Why am I passionate about this?
As a writer from Aotearoa New Zealand who cares deeply about social issues and human rights, I believe fiction has the power to change hearts and minds and bring us all together with greater compassion and understanding. When I was growing up here, there were few books published by Pacific or Māori writers and we were taught little about their customs or mythologies. I’ve loved watching this change over the last forty-odd years (and particularly the last ten years) and can see how access to these stories has not only empowered Māori and Pacific youth and brought them closer to their culture but enriched everyone who lives in our pacific paradise!
Mandy's book list on feature indigenous Pacific or Māori characters
Why did Mandy love this book?
This trilogy, grounded in Sāmoan mythology, has been called ‘the pacific Twilight.’ It is a thrilling dive into the world of Sāmoan magic and mystery, with an exciting adventure, a compelling love story and it vividly brings Sāmoa’s exotic beauty alive with a supernatural twist. It’s claimed to be ‘the first ever YA novel with an all-Pasifika cast, set in Sāmoa and around the Pacific'. Push out your boundaries and enter Lani Wendt Young’s wonderful imagination . . .
1 author picked Telesa as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
An island of secrets. A girl on fire. An epic battle of the elements. Can love truly conquer all? A thrilling love story inspired by Pacific mythology, featuring a sinister sisterhood with an environmental agenda and a fiery yet vulnerable young woman who must master her gifts - before they destroy her and all those she cares about. Leila Folger escapes the stifling misery of life with her American grandmother and goes to Samoa searching to connect with her mother's family. All her efforts to learn more about the mother she never knew are met with hostility. What really happened…