Māori Authors (YA)

If you’re looking for fiction written by Māori authors, for NCEA or just because they’re good, here are a few we recommend, along with one or two of their books (most have many more!). Note: we’d love to add to this – if you’ve got a favourite Māori author not here then email us their name and we’ll add them!

Updated June 19, 2024
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Wellington City LibrariesYouth team at Wellington City Libraries
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Once were warriors
Duff, Alan
Paper Book
Already a smash motion picture from Fine Line Features in New Zealand, this raw and deeply affecting story has also garnered major literary awards abroad. A contemporary story about an urban family in New Zealand, the book combines the action and mood of Blade Runner with the triumph of A Raisin in...
The bone people
Hulme, Keri.
Paper Book
Integrating both Maori myth and New Zealand reality, The Bone People became the most successful novel in New Zealand publishing history when it appeared in 1984. Set on the South Island beaches of New Zealand, a harsh environment, the novel chronicles the complicated relationships between three...
The whale rider
Ihimaera, Witi
Paper Book
Eight-year-old Kahu, a member of the Maori tribe of Whangara, New Zealand, fights to prove her love, her leadership, and her destiny. Her people claim descent from Kahutia Te Rangi, the legendary "whale rider." In every generation since Kahutia, a male heir has inherited the title of chief. But...
Dark souls : a novel
Morris, Paula.
Paper Book
Welcome to York, England. Mist lingers in the streets. Narrow buildings cast long shadows. This is the most haunted city in the world. . . . Miranda Tennant arrives in York with a terrible, tragic secret. She is eager to lose herself amid the quaint cobblestones,...
Call me Evie
Pomare, J. P
Paper Book
A seventeen-year-old struggles to remember the tragic night that changed her life forever in this twist-filled debut novel of psychological suspense for fans of Sharp Objects and The Last Time I Lied. Evie and her uncle Jim have just moved to an isolated cabin in a...
In the clearing
Pomare, J. P
Paper Book
Set against a ticking clock, this "haunting" and "atmospheric" thriller that inspired the Hulu miniseries "The Clearing" pits a ruthless cult against a mother's love, revealing that our darkest secrets are the hardest ones to leave behind (Sally Hepworth, New York...
Greta & Valdin
Reilly, Rebecca K.
Paper Book
A TIME MUST-READ BOOK OF THE YEAR * A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE * A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR * "A heartfelt portrait of a complex family." --People * "Very funny and moving...Precious and specific." --NPR * "Quintessential rom-com meets the...
The White Mouse
Wake, Nancy
Paper Book
Nancy Wake, nicknamed 'the white mouse' for her ability to evade capture, tells her own story. As the Gestapo's most wanted person, and one of the most highly decorated servicewomen of the war, it's a story worth telling.After living and working in Paris in the 1930's, Nancy married a wealthy...

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