Hine and the Tohunga Portal

 By: Ataria Sharman

Location: TER SHA

Genre:  Fantasy, Maori

Hine and the Tohunga Portal is a fast-paced fantasy adventure. Hine and her brother, Hōhepa, unwittingly step through a portal into an ancient realm inhabited by the atua Māori (Māori deities), Kea bird tribes, patupaiarehe (fairy people), moa and giant eagles. This world is in turmoil as evil sorcerer Kae has built a cursed army and intends to rule this world and everything in it. He sees the opportunity to dominate the modern world as well, by kidnapping Hōhepa and using his life force to reopen the portal between the worlds. This sets Hine on a quest to learn ancient knowledge from the goddesses Hineteiwaiwa and Mahuika and her ancestors, find the medicine to revoke the curse on the warriors and gain the support of the Kea and patupaiarehe to fight Kae and rescue Hōhepa.

 LEARN ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ataria Rangipikitia Sharman (Tapuika, Ngāpuhi) is a writer of essays, poetry and articles. She is the Editor at The Pantograph Punch and creator of Awa Wahine. Ataria has a Master of Arts in Māori Studies and spent a year researching mana wahine and atua wāhine as well as interviewing Māori women about their experiences with atua wāhine. The manuscript for her children's fiction novel Hine and the Tohunga Portal was one of five selected for Te Papa Tupu in 2018. She has self-published a collection of writings by wāhine Māori on the atua wāhine and has a printed magazine for Awa Wahine coming out soon

REVIEW BY TALES WITH THOMAS

"Hine and the Tohunga Portal by Ataria Sharman (Tapuika, Ngāpuhi) is an enthralling and endearing middle grade fantasy novel. Siblings Hine and Hōhepa are transported to a another realm after a fight on the way home from kura. There they learn about Kae, an evil sorceror, who uses a treaty to decieve, curses animals and starts a gruelling war. Alongside patupaiarehe, Kea, ancestors and atua Māori they must find one another, a rongoā, and their identities.

This is for kids who crave books with constant action and adventure. It’s packed with taniwha, various battle scenes, an army of birds, no eyes men, a talking dog, multiple missions and a very dark villan.

In the first few pages I smiled seeing the consistent use of te reo Māori - as a bilingual whānau this means everything to us.

I adored the intuitive āhua of young Hine. On various occasions she taps into her power through karakia, matakite and her profound intuition. Hine is also exposed to her divine whakaapa connections in the meeting of wāhine Māori atua Mahuika and Hineteiwaiwa.

I felt the power of our connection to our ancestors in this story and was able to see the similarities between atua and the characters throughout. It felt so right.

Mahuikas grudge against Maui was hilarious, the kai described was mouth watering, the kapa haka elements were on point and the animal characters were pure joy.

The ending was also very special as it tied together the important lessons of loving your siblings, being wary in the taiao and the importance of knowing your whakapapa.

This is a story you can give to tamariki Māori knowing full well that it will uplift them, their culture and their worldview.

Really beautifully done and definitely recommended."