Charlie Tangaroa has never let his disability hold him back. In fact, he won’t even think of having a prosthetic leg as a disability. Sometimes it even comes in handy. 13 yr old Charlie and his 11 yr old brother Robbie are cleaning up their local beach when they come across some littering surfers. A trick with his leg soon has the surfers fleeing – with all their rubbish.

It’s while they’re making their way home along the sand that the brothers find a body. Its limbs are long and thin, and there are strange protuding bones on her feet. The webbing between her fingers is weird too. At first they’re frightened, even more so when she wakes up screaming. Luckily Robbie has fetched their Grandad in time.

Even without the giveaway tail, they knew they’d found a mermaid. Grandad knows the real name for her kind however. She is a Ponaturi. She seems much happier in their swimming pool and doesn’t want to return to the sea. Somehow Charlie is the only one who can understand her, and he soon learns her name – Po-nuia.

Finding Po-nuia is suddenly not the most startling thing in the young brother’s lives. Severe earthquakes hit their town, followed by a gathering storm. Po-nuia tells Charlie that these are signs of the gods Tangaroa, (god of the sea), Tane (god of the forest) and Tawhiri (god of weather), building to a battle.

Tangaroa is angry about the terrible rise in pollution of his waters and all that live in them, and that Tane has allowed his creatures to let it happen. Tawhiri has waded in with his own agenda.

What’s even more shocking is that Charlie is the only one that can stop them. Why me, he asks. I’m nothing special. But Po-nuia is insistent. Charlie has yet to learn why he is the link between Tangaroa and Tane.

When Grandad encourages this, Charlie can’t believe it. Soon he is at the centre of something so unimaginable, but at the same time all too possible. He knows the songs he must sing, the words he must speak. Hours and hours and hours of learning them from Grandad while he lay in hospitals as a young child has taught Charlie well.

Po-nuia is right. Charlie is Tolaga Bay’s only hope. He must dig deep to find what he needs to heal these age-old rifts between the gods, in order to save everyone he loves.

Chocka with action and brimming with Maoritanga, Charlie Tangaroa and the Creature from the Sea is a riveting read! Strange mermaid type creatures, Maori gods and legends, Nature’s powerful forces, and authentic characters, serve a compelling kiwi tale. A strong environmental theme emerges, highlighting an immense problem around the world.

The imagery, power and traditions were beautiful, raw and chilling all at the same time as Charlie battles with all his might for all that he loves.

A glossary of Maori words and descriptions of the Maori gods add even more and understanding to this Aotearoa tale. Loved it!

Winner – Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction – 2021 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults

Winner – Supreme Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award – 2021 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults

Author – T K Roxborogh

Illustrator – Phoebe Morris

Age – 8+

Read the first Chapter here

(2020, Huia Publishers NZ, Aotearoa New Zealand, Maori Gods, Atua, Family, Whanau, Legends, Maoritanga, Culture, Waiata, Courage, Discovery, Siblings, Blended Family, Earthquake, Natural Disaster, Nature, Ocean, Sea creatures, Karakia, Action)