Hine and the Tohunga Portal – Ataria Sharman (Huia, $25)
Reviewed by Louise Ward, Wardini Books
Hine and her brother Hōhepa have just finished kura for the day. Hōhepa is annoying his big sister by singing loudly and proudly. She gets cross and he runs off into the woods where they're really not supposed to be.
Exasperated, she follows to retrieve him and is flabbergasted to see her wee brother snatched by fierce Māori warriors with completely black eyes, sharpened teeth and the hypnotised stares of those under a tohunga's spell.
Hine follows and is spun through a portal that takes her to a spirit world inhabited by atua Māori (including the highly grumpy and comedic grandmother of Māui), an enchanted dog, a very sweet moa, a staunch tribe of kea and the legendary fairy folk patupaiarehe.
Hine's mission is to find her brother and get them out of this terrifying world and home to their parents. She doesn't know who to trust – everyone seems to have an agenda and to want her to do things the hard way. But the hard way is how she learns and Hine is about to find out more about herself than she ever knew.
