About the author:
TK (Tania Kelly) Roxborogh was born in Christchurch in 1965 and still lives there. She has written over 30 books including novels, plays for the classroom and adult non-fiction.and is also a high school English teacher.

About the book:
Charlie Tangaroa and the Creature from the Sea
Author: TK Roxborogh
Illustrator: Phoebe Morris
Age: 8+
Huia Publishers, published in September 2020
250 pages, Paperback

This book to be published in three volumes focuses on two particular aspects: disability and how children and teenagers deal with it, and the mythology and culture of the Maori.The prosthetic leg of the main character Charlie is the connecting element between the world of humans and the Maori’s world. 
Thirteen-year-old Charlie and his younger half-brother Robbie find a ponaturi, a mermaid, named Pō-nuia on the beach in their home town Tolaga Bay at the North Island. After having found a way to communicate with each other (Charlie teaches Pō-nuia the human language and he discovers that he is able to read Pō-nuia’s thoughts) he learns that an ancient dispute between the Māori gods Tāne and Tangaroa has flared up again because the construction of a harbor is reducing the sea creatures‘ habitat so they are taking refuge on land. The wrath of those gods who want them back into the sea manifests itself on earth through storms, earthquakes and tsunamis. Pō-nuia believes that Charlie is a kōmitimiti, a creature which is half-man, half-god being evidenced in his stump. He is the only one being able to resolve this century-old conflict. 
An exciting adventure now begins for Charlie: With the help of the ancient songs taught to him by his grandfather, he can not only appease the gods. He also learns who his unknown father is and falls in love for the first time with Jenny, the daughter of the construction manager who is to build the harbor. 
Although the narrative of the book is quite fast-paced and addresses several topics, which are mythology, coming of age, disabilities among young people and influence of urban developments on the environment, it reads excitingly. Even the discovery of the mermaid by the two boys and the following events blend in easily so this seems almost like an everyday thing. Therefore young readers without knowledge of mythology can be carried away by the book. A glossary of Maori words as well as descriptions of the Maori gods in the book’s appendix also facilitate the comprehension. However, it would be probably advisable to lift up the reading age to 10 or 11 years.

Awards
With „Charlie Tangaroa and the Creature from the Sea“ TK Roxborogh won Margaret Mahy Book of the Year (most importent price for children and youth literature in New Zealand) and Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction, both categories in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. 

Translator Christiane Sixtus presented the book in our pitching session on 29 June 2023.

For further information please contact:

Christiane Sixtus
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E-mail: [email protected]
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