no man.’ Fresh and lively reading for a range of ages.

Trevor Agnew

This review first appeared in The Press, Christchurch, New Zealand on 10th March 2007.