The Pōrangi Boy - it's a title that, in the past, may not have even made it to a shelf at any book store, let alone being a finalist in two categories at the 2021 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. A harsh truth, but one that debut author Shilo Kino acknowledges and embraces.
"This book wouldn't have been a success at all if it came out 10 years ago," she says. "If you look at the cover, there's a picture of a Māori boy and a Māori word in the title. Back in the day, this would've put the audience off, and it wouldn't have sold at all."
A finalist for the Best First Book and Young Adult Fiction awards, 31-year-old Kino from Whangārei humbly attributes the success of her novel not to the strength of her writing but rather to New Zealand's gradual acceptance of Māori narratives and "hunger" for more indigenous stories.
"I've had a lot of Pākehā grandmothers writing to me saying that they love it,'' she says. "And that's cool, but to be honest - I didn't write it for pākehā or adults or anyone like that. I wrote it for Māori and Māori kids because we don't have enough stories that represent us. I want kids to see themselves in this book - to look at the cover, and say, 'oh that's me'."
Protagonist Niko finds himself navigating his way through bullying, racism, and questions of identity. The plot revolves around the Government's plan to build a prison in Ngawha, a true event that took place in 2005. However, The Pōrangi Boy, published by Huia, is not about what happened in Ngawha. "It's the universal idea of indigenous people fighting for land and their sovereignty."