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Into The River
Winner of the Margaret Mahy Award
"Some rivers should not be swum in. Some rivers hold secrets that can never be told."
Te Arepa is an adventurous Maori boy, bound to the history, customs and rituals of his people. Yet when he comes upon a giant eel while fishing, he is convinced the creature is a taniwha, or water demon, and follows it. Yet what Te Arepa finds in the river is far different, far more sinister. And it will change his life forever.
Te Arepa has always been curious about experiencing life beyond his tribe. His wishes seem granted when he is awarded a scholarship at a prestigious boarding school, far away from the Maori. Leaving behind his family and their traditions, Te Arepa sets out to discover a strange new world with customs of its own...as well as new enemies.
When he arrives at school, Te Arepa finds the freedom and everything it offers intoxicating. But to fit in, he realizes that he must shed his identity, culture, and even his name. And he comes to realize that what the water demon showed him in the darkness of the river that day changed him, and that freedom comes with a heavy price.
"Some rivers should not be swum in. Some rivers hold secrets that can never be told."
Te Arepa is an adventurous Maori boy, bound to the history, customs and rituals of his people. Yet when he comes upon a giant eel while fishing, he is convinced the creature is a taniwha, or water demon, and follows it. Yet what Te Arepa finds in the river is far different, far more sinister. And it will change his life forever.
Te Arepa has always been curious about experiencing life beyond his tribe. His wishes seem granted when he is awarded a scholarship at a prestigious boarding school, far away from the Maori. Leaving behind his family and their traditions, Te Arepa sets out to discover a strange new world with customs of its own...as well as new enemies.
When he arrives at school, Te Arepa finds the freedom and everything it offers intoxicating. But to fit in, he realizes that he must shed his identity, culture, and even his name. And he comes to realize that what the water demon showed him in the darkness of the river that day changed him, and that freedom comes with a heavy price.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published August 31, 2012
20 people are currently reading
868 people want to read
About the author
Ted Dawe
7 books11 followersTed Dawe, who has had a long career as a teacher, stunned readers with his impressive first novel, Thunder Road – winner of the Best First Book Award and Senior Fiction category of the coveted New Zealand Post Children's and Young Adults Book Awards. His subsequent YA novel K Road was published to warm reviews.
Into the River won the supreme Margaret Mahy Book of the Year award at the 2013 NZ Post Children's Book Awards.
Ted lives in Auckland, New Zealand, where he teaches English to foreign students.
Into the River won the supreme Margaret Mahy Book of the Year award at the 2013 NZ Post Children's Book Awards.
Ted lives in Auckland, New Zealand, where he teaches English to foreign students.
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December 21, 2015"Under the interim ban it is now illegal to sell or supply this book anywhere in New Zealand."
"The NZ Post Children's Book Award winning novel, aimed at a teenage audience, contains explicit descriptions of sex and drug use, as well as an offensive term for female genitalia."
Since when did New Zealand have a giant carrot shoved up it's ass?
"The NZ Post Children's Book Award winning novel, aimed at a teenage audience, contains explicit descriptions of sex and drug use, as well as an offensive term for female genitalia."
Since when did New Zealand have a giant carrot shoved up it's ass?
December 3, 2015
Update Dec 2015: The Chief Censor who banned this book, Don Mathieson, has now "stepped down" from his position.
The book is no longer banned, and its previous R14 rating has been removed, meaning it is now unrestricted.
Mathieson said, "no responsible parent of a 17-year-old, let alone of a 12-year-old, would want this repetitive coarse language normalised." He saw the censor's job as being proscriptive - determining what should be allowed according to his preferred (Christian) standards, rather than descriptive - passing books and films which represented the activities and views of average New Zealanders.
In better news, Dawe at least got some traction from this event.
Update Sept 2015:
This award-winning NZ teen book just got BANNED completely in New Zealand. It's now a crime to "supply, display, or distribute the book in any way."
Because teenagers apparently never have sex and it's a crime to write a book in which they do.
original review Sept 2013
I guess this isn't a review as much as a series of impressions.
I read the book cover to cover in an afternoon. The initial section, when Te Arepo is living in the East Coast, drew me in so fast that I couldn't shake the story off.
My overwhelming sense was of temporal displocation. The storyworld is one of anachronism,¹ and every time I thought I had the setting solid in my head the story shifted under my feet and dumped me again. The specific clues for a timeline are so deliberate (e.g. a PSP) that they must serve a purpose in the narrative. It was this that has me thinking about the story after I finished reading. Part of the story is about tipuna, ancestors, and how the past and the present touch each other. Are the anachronisms part of this? Is Dawe wrinkling up time to show us the very timelessness of the theme?
The story of an East Coast boy heading to the big smoke for an education, (transported by Paikea, of course), in the face of racism and assimilation, is kind of representational of the entire 20th century urbanisation of Maori . And the theme of a river or water as a transformational place flows through the book (title, duh!).
But still I am left adrift by the story. Devon's life so quickly seems to spiral into pointless choices that don't seem to bring him happiness. They're not even his choices, they're Steph's, and he's only along for the ride. Devon says he chose freedom, but that doesn't feel like freedom to me.
I'm left with the unsettling feeling of a story that I don't completely understand. Reading the previously published sequel, Thunder Road, does not appeal. I'd prefer this one stand alone.
¹ There's a Department of Education =<1989
The school (an amalgam of Auckland Boys Grammar and Kings College) employs a staff member who carelessly mangles Maori names = 1980s or earlier
The school turns a blind eye to a Maori kid with "Nig" as a nickname in the hearing of staff (Nigger when teachers are absent) = again, 1980s or earlier
Social welfare is called CYPs = 1989-1999
D&G sunglass = >1998
A formal and condoned system of physical punishments doled out by older boys to younger boys, including serious beatings to which staff turn a blind eye = <2000ish at the very latest
Cell phones are cheap enough that some boys own them = >1990s, and you can buy them from a supermarket = >2000
The Warriors lose to the Paramatta Eels at Mt Smart, as part of a 7-time losing streak = 2000, except that was a 6-time streak.
Senior boys play with a PSP = >Sept 2005
The book is no longer banned, and its previous R14 rating has been removed, meaning it is now unrestricted.
Mathieson said, "no responsible parent of a 17-year-old, let alone of a 12-year-old, would want this repetitive coarse language normalised." He saw the censor's job as being proscriptive - determining what should be allowed according to his preferred (Christian) standards, rather than descriptive - passing books and films which represented the activities and views of average New Zealanders.
In better news, Dawe at least got some traction from this event.
Update Sept 2015:
This award-winning NZ teen book just got BANNED completely in New Zealand. It's now a crime to "supply, display, or distribute the book in any way."
Because teenagers apparently never have sex and it's a crime to write a book in which they do.
original review Sept 2013
I guess this isn't a review as much as a series of impressions.
I read the book cover to cover in an afternoon. The initial section, when Te Arepo is living in the East Coast, drew me in so fast that I couldn't shake the story off.
My overwhelming sense was of temporal displocation. The storyworld is one of anachronism,¹ and every time I thought I had the setting solid in my head the story shifted under my feet and dumped me again. The specific clues for a timeline are so deliberate (e.g. a PSP) that they must serve a purpose in the narrative. It was this that has me thinking about the story after I finished reading. Part of the story is about tipuna, ancestors, and how the past and the present touch each other. Are the anachronisms part of this? Is Dawe wrinkling up time to show us the very timelessness of the theme?
The story of an East Coast boy heading to the big smoke for an education, (transported by Paikea, of course), in the face of racism and assimilation, is kind of representational of the entire 20th century urbanisation of Maori . And the theme of a river or water as a transformational place flows through the book (title, duh!).
But still I am left adrift by the story. Devon's life so quickly seems to spiral into pointless choices that don't seem to bring him happiness. They're not even his choices, they're Steph's, and he's only along for the ride. Devon says he chose freedom, but that doesn't feel like freedom to me.
I'm left with the unsettling feeling of a story that I don't completely understand. Reading the previously published sequel, Thunder Road, does not appeal. I'd prefer this one stand alone.
¹ There's a Department of Education =<1989
The school (an amalgam of Auckland Boys Grammar and Kings College) employs a staff member who carelessly mangles Maori names = 1980s or earlier
The school turns a blind eye to a Maori kid with "Nig" as a nickname in the hearing of staff (Nigger when teachers are absent) = again, 1980s or earlier
Social welfare is called CYPs = 1989-1999
D&G sunglass = >1998
A formal and condoned system of physical punishments doled out by older boys to younger boys, including serious beatings to which staff turn a blind eye = <2000ish at the very latest
Cell phones are cheap enough that some boys own them = >1990s, and you can buy them from a supermarket = >2000
The Warriors lose to the Paramatta Eels at Mt Smart, as part of a 7-time losing streak = 2000, except that was a 6-time streak.
Senior boys play with a PSP = >Sept 2005
September 26, 2015
This started out so well. I was so enjoying reading about Te Arepa and his family and friends and the Maori culture. And then Te Arepa went off to boarding school and turned into a totally different character. From then on the story focussed on all the bad parts of school and teenage life and the reasons why some people wanted the book banned became apparent. Personally I do not agree with banning a book but at the same time I would not have wanted my own children to read a book like this before they were ready. Young Adult is quite a wide category age wise and this belongs at the upper end! I was totally floored by the ending but then discovered there is a sequel. I guess I am supposed to read that to find out what happened to Devon. I probably won't bother though.
July 12, 2017
Nothing like a banning to make one want to read a book!
Edit; looks like Amazon have now removed this book - for NZ anyway. Yesterday the print version was still available.
Edit 2 14/10/15 & sanity returns. http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/...
Edit 18/12/15 The controversy has helped Ted Dawe! My local library is now going to stock this book. Tee hee!
Banned Book Week seemed the right time to read this book.
As I stated above, my local library now stocks this book,complete with a sticker warning of explicit content. But, even allowing for the young age of the main characters and the target audience and the casual use of a word many New Zealanders find very offensive, the book wasn't that racy. During the nadir of my working life I cleaned the metalwork and woodwork block of our local high school. I was allowed to start work just before the students finished school and listening to the kids' language made me feel like I was swimming through a sewer. So the delicate and tender young that the Chief Censor of the time (he now no longer has this job) was trying to protect - they don't exist. Dawe wrote this book to try to create a New Zealand book with a New Zealand subject that reluctant Kiwi teenage boy readers would read. My now 23 year old son was a reluctant reader and teens are when most of us are at our most boringly conformist. My boy simply would have refused to read a book with such strong homosexual themes. He would have been worried about What Would My Mates Say.
My Goodreads friend Emma Sea mentions the uncertain veering between times. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I would add mention of the Warehouse chain means after 1982 (probably later than that- late 1980s was when they became ubiquitous) DVDs became common around mid 2000s, telephone cards for cellphones in use around 2000. It is sloppy and it is jarring.
But I liked it! I found this novel a fast paced easy read with recognisably Kiwi characters. Would I have read it if it hadn't have been for the censorship controversy? Almost certainly not.
Would have been my loss.
Edit; looks like Amazon have now removed this book - for NZ anyway. Yesterday the print version was still available.
Edit 2 14/10/15 & sanity returns. http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/...
Edit 18/12/15 The controversy has helped Ted Dawe! My local library is now going to stock this book. Tee hee!
●▬▬▬▬๑۩۩๑▬▬▬▬▬●
Banned Book Week seemed the right time to read this book.
As I stated above, my local library now stocks this book,complete with a sticker warning of explicit content. But, even allowing for the young age of the main characters and the target audience and the casual use of a word many New Zealanders find very offensive, the book wasn't that racy. During the nadir of my working life I cleaned the metalwork and woodwork block of our local high school. I was allowed to start work just before the students finished school and listening to the kids' language made me feel like I was swimming through a sewer. So the delicate and tender young that the Chief Censor of the time (he now no longer has this job) was trying to protect - they don't exist. Dawe wrote this book to try to create a New Zealand book with a New Zealand subject that reluctant Kiwi teenage boy readers would read. My now 23 year old son was a reluctant reader and teens are when most of us are at our most boringly conformist. My boy simply would have refused to read a book with such strong homosexual themes. He would have been worried about What Would My Mates Say.
My Goodreads friend Emma Sea mentions the uncertain veering between times. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I would add mention of the Warehouse chain means after 1982 (probably later than that- late 1980s was when they became ubiquitous) DVDs became common around mid 2000s, telephone cards for cellphones in use around 2000. It is sloppy and it is jarring.
But I liked it! I found this novel a fast paced easy read with recognisably Kiwi characters. Would I have read it if it hadn't have been for the censorship controversy? Almost certainly not.
Would have been my loss.
February 16, 2017
*3.5*
This NZ YA novel comes freighted with all the hoopla surrounding it's rather inexplicable "interim restriction" of September 2015 (since lifted). Made further curious by the fact it won the NZ Post Children's book award of 2013. I am going to put that storm in a Family First tea cup to one side for now and just consider what I made of the novel.
As someone who reads the majority of her fiction set in places other than NZ, it is always immediately comforting to be in a familiar location, and makes me think I need to read more NZ literature. The opening chapters of this book really charmed me. Set in a small East coast town, we meet Te Arepa Santos as he battles with a giant eel. Te Arepa (later Devon) is the heart and soul of the entire novel, only 13 or 14 during the course of events in this book but obviously marked for great things. It is fascinating to watch the tug of tribal history on his decisions and character.
The story then moves to a prestigious Auckland Boys Boarding school and Devon faces the challenges of bullies and latin declensions, while still trying to live up to the expectations of his own whanau. This was actually the story that most interested me and I think a lot more could have been done with it. ( Even though this story goes in an utterly other direction at this point I was reminded of the documentary film called Maori Boy Genius ).
Anyway... with nary an untoward scene to be found during the first 2/3 s of the novel, things suddenly kick up a notch with the introduction of . I didn't have too much of an issue with the scenes that resulted from this, but it is possible they could have been written a little less banally ? These things are hard to judge reading a YA novel through an adult lens. On the other hand perhaps this is one method to make your book stand out (ban notwithstanding). My own greater concern was this turning point in the novel seemed to coincide with a sudden plodding and largely expository writing style. I could feel the authors need to hastily set the stage for the older Devon of the 2003 novel Thunder Road .
Despite my antipathy towards the last third of this novel I pretty much enjoyed this book and I am rooting for Devon to return to the East Coast as Te Arepa as that would be a great redemption story .... anyway I need to read Thunder Road to find out.
This NZ YA novel comes freighted with all the hoopla surrounding it's rather inexplicable "interim restriction" of September 2015 (since lifted). Made further curious by the fact it won the NZ Post Children's book award of 2013. I am going to put that storm in a Family First tea cup to one side for now and just consider what I made of the novel.
As someone who reads the majority of her fiction set in places other than NZ, it is always immediately comforting to be in a familiar location, and makes me think I need to read more NZ literature. The opening chapters of this book really charmed me. Set in a small East coast town, we meet Te Arepa Santos as he battles with a giant eel. Te Arepa (later Devon) is the heart and soul of the entire novel, only 13 or 14 during the course of events in this book but obviously marked for great things. It is fascinating to watch the tug of tribal history on his decisions and character.
The story then moves to a prestigious Auckland Boys Boarding school and Devon faces the challenges of bullies and latin declensions, while still trying to live up to the expectations of his own whanau. This was actually the story that most interested me and I think a lot more could have been done with it. ( Even though this story goes in an utterly other direction at this point I was reminded of the documentary film called Maori Boy Genius ).
Anyway... with nary an untoward scene to be found during the first 2/3 s of the novel, things suddenly kick up a notch with the introduction of . I didn't have too much of an issue with the scenes that resulted from this, but it is possible they could have been written a little less banally ? These things are hard to judge reading a YA novel through an adult lens. On the other hand perhaps this is one method to make your book stand out (ban notwithstanding). My own greater concern was this turning point in the novel seemed to coincide with a sudden plodding and largely expository writing style. I could feel the authors need to hastily set the stage for the older Devon of the 2003 novel Thunder Road .
Despite my antipathy towards the last third of this novel I pretty much enjoyed this book and I am rooting for Devon to return to the East Coast as Te Arepa as that would be a great redemption story .... anyway I need to read Thunder Road to find out.
September 30, 2016
This was one of my book selections for Banned Books Week, although I have known about it for a while. It was the case of a book banning, full force, in the entire country of New Zealand. For a time, it was illegal to buy or sell this book, no matter your age or beliefs.
Does the book warrant this reaction? Well no, not really. And I imagine the protest the complaining agency had to be different than mine. The focus on the novel is a young Maori male who goes off to boarding school. The beginning is a bunch of boys playing outdoors, fishing, swimming naked, and going home to their families where traditional rituals are still taking place. I loved the use of the Maori words throughout the text, much more frequent in the beginning, the placeness of the writing, and the characters of Ra and his cousin Pakhea.
In boarding school it is a pretty standard story of a child rising from his status, experimenting, learning the ways of the world, etc. My biggest issues have more to do with consent. An older male character takes advantage of some of the boys (coercion) and Te Arepa basically rapes a girl from the girls school. This is not addressed at all except that she isn't friendly towards him anymore.
Look, teenagers experiment. It's nice to see that examined honestly in a novel intended for them as readers. But given that opportunity, it would have been nice if consent had not been the missing piece. I do think that this is the problem with removing books containing sex from teens; when we do this it moves it to the dark corners instead of keeping it in the open when we can talk openly about safety and consent.
Does the book warrant this reaction? Well no, not really. And I imagine the protest the complaining agency had to be different than mine. The focus on the novel is a young Maori male who goes off to boarding school. The beginning is a bunch of boys playing outdoors, fishing, swimming naked, and going home to their families where traditional rituals are still taking place. I loved the use of the Maori words throughout the text, much more frequent in the beginning, the placeness of the writing, and the characters of Ra and his cousin Pakhea.
In boarding school it is a pretty standard story of a child rising from his status, experimenting, learning the ways of the world, etc. My biggest issues have more to do with consent. An older male character takes advantage of some of the boys (coercion) and Te Arepa basically rapes a girl from the girls school. This is not addressed at all except that she isn't friendly towards him anymore.
Look, teenagers experiment. It's nice to see that examined honestly in a novel intended for them as readers. But given that opportunity, it would have been nice if consent had not been the missing piece. I do think that this is the problem with removing books containing sex from teens; when we do this it moves it to the dark corners instead of keeping it in the open when we can talk openly about safety and consent.
October 23, 2022
I actually thought this was a stunning novel about a young boy struggling to find his place with his whakapapa always on his mind, the weight of expectations of his family, and how adrift he feels in his new school surroundings. It was a really good exploration of how youth can become disconnected from the past as they work to adapt to the harsh realities of a new environment. The more time Te Arepu spent away from his home and family, the more he began to identify as Devon. There are some graphic sex scenes, issues with consent, adult figures exploiting teens, and frequent drug use. I thought the characters were utterly engaging and loved the way they connected with each other both in his home town and at the boarding school. In parts the writing was wonderful however, I couldn't get enough sense of when this story took place with some mixed messages throughout. Still thoroughly enjoyed this one.
March 26, 2019
I was looking to read a 'banned book' for one of my reading challenges. This is one that was banned in New Zealand and I'm not even sure why (considering the age group this book is aimed at...we are kidding ourselves if we don't think our 14-15 year old children don't know about any of these things)...the ban didn't last long before it was lifted so someone agrees with me. It started off quite well , I enjoyed the Maori feel and understood the little quirks very well, but I got lost in the last few chapters; it covers some pretty serious subjects which was upsetting. Not a bad read overall.
July 15, 2013
This book is the prequel to Ted Dawe's Thunder Road (2003), which won both the Young Adult and Best First Book awards in the 2004 NZ Children's Book Awards. Having read 'Into the River', I am very keen to read 'Thunder Road'. One of the things about a prequel is that it is always leading to a thoroughly told beginning, and so there is an inevitability to the story. Even though I haven't read Thunder Road, I could really feel the inexorable drive of this story. I think this is a real strength of the book.
Preview of Into the River
The story beings with young Te Arepa and his best friend Wiremu eeling. This is beautifully written, with the friendship between Wiremu and Te Arepa having real legs. The dialogue and interaction have a truth to them that draws the reader 'Into the River' with them, as they catch a monster eel:
'He's a monster!'
'He's the taniwha of the river!'
The eel made his leisurely way downstream, the hook projecting from the side of his mouth. The boys trotted along, keeping pace. After fifty metres, the river changed course and crossed a shallow ridge of river boulders.
'We can get him when he crosses the rocks,' yelled Wiremu.
As if it heard, the eel immediately made for the bank. It nuzzled its way into the reeds immediately above the rapids.
'Now's our chance,' said Te Arepa. 'We might be able to drag him over to the rocks.'
They let the line go slack and ran to where it was shallow enough to cross. Once they were halfway across, they began to pull together. At first it seemed pointless. Nothing would shift this monster. But then his head appeared and he made a dash straight past them over the rushing rocks.'
However, as the back of the book says:
'Some rivers should not be swum in. Some rivers hold secrets that can never be told.
When Te Arepa Santos is dragged into the river by a giant eel, something happens that will change the course of his whole life. The boy who struggles to the bank is not the same one who plunged in, moments earlier. He has brushed against the spirit world, and there is a price to be paid; an utu to be exacted.'
As you may have noticed, Te Arepa's last name is Spanish. The telling of the story of Diego, the ancestor who gave Te Arepa his last name, is a fantastically wrought tale told over three nights to Te Arepa and his younger sister Rawinia, by their grandfather, Ra. All of this tale weaving lulls you into a false sense of security. You feel, as a reader that, when Te Arepa is offered a place at an elite Auckland Boarding School for boys, he has the strength to cope and to hold on to who he is.
But it doesn't quite work like that.
As Paikea drives him to Auckland in her courier van, Te Arepa becomes transfixed with her driving - the way that she seems at one with the vehicle. He has his first lesson (despite being 13 years old). At school, he is given a new name - Devon - and makes he friends with the worldly and world weary Steph, athlete and petrol-head Mitch, and farm boy Wingnut. Progressively, Devon separates himself from everything that identifies him as Maori, because of the consistent and persistent bullying from the older boys and even the masters. His first year at school reveals some cracks, but his second year is relentless.
While there may seem to be some similarities between 'Snakes and Ladders' (another NZ Post Children's Book Awards nominee) and 'Into the River' (small town boy is moved to elite Auckland boarding school, where he needs to learn to deal with the super rich and the bullies, as well as the eccentricities of elite boarding school life) in reality, there are few. This tale is an absorbing, relentless, addictive read. The characters are well drawn and three dimensional - although not always likeable. There is an inevitability to the story that feels real, even though you don't want it to be that way.
This book is definitely 14+ in my view, as sex, drugs, alcohol etc feature relatively prominently - but not gratuitously (at least most of the time...it does occasionally slip into 14yr old fantasyland...IMO) Recommended. 4/5 stars.
Read more about Ted Dawe here:
Ted Dawe
Read another review of Into the River here:
Bobs Books Blog
This review, along with others, can be found at My Blog
Preview of Into the River
The story beings with young Te Arepa and his best friend Wiremu eeling. This is beautifully written, with the friendship between Wiremu and Te Arepa having real legs. The dialogue and interaction have a truth to them that draws the reader 'Into the River' with them, as they catch a monster eel:
'He's a monster!'
'He's the taniwha of the river!'
The eel made his leisurely way downstream, the hook projecting from the side of his mouth. The boys trotted along, keeping pace. After fifty metres, the river changed course and crossed a shallow ridge of river boulders.
'We can get him when he crosses the rocks,' yelled Wiremu.
As if it heard, the eel immediately made for the bank. It nuzzled its way into the reeds immediately above the rapids.
'Now's our chance,' said Te Arepa. 'We might be able to drag him over to the rocks.'
They let the line go slack and ran to where it was shallow enough to cross. Once they were halfway across, they began to pull together. At first it seemed pointless. Nothing would shift this monster. But then his head appeared and he made a dash straight past them over the rushing rocks.'
However, as the back of the book says:
'Some rivers should not be swum in. Some rivers hold secrets that can never be told.
When Te Arepa Santos is dragged into the river by a giant eel, something happens that will change the course of his whole life. The boy who struggles to the bank is not the same one who plunged in, moments earlier. He has brushed against the spirit world, and there is a price to be paid; an utu to be exacted.'
As you may have noticed, Te Arepa's last name is Spanish. The telling of the story of Diego, the ancestor who gave Te Arepa his last name, is a fantastically wrought tale told over three nights to Te Arepa and his younger sister Rawinia, by their grandfather, Ra. All of this tale weaving lulls you into a false sense of security. You feel, as a reader that, when Te Arepa is offered a place at an elite Auckland Boarding School for boys, he has the strength to cope and to hold on to who he is.
But it doesn't quite work like that.
As Paikea drives him to Auckland in her courier van, Te Arepa becomes transfixed with her driving - the way that she seems at one with the vehicle. He has his first lesson (despite being 13 years old). At school, he is given a new name - Devon - and makes he friends with the worldly and world weary Steph, athlete and petrol-head Mitch, and farm boy Wingnut. Progressively, Devon separates himself from everything that identifies him as Maori, because of the consistent and persistent bullying from the older boys and even the masters. His first year at school reveals some cracks, but his second year is relentless.
While there may seem to be some similarities between 'Snakes and Ladders' (another NZ Post Children's Book Awards nominee) and 'Into the River' (small town boy is moved to elite Auckland boarding school, where he needs to learn to deal with the super rich and the bullies, as well as the eccentricities of elite boarding school life) in reality, there are few. This tale is an absorbing, relentless, addictive read. The characters are well drawn and three dimensional - although not always likeable. There is an inevitability to the story that feels real, even though you don't want it to be that way.
This book is definitely 14+ in my view, as sex, drugs, alcohol etc feature relatively prominently - but not gratuitously (at least most of the time...it does occasionally slip into 14yr old fantasyland...IMO) Recommended. 4/5 stars.
Read more about Ted Dawe here:
Ted Dawe
Read another review of Into the River here:
Bobs Books Blog
This review, along with others, can be found at My Blog
July 12, 2013
Into the River
***Warning: contains spoilers***
Much controversy has erupted over this book, stirred by its award as a ‘children’s’ book. This is not a children’s book, it is a young adult book dealing with issues young adults may encounter while progressing through the teenage years.
It has a slow start. For a start nothing much happens in the first few chapters – a day spent eeling and then a few more days spent retelling the history or kaupapa of the iwi relating to a European ancestor. Then the inciting incident which leads to Te Arepa/Devon going to boarding school which I found unusual as there was no indication in the first few chapters that he had been chosen to do the entry examination or even how he came to the attention of the school in the first place. What follows reads like Tom Brown’s Schooldays and is uncomfortable reading.
The real action, and the reason for the controversy, is in the second half of the book. The moment Devon loses his virginity comes as a shock, not because of the act itself although it is explicit, but because there had been no foreshadowing of a growing awareness of sexuality. I thought, perhaps naively, that a 13 year old boy would be too immature and at that ‘eww, girls’ stage to even contemplate such a thing but then again if the opportunity was there, which boy wouldn’t?
Even so, I thought this part was contrived and actually unnecessary and this not because I’m a prude. It didn’t seem to advance the story much except underlining the alienation that Devon was feeling on his return to his childhood home. Wiremu’s betrayal added somewhat to this growing chasm between Devon and his home.
The next occasion, at a school camp, had a more natural flow to it and thus more believable.
My biggest issue was that I couldn’t connect with Devon as a character. Lots of things happen to him and around him but we seldom get to see any internalisation of these events. The other characters are nicely drawn – the enigmatic Steph, the conflicted Briggs, the predatory Willis, the he-man and dropout Mitch, the tragic Paikea. All unique and rounded characters that hold sway over the maturing Devon but of Devon himself we see little. We can see his increasing detachment from his roots and his inability to reconnect with any other solid positive influences which lead ultimately to his final decision, one that seems inevitable on reflection but, as a parent, I want him to make the right decision, the one that society expects. That he doesn’t gives the ending a certain poignancy. I guess this is what Ted is trying to achieve, the gradual alienation until the course Devon takes is the only one that he can take. Having read Thunder Road I knew that. It’s like watching Titanic; you know how its going to end and part of you hopes for a different ending even though you know that hope is unrealistic.
This is a raw gritty book, with themes that may make the reader uncomfortable but can’t be denied as it is what happens in today’s society. I can see how this book won the award and why it will be welcomed in school libraries for the issues that it raises. The parental guidance sticker is well placed, not because the book needs to be vetoed by a parent but because it may provoke discussion amongst its teenage readers and therefore a parent should be forewarned and be ready to participate in a healthy discussion. This book should not be read behind closed doors with the sensational bits blogged and retweeted infinitum but openly poured over and dissected in an open forum with a wise adult hand to guide it.
Some may find it difficult reading and some may choose not read to at all but good on Ted for getting it out there.
Just one small technical issue – the gutter margin of the book is very narrow meaning that the printed words are very close to the spine which make it awkward to read. Hopefully this will be sorted with a reprint – and I’m sure there’ll be a reprint.
***Warning: contains spoilers***
Much controversy has erupted over this book, stirred by its award as a ‘children’s’ book. This is not a children’s book, it is a young adult book dealing with issues young adults may encounter while progressing through the teenage years.
It has a slow start. For a start nothing much happens in the first few chapters – a day spent eeling and then a few more days spent retelling the history or kaupapa of the iwi relating to a European ancestor. Then the inciting incident which leads to Te Arepa/Devon going to boarding school which I found unusual as there was no indication in the first few chapters that he had been chosen to do the entry examination or even how he came to the attention of the school in the first place. What follows reads like Tom Brown’s Schooldays and is uncomfortable reading.
The real action, and the reason for the controversy, is in the second half of the book. The moment Devon loses his virginity comes as a shock, not because of the act itself although it is explicit, but because there had been no foreshadowing of a growing awareness of sexuality. I thought, perhaps naively, that a 13 year old boy would be too immature and at that ‘eww, girls’ stage to even contemplate such a thing but then again if the opportunity was there, which boy wouldn’t?
Even so, I thought this part was contrived and actually unnecessary and this not because I’m a prude. It didn’t seem to advance the story much except underlining the alienation that Devon was feeling on his return to his childhood home. Wiremu’s betrayal added somewhat to this growing chasm between Devon and his home.
The next occasion, at a school camp, had a more natural flow to it and thus more believable.
My biggest issue was that I couldn’t connect with Devon as a character. Lots of things happen to him and around him but we seldom get to see any internalisation of these events. The other characters are nicely drawn – the enigmatic Steph, the conflicted Briggs, the predatory Willis, the he-man and dropout Mitch, the tragic Paikea. All unique and rounded characters that hold sway over the maturing Devon but of Devon himself we see little. We can see his increasing detachment from his roots and his inability to reconnect with any other solid positive influences which lead ultimately to his final decision, one that seems inevitable on reflection but, as a parent, I want him to make the right decision, the one that society expects. That he doesn’t gives the ending a certain poignancy. I guess this is what Ted is trying to achieve, the gradual alienation until the course Devon takes is the only one that he can take. Having read Thunder Road I knew that. It’s like watching Titanic; you know how its going to end and part of you hopes for a different ending even though you know that hope is unrealistic.
This is a raw gritty book, with themes that may make the reader uncomfortable but can’t be denied as it is what happens in today’s society. I can see how this book won the award and why it will be welcomed in school libraries for the issues that it raises. The parental guidance sticker is well placed, not because the book needs to be vetoed by a parent but because it may provoke discussion amongst its teenage readers and therefore a parent should be forewarned and be ready to participate in a healthy discussion. This book should not be read behind closed doors with the sensational bits blogged and retweeted infinitum but openly poured over and dissected in an open forum with a wise adult hand to guide it.
Some may find it difficult reading and some may choose not read to at all but good on Ted for getting it out there.
Just one small technical issue – the gutter margin of the book is very narrow meaning that the printed words are very close to the spine which make it awkward to read. Hopefully this will be sorted with a reprint – and I’m sure there’ll be a reprint.
November 6, 2013
As I started this book - no, actually, for the first half or more of this book I wondered what the controversy was all about. I didn't find it amazingly gripping but I was entertained and interested as to where the narrative was going and how the author was going to wrap all his themes up.
I've never read Thunder Road and I understand that this is a prequel to that - but I don't think that that is an excuse to write a ridiculously over-sized preface and bind it as a novel in its own right. Needless to say my desire to see where the narrative was going and how the themes wrapped up was never assuaged - the themes just seem to have been left to drift and the only place the narrative seemed to go was, I assume having never been there myself, the opening pages of Thunder Road.
In this I feel kind of tricked. If I want to know what happens I will have to read the next book. This makes me grumpy - and stubborn as I am, I think I will drop the journey now.
Basically this lack of a bounded story in itself annoyed the hell out of me and is where the two stars came from.
But a few notes on the controversy surrounding the book. I think it's a bit hard nosed but I also feel that in his approach Ted Dawe courted it.
I've never read Thunder Road and I understand that this is a prequel to that - but I don't think that that is an excuse to write a ridiculously over-sized preface and bind it as a novel in its own right. Needless to say my desire to see where the narrative was going and how the themes wrapped up was never assuaged - the themes just seem to have been left to drift and the only place the narrative seemed to go was, I assume having never been there myself, the opening pages of Thunder Road.
In this I feel kind of tricked. If I want to know what happens I will have to read the next book. This makes me grumpy - and stubborn as I am, I think I will drop the journey now.
Basically this lack of a bounded story in itself annoyed the hell out of me and is where the two stars came from.
But a few notes on the controversy surrounding the book. I think it's a bit hard nosed but I also feel that in his approach Ted Dawe courted it.
June 8, 2016
Too sensationalised and it annoyed it. It was like it was trying too hard to be clever and when you only have limited minutes to spend on a book, I felt like I was wasting time even when I was flipping through the pages and not taking anything in!
Megan summed it up the best for me: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Megan summed it up the best for me: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Want to read
September 18, 2015When hand-ringing conservatives ban a book, that is enough of a recommendation, to me, to buy it.
#inyourface
#inyourface
June 21, 2017
Yes, I read it to see what the fuss was about. Felt the whole thing to be very underwhelming with unlikeable characters.
April 23, 2017
This book came with a great hype, having been banned in late 2015 in NZ. Still remember the "BANNED" logo plastered across the window of the TimeOut bookstore!
I am not sure why it was banned! It was a good novel, albeit it was controversial themes in the later half of the book. That said, I have read a lot more "revealing" and "in your face" novels that have, as opposed to been banned, have been lauded as bestsellers.
It is difficult to provide a comprehensive review of this book without giving away some key plot/theme points but needless to say, it is both a coming of age novel, a search for one's identity and potentially a social commentary on two different types of cultures in our country. All three of these points were expertly highlighted by Dawe's decision to give the main character two names - Te Arepa and Devon. This distinction allowed the reader to watch him struggle to be two different people, when in reality he was simply a c.14 year old boy.
Am considering whether to read Thunder Road but may wait a while as I continue to digest what I have just read - and continue to ponder why this book was banned in the first place!!
I am not sure why it was banned! It was a good novel, albeit it was controversial themes in the later half of the book. That said, I have read a lot more "revealing" and "in your face" novels that have, as opposed to been banned, have been lauded as bestsellers.
It is difficult to provide a comprehensive review of this book without giving away some key plot/theme points but needless to say, it is both a coming of age novel, a search for one's identity and potentially a social commentary on two different types of cultures in our country. All three of these points were expertly highlighted by Dawe's decision to give the main character two names - Te Arepa and Devon. This distinction allowed the reader to watch him struggle to be two different people, when in reality he was simply a c.14 year old boy.
Am considering whether to read Thunder Road but may wait a while as I continue to digest what I have just read - and continue to ponder why this book was banned in the first place!!
October 12, 2015
In 2013, this novel won Book of the Year at the NZ Post Children's Book Awards, but after lobbying by the Christian lobby group Family First, it was finally banned in New Zealand last month and subsequently became very difficult to purchase (at realistic prices) in Australia. As I am a Senior School Teacher Librarian in a K to 12 school, I am responsible for purchasing all of the resources for students from years 9 to 12. I was therefore keen to read this book and to try to understand on what grounds a book could be banned in a country which I believe is similar to my own. Fortunately for me I was able to download a Kobo version of the book, whereas the hard copies were unobtainable.
After reading this book I am no wiser as to it's banning. If it was banned due to the bad language, the racism, drug taking, sexual encounters between school students, realistic bullying by staff and students, the presence of a paedophile teacher, manipulative House leaders, and set in a private boarding school - then many of the Young Adult fiction in my school library should also be banned.
Into the River is a good "coming of age" novel which portrays realistic issues faced by many students in any contemporary western school community. I do not believe in banning books and believe every reader has the right to choose or select whatever they want to read as long as they have access to a vast range of books to choose from.
The current Royal Commission in Australia is investigating how institutions like schools, churches and sporting groups responded to allegations of child sexual abuse. This ongoing investigation has highlighted why covering up issues such as paedophia and sexual abuse in schools in the past, lead to the continuation and persistent abuse of students for far longer than might have been if these issues were openly discussed and/or written about. By banning a book that brings these issues into focus I wonder who is benefiting and who is being hurt and/or victimised?
After reading this book I am no wiser as to it's banning. If it was banned due to the bad language, the racism, drug taking, sexual encounters between school students, realistic bullying by staff and students, the presence of a paedophile teacher, manipulative House leaders, and set in a private boarding school - then many of the Young Adult fiction in my school library should also be banned.
Into the River is a good "coming of age" novel which portrays realistic issues faced by many students in any contemporary western school community. I do not believe in banning books and believe every reader has the right to choose or select whatever they want to read as long as they have access to a vast range of books to choose from.
The current Royal Commission in Australia is investigating how institutions like schools, churches and sporting groups responded to allegations of child sexual abuse. This ongoing investigation has highlighted why covering up issues such as paedophia and sexual abuse in schools in the past, lead to the continuation and persistent abuse of students for far longer than might have been if these issues were openly discussed and/or written about. By banning a book that brings these issues into focus I wonder who is benefiting and who is being hurt and/or victimised?
September 21, 2015
After all the controversy about this book, I had to read it to find out what was so damn awful readers can't be left to decide for themselves whether or not to read it. Having read it, I still don't know the answer. Yes, there is some sex. Some drugs. Some homosexuality. But nothing I haven't read in other young adult books. In fact, all these things are fairly minor parts of what isn't actually a great book.
There are several problems. To begin with, the time period remains murky. Kids have cell phones at the school, but Te Arepa's mother is in hospital with Tuberculosis. Life on the Coast is described so it feels like last century, while in the city, we're in the modern world. This does not reflect the reality of life on the East Coast.
But my main issue is with Te Arepa's lack of growth and passivity. He never makes anything happen. Things happen to him. Things happen around him, but he never drives any of the action himself. Therefore, he doesn't really change much through the course of the story.
Overall, I was disappointed with this book, both because it won an award and is very mediocre, and because all the hoo-ha about it is totally unfounded. But it's good news for the author because now tons of people will buy it when it gets back onto the shelves just to see what all the fuss is about. So the laugh's on you, Family First.
There are several problems. To begin with, the time period remains murky. Kids have cell phones at the school, but Te Arepa's mother is in hospital with Tuberculosis. Life on the Coast is described so it feels like last century, while in the city, we're in the modern world. This does not reflect the reality of life on the East Coast.
But my main issue is with Te Arepa's lack of growth and passivity. He never makes anything happen. Things happen to him. Things happen around him, but he never drives any of the action himself. Therefore, he doesn't really change much through the course of the story.
Overall, I was disappointed with this book, both because it won an award and is very mediocre, and because all the hoo-ha about it is totally unfounded. But it's good news for the author because now tons of people will buy it when it gets back onto the shelves just to see what all the fuss is about. So the laugh's on you, Family First.
March 23, 2016
I probably wouldn't have ever stumbled upon this book if not the notorious ban that this book faced. Some mad religious people felt offended by such book and made it only more known to the world. To be honest, I've no idea why this book enraged those ultra-religious parents. They think teenagers don't have sex, right? Good luck with that...
The story plunges us into Maori world with its spiritual life and vocabulary, which made me seek out for a dictionary quite often (but that was very enjoyable for me). We have a story about a boy named Te Arepa Santos with an interesting ancestral history and how it affects his further life and morals.
The plot has some gothic aspects: it's a mix of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein, where Te Arepa changes his identities, where he befriends strange friends, that each could be a version of Dorian Gray, Werewolf and maybe even the Invisible Man. And everything is about transgressing the monstrous world.
What's also interesting about this story: it lacks obvious modern times signs, you might be guessing the time throughout the whole story, and each time you get a little clue, which decade it could be, finally leading you to the end and a realization that it is set after 2005 (my guess!).
The story plunges us into Maori world with its spiritual life and vocabulary, which made me seek out for a dictionary quite often (but that was very enjoyable for me). We have a story about a boy named Te Arepa Santos with an interesting ancestral history and how it affects his further life and morals.
The plot has some gothic aspects: it's a mix of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein, where Te Arepa changes his identities, where he befriends strange friends, that each could be a version of Dorian Gray, Werewolf and maybe even the Invisible Man. And everything is about transgressing the monstrous world.
What's also interesting about this story: it lacks obvious modern times signs, you might be guessing the time throughout the whole story, and each time you get a little clue, which decade it could be, finally leading you to the end and a realization that it is set after 2005 (my guess!).
July 12, 2013
Patches of real brilliance in this book. I don't think it is shocking, or immoral or worse than plenty of other YA I've read. I liked the characters and I liked their stories, I thought it showed the huge contrast between country life and city life in a realistic way and felt like I knew people just like those whose lives we glimpsed in the story. It would be a great book for a novel study in senior school with reluctant boys because there are so many layers. Yes it is brave, yes it has some good writing and yes I see why it won, I've enjoyed all of Ted Dawes books, but would I have chosen it from this years field? Maybe. (It will have a Seniors sticker on it in the library because that is the audience it has been written for.)
July 22, 2014
This was a 3.5 star read for me. Although a little slow I really enjoyed the opening sequence. I thought the voice and background authentic. The writing was solid and the tone throughout the book on point.
I found it hard to connect with the main character Te Arepa/Devon though. While likable I found him a little remote and I wanted to know more about his motivations and choices. I felt too that the ending was rushed, the pacing suddenly squeezed with a switch to more telling than showing. The female characters on the whole felt a little stereotypical and much less fleshed out than the male characters.
In the end however I think this book raises a lot of important issues for its target audience. Definitely worth a read.
I found it hard to connect with the main character Te Arepa/Devon though. While likable I found him a little remote and I wanted to know more about his motivations and choices. I felt too that the ending was rushed, the pacing suddenly squeezed with a switch to more telling than showing. The female characters on the whole felt a little stereotypical and much less fleshed out than the male characters.
In the end however I think this book raises a lot of important issues for its target audience. Definitely worth a read.
November 28, 2015
The rest of this long-winded review is at: [
Night Mode Reading
]
Te Arepa, a maori boy from a this world full of myths, legends, stories, chants, spirits, monsters, curses and so on, lands in an all-boys school in the city. It takes a lot to fit in. And to some, like him, it takes everything to even adjust. I'd say it's beautiful to see him change, but what I liked even more is how he got changed instead. By his friends, the no-backbone farmer, the bad-boy rebel, and mr seen-it-all. Te Arepa's skin soon becomes too tight for him.
Te Arepa, a maori boy from a this world full of myths, legends, stories, chants, spirits, monsters, curses and so on, lands in an all-boys school in the city. It takes a lot to fit in. And to some, like him, it takes everything to even adjust. I'd say it's beautiful to see him change, but what I liked even more is how he got changed instead. By his friends, the no-backbone farmer, the bad-boy rebel, and mr seen-it-all. Te Arepa's skin soon becomes too tight for him.
June 25, 2013
A tough, gutsy page-turner that pushes the limits, just like Ted's earlier YA novel, Thunder Road. It's only just won the Senior Fiction Award in the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards - against some very tough competition - and also scooped the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award. As a self-published book, this novel should now experience a huge increase in sales - way to go, Ted!
Want to read
September 8, 2015“A word to the unwise.
Torch every book.
Char every page.
Burn every word to ash.
Ideas are incombustible.
And therein lies your real fear.”
― Ellen Hopkins
Absolutely disgusted that New Zealand has banned this book!
Torch every book.
Char every page.
Burn every word to ash.
Ideas are incombustible.
And therein lies your real fear.”
― Ellen Hopkins
Absolutely disgusted that New Zealand has banned this book!
June 22, 2013
Fantastic writing and brave choice of subject matter. Impressed by his bravery in dropping the c-bomb!
August 15, 2013
great read, a bit boring to start with but once you gt into it its great, the main character is te arapa and he gets powers
November 26, 2018
This book is nothing at all like the description. Rather, it's the story of a boy from a remote community trying to find his place after receiving a scholarship to an elite boarding school in Auckland.
Teen fiction, this book was 'banned' in NZ after winning a children's book prize.
Teen fiction, this book was 'banned' in NZ after winning a children's book prize.
August 15, 2013
Like many others I read this book only because of the social media storm that followed the two awards that it received - 2013 Young Adult Fiction category and the New Zealand Post Margaret Mahy Book of the Year. My stance has always been that before I form an opinion I should actually read the book. Well I've read it so here we go.
Te Arepa comes from the small rural community of Goldsmith's Bush where he has grown up among whanau and friends knowing his place and his whakapapa. When he gets noticed at school for his writing he is offered a place at Barwell’s Collegiate in Auckland. Ra, Te Arepa's grandfather gives him the choice to go or stay. Te Arepa chooses to go. The world of Barwell’s Collegiate is very different to home and there are a whole new set of rules and lessons to learn. Many of them stark and cruel. Te Arepa must learn to survive. His name is changed to Devon via the tradition of nicknaming and he changes along with it. When he visits his home he begins to realise that he is not the same person anymore and he no longer fits. Te Arepa/Devon is left on the outside not quite fitting in at either school or home. Along the way we are given a glimpse of the lives of the other boys that he has met and see different sets of lifestyle and attitude. These form a blunt contrast to Te Arepa's experience.
Eventually Te Arepa/Devon forms a close friendship with Steph who helps him keep up with his school work and in return expects that Te Arepa will join the choir with him and hang out in the music dept. This can be an uncomfortable choice with the majority of the school labelling all things music and drama 'gay'. Steph shows Te Arepa/Devon his method of coping. He has the school wired and enjoys bending the rules and finding ways to turn things to his own advantage and form of fun.
This novel is a dark story that my description so far does not convey. Devon is slowly submerged into a world of casual cruelty, drug taking and all the other sordid activity that goes alongside. His friend is selling himself to his teacher for favours. While Devon knows that all of this is wrong he seems to have no ability to act. He cannot speak out against any if it, he cannot remove himself from it and he also cannot embrace it.
In the end when it all comes to a head, we are left with no idea what Devon's future will be.
I enjoyed this novel. I did not find it outrageous or particularly
shocking. I had a good laugh at myself when the "C Bomb" was not the one I was expecting. I feel that this book is an intelligent read and that the reader will need to be an intelligent reader to persevere with it. In my humble opinion this book absolutely deserved its awards.
Te Arepa comes from the small rural community of Goldsmith's Bush where he has grown up among whanau and friends knowing his place and his whakapapa. When he gets noticed at school for his writing he is offered a place at Barwell’s Collegiate in Auckland. Ra, Te Arepa's grandfather gives him the choice to go or stay. Te Arepa chooses to go. The world of Barwell’s Collegiate is very different to home and there are a whole new set of rules and lessons to learn. Many of them stark and cruel. Te Arepa must learn to survive. His name is changed to Devon via the tradition of nicknaming and he changes along with it. When he visits his home he begins to realise that he is not the same person anymore and he no longer fits. Te Arepa/Devon is left on the outside not quite fitting in at either school or home. Along the way we are given a glimpse of the lives of the other boys that he has met and see different sets of lifestyle and attitude. These form a blunt contrast to Te Arepa's experience.
Eventually Te Arepa/Devon forms a close friendship with Steph who helps him keep up with his school work and in return expects that Te Arepa will join the choir with him and hang out in the music dept. This can be an uncomfortable choice with the majority of the school labelling all things music and drama 'gay'. Steph shows Te Arepa/Devon his method of coping. He has the school wired and enjoys bending the rules and finding ways to turn things to his own advantage and form of fun.
This novel is a dark story that my description so far does not convey. Devon is slowly submerged into a world of casual cruelty, drug taking and all the other sordid activity that goes alongside. His friend is selling himself to his teacher for favours. While Devon knows that all of this is wrong he seems to have no ability to act. He cannot speak out against any if it, he cannot remove himself from it and he also cannot embrace it.
In the end when it all comes to a head, we are left with no idea what Devon's future will be.
I enjoyed this novel. I did not find it outrageous or particularly
shocking. I had a good laugh at myself when the "C Bomb" was not the one I was expecting. I feel that this book is an intelligent read and that the reader will need to be an intelligent reader to persevere with it. In my humble opinion this book absolutely deserved its awards.
April 18, 2016
Into the River by Ted Dawe is a coming-of-age and loss-of-innocence story which, albeit briefly, became the first book to be banned in New Zealand.
The story is about a Māori boy called Te Arepa “Devon” Santos. Having grown up on the rural East Coast, the fourteen-year-old boy wins a scholarship to attend an exclusive boy’s boarding school in Auckland.
Like many young adult novels set in schools and featuring teenagers as the main characters, the book contains its fair share of references to drugs, sex, racism, bullying and foul language. However, none of these things warranted an interim restriction for this book. Maybe those who sought to ban this novel are out of touch with what goes on between teenagers at school.
What becomes clear to any reader is that teenagers deal with many problems, ranging from peer pressure, the complex relationships between adolescents, confusion, sexual exploration, vulnerability, to loss and survival.
Yes, some swear words are used. But not so much so that the book would require a Parental Advisory sticker. Yes, there are sex scenes. However, there is steamier fanfiction on the internet – written by actual 14-year-olds – than any of the scenes in this book written by a 60-something teacher.
It’s evident in his flowing dialogue and the way the characters interact, that at least some of the behaviour is based on observation. By making the main character Māori, Dawe not only highlights the culture and the way Te Arepa tries to follow in the footsteps of his iwi’s (tribe’s) and whanau’s (family’s) ancestors, it also highlights New Zealand’s multiculturalism and the way the two languages – English and Te Reo (Māori) – have merged. While readers unfamiliar with kiwi expressions may stumble over some of the Māori vocabulary, they also leave no doubt about the society this story is set in.
Dawe’s writing style is fast and vivid, making his readers feel like part of the story. Not many Pākeha men would make the protagonists in their stories Māori and do so believingly without belittling a whole culture. But Dawe pulls it off. The only thing making it obvious that a white man wrote the book, rather than a Māori, is that traditional cultural aspects Te Arepa would have grown up with and which would have informed the way he views the world play a smaller part than they probably should.
Into the River is a brutally honest look at adolescence. Instead of trying to ban this book, maybe parents should openly discuss the issues it addresses with their teens.
The story is about a Māori boy called Te Arepa “Devon” Santos. Having grown up on the rural East Coast, the fourteen-year-old boy wins a scholarship to attend an exclusive boy’s boarding school in Auckland.
Like many young adult novels set in schools and featuring teenagers as the main characters, the book contains its fair share of references to drugs, sex, racism, bullying and foul language. However, none of these things warranted an interim restriction for this book. Maybe those who sought to ban this novel are out of touch with what goes on between teenagers at school.
What becomes clear to any reader is that teenagers deal with many problems, ranging from peer pressure, the complex relationships between adolescents, confusion, sexual exploration, vulnerability, to loss and survival.
Yes, some swear words are used. But not so much so that the book would require a Parental Advisory sticker. Yes, there are sex scenes. However, there is steamier fanfiction on the internet – written by actual 14-year-olds – than any of the scenes in this book written by a 60-something teacher.
It’s evident in his flowing dialogue and the way the characters interact, that at least some of the behaviour is based on observation. By making the main character Māori, Dawe not only highlights the culture and the way Te Arepa tries to follow in the footsteps of his iwi’s (tribe’s) and whanau’s (family’s) ancestors, it also highlights New Zealand’s multiculturalism and the way the two languages – English and Te Reo (Māori) – have merged. While readers unfamiliar with kiwi expressions may stumble over some of the Māori vocabulary, they also leave no doubt about the society this story is set in.
Dawe’s writing style is fast and vivid, making his readers feel like part of the story. Not many Pākeha men would make the protagonists in their stories Māori and do so believingly without belittling a whole culture. But Dawe pulls it off. The only thing making it obvious that a white man wrote the book, rather than a Māori, is that traditional cultural aspects Te Arepa would have grown up with and which would have informed the way he views the world play a smaller part than they probably should.
Into the River is a brutally honest look at adolescence. Instead of trying to ban this book, maybe parents should openly discuss the issues it addresses with their teens.
October 28, 2016
So last this book was temporarily banned while they decided whether kids could read it. This was because it had (shock horror) sex and drugs and swearing in it. I know, outrageous right? So know it's not banned any more I decided I'd read it, to see if the level of scandal was more or less than the hundreds of young adult books I've read. I was particularly interested in, for example, Cherub, which is a series I've always found a little extreme.
So I read Into the River.
And it was really, really bad
The writing
Atrocious. Especially at the beginning. The grammar and punctuation were poor, and the use of speech marks stood out the most - when a guy was telling a page or two long story, they'd put " before it (correct) and then at the start of every single line break after it. Without closing off the speechmarks.
I wanted to find the editor and say DO YOUR JOB to them.
Plot
Not very good. Sort of like Spud, but nowhere near as good - less humour, poorer writing, and a mysterious 'weight' that hung over the main character.
Also the blurb and first chapter (Te Arepa, the mc, catches this giant eel in a part of a river where there's a rahui he doesn't know about. He is worried there'll be utu from the spirit world). This plot has no significance whatsoever to the rest of the story, which is, in essence, a boarding school story with extra drugs.
The ONE THING I LIKED was that the mc was Maori, which you don't often get in YA. The author portrayed the (kinda hidden) racism in Auckland, esp. private school Auckland, well, and although I disliked the Maori characters back at the mc's home, Dawe's portrayal of life near a marae was good, and most of the time the slang felt real.
To conclude, this was a rubbish book with a tinsy bit of Kiwi-ism showing through.
It had some pretty graphic scenes, but certainly no worse than Cherub or some others that I can't quite remember the names of right now, and this wasn't really enough to ban it. Unless they're gonna ban Cherub in NZ too?
Also, the whole environment was REALLY REALLY HOMOPHOBIC and I couldn't tell whether the author was portraying that as an unfortunate truth, or whether he reckoned he was right. >:-(
So I read Into the River.
And it was really, really bad
The writing
Atrocious. Especially at the beginning. The grammar and punctuation were poor, and the use of speech marks stood out the most - when a guy was telling a page or two long story, they'd put " before it (correct) and then at the start of every single line break after it. Without closing off the speechmarks.
I wanted to find the editor and say DO YOUR JOB to them.
Plot
Not very good. Sort of like Spud, but nowhere near as good - less humour, poorer writing, and a mysterious 'weight' that hung over the main character.
Also the blurb and first chapter (Te Arepa, the mc, catches this giant eel in a part of a river where there's a rahui he doesn't know about. He is worried there'll be utu from the spirit world). This plot has no significance whatsoever to the rest of the story, which is, in essence, a boarding school story with extra drugs.
The ONE THING I LIKED was that the mc was Maori, which you don't often get in YA. The author portrayed the (kinda hidden) racism in Auckland, esp. private school Auckland, well, and although I disliked the Maori characters back at the mc's home, Dawe's portrayal of life near a marae was good, and most of the time the slang felt real.
To conclude, this was a rubbish book with a tinsy bit of Kiwi-ism showing through.
It had some pretty graphic scenes, but certainly no worse than Cherub or some others that I can't quite remember the names of right now, and this wasn't really enough to ban it. Unless they're gonna ban Cherub in NZ too?
Also, the whole environment was REALLY REALLY HOMOPHOBIC and I couldn't tell whether the author was portraying that as an unfortunate truth, or whether he reckoned he was right. >:-(
June 22, 2016
The book started off amazing. A proud Maori boy from a small settlement on the East Coast, in touch with his cultural heritage, respectful of his elders, and proud of his Whakapapa.
Then before the middle of the book it took a turn. This smart Maori boy is given a chance to succeed, getting a scholarship to a prestigious boys school. Once there he discovers that racism is still very much an everyday life in Auckland, and that the only way he feels he can survive is by turning his back on, or hiding the very things that I loved him being so proud of!
It was a look into how a boy with so much promise can turn into a 'troubled' teen. A 'how it might happen' book. And for the most part I enjoyed it. It was easy to see why Te Arepa/Devon felt he had to deny his Maori roots, even though I would have preferred him to be proud of them. I would have liked his character more if he had of tried to stand up for himself and his culture more. But when you're the only brown boy in a boarding school seemingly full of racists and bullies I understand why he might have done things the way he did.
As for the fact that it was banned because of sex, swear words, and drug use - well that's just ridiculous. I was expected to read disgusting tales of heroin addiction, or underage orgies, or something that would have made it obvious as to why it was banned. But honestly, aside from a creepy male teacher's relationship with an underage boy, the rest of the sex was very tame, and pretty standard for a high school student to be honest. And as for drugs - he tries E once, and mainly just smokes pot. That just sounds like most of the guys I went to school with.
Honestly it's not one of the best books I have ever read. But it is good, and sad, and moments in the book feel very honest and believable. And as for the rest of it, well it's definitely not worse than half the stuff in the YA section these days. If we banned every young adult book just because it talked about stuff that adults think are 'inappropriate' for teens (yet are things that a lot of teens face in their everyday lives) then our libraries will be a hell of a lot smaller.
Then before the middle of the book it took a turn. This smart Maori boy is given a chance to succeed, getting a scholarship to a prestigious boys school. Once there he discovers that racism is still very much an everyday life in Auckland, and that the only way he feels he can survive is by turning his back on, or hiding the very things that I loved him being so proud of!
It was a look into how a boy with so much promise can turn into a 'troubled' teen. A 'how it might happen' book. And for the most part I enjoyed it. It was easy to see why Te Arepa/Devon felt he had to deny his Maori roots, even though I would have preferred him to be proud of them. I would have liked his character more if he had of tried to stand up for himself and his culture more. But when you're the only brown boy in a boarding school seemingly full of racists and bullies I understand why he might have done things the way he did.
As for the fact that it was banned because of sex, swear words, and drug use - well that's just ridiculous. I was expected to read disgusting tales of heroin addiction, or underage orgies, or something that would have made it obvious as to why it was banned. But honestly, aside from a creepy male teacher's relationship with an underage boy, the rest of the sex was very tame, and pretty standard for a high school student to be honest. And as for drugs - he tries E once, and mainly just smokes pot. That just sounds like most of the guys I went to school with.
Honestly it's not one of the best books I have ever read. But it is good, and sad, and moments in the book feel very honest and believable. And as for the rest of it, well it's definitely not worse than half the stuff in the YA section these days. If we banned every young adult book just because it talked about stuff that adults think are 'inappropriate' for teens (yet are things that a lot of teens face in their everyday lives) then our libraries will be a hell of a lot smaller.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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