Author(s): Steph Matuku

Maori Fiction | NZ Fiction | Teenage/Young Adult Fiction | Class Set Fiction Years 11-13

It seems like an ordinary day when Tui and Kae, fourteen-year-old twins, get home from school - until they find their mother, Maia, has disappeared and a swirling vortex has opened up in her room. They are sucked into this portal and dragged down to Rarohenga, the Maori Underworld, a shadowy place of infinite dark levels, changing landscapes and untrustworthy characters. Maia has been kidnapped by their estranged father, Tema, enchanted to forget who she really is and hidden somewhere here. Tui and Kae have to find a way through this maze, outwit the shady characters they meet, break the spell on their mother, and escape to the World of Light before the Goddess of Shadows or Tema holds them in Rarohenga forever. This adventure story weaves Maori mythology, spirits and the underworld with a contemporary setting and engaging teenage heroes. Chapters alternate being narrated by Tui or Kae, giving the book a strong young adult voice and making the story appeal to both male and female audiences. Steph was selected as a writer on the Te Papa Tupu writing programme where she worked on Flight of the FantaiI, which was published in 2018 along with Whetu Toa and the Magician. Steph's writing has been published in the School Journal, Annual 2 edited by Kate De Goldi and Susan Paris, in Playmarket's New Zealand Play Series, in Kiwiparent magazine and Huia Short Stories 12. Steph won best script at the Taranaki regional finals for the 48-hour short film awards in 2016 and was selected for the national finals. Her work, A Story of Rona, won a 2013 Playmarket award and has been published in the Playmarket anthology Stage Adventures: Eight Classroom Plays.