The Whale Rider
Play sample
  • Published: 4 July 2024
  • ISBN: 9780241669990
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 176

The Whale Rider

Formats & editions
Paperback
1 Aug 2023
Paperback
27 Nov 2008
Paperback
27 Jun 2008
EBook
4 Jul 2024
EBook
27 Nov 2008
Audiobook
31 Jan 2023
Buy from…
Amazon Apple Books Google Play Kobo Booktopia eBooks.com

A magical, Maori, coming-of-age tale about community, hope and being brave enough to claim your own destiny.

In every generation since the legendary 'whale rider', a male descendant inherits the title of chief. But now there is no male heir-there's only Kahu. She should be next in line for the title, but her great-grandfather is blinded by tradition and sees no use for a girl.

But Kahu will not be ignored. And in her struggle, she has a unique ally: the ancient whale rider himself. With a fierce determination and the power of her gifts, Kahu may be able to strengthen her tribe's ancestral connections, earn her great-grandfather's attention-and lead her community to a bold new future.

Can she embrace her destiny and become the next whale rider?
  • Published: 4 July 2024
  • ISBN: 9780241669990
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 176
Categories:

About the author

Witi Ihimaera



Three-time winner of the Wattie/Montana Book of the Year award, Katherine Mansfield fellow and playwright Witi Ihimaera is one of New Zealand’s most prolific and accomplished writers. Witi’s first novel, Tangi, won the Wattie Book of the Year Award in 1974, a feat he repeated with The Matriarch in 1986. His celebrated novel Bulibasha, King of the Gypsies, now adapted as the film Mahana, won the Montana Book of the Year award in 1995. Witi’s other novels and short story collections include The Whale Rider (also adapted as an internationally successful film); Dream Swimmer (sequel to the award-winning The Matriarch); Pounamu, Pounamu and Nights In The Gardens of Spain. In 2015 he published the first volume of his autobiography, Maori Boy.
 

portrait photo of Witi Ihimaera

Also by Witi Ihimaera

Ariā and the Kūmara God
A Ariā me te Atua o te Kūmara
Ngā Kupu Wero
Tangi
Pounamu Pounamu - Te reo Māori edition
The Astromancer
Te Kokorangi
See all

Discover more

Video
At Home With Penguin and Witi Ihimaera

We are proud to present the first of our At Home with Penguin video series, in which we ask some of NZ’s most wonderful authors to talk about life in lockdown – kicking off with Witi Ihimaera on The Whale Rider, neighbourhood walks and why the peace of lockdown might NOT be good for writers’ creativity! With numerous short stories, novels, libretti, plays, memoirs – well over 20 books, plus many more Witi Ihimaera has edited or contributed to – where do you begin? Here is a handy guide from our Fiction Publisher, Harriet Allan: https://bit.ly/3bEL8ks

penguin pop image
penguin pop image