Mission Girl

Mission Girl is a cool book set in New Zealand in the 1840s, just before the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. The story is about a girl named Atapō who is taken away from her village and forced to become a servant in a new village. Her life changes a lot when her mum gets married to a powerful chief but then gets sick and dies. To stay safe from the chief’s first wife, who might hurt her, Atapō runs away to a Pākehā mission station. There, she learns about the European way of life and becomes really good at understanding their ways, so she can help her tribe later.

Atapō faces a lot of tough situations, but she keeps going because she loves learning new things. She learns things about the Pākehā way of living, like how they eat together as a family, which is different from how Māori people did things at that time. It’s interesting to see how Atapō thinks about these differences. She also learns about the Māori chiefs deciding whether to sign the Treaty of Waitangi, which changed everything for New Zealand.

The book talks about hard things, like fighting in the tribe and people not always agreeing with each other. It can be a little tricky to understand some of the Māori words, but it makes you see how life was back then. Atapō’s love for learning helps her save her life and her tribe, which is really inspiring!

We think kids aged 10 and up would really enjoy this book. It’s not always an easy read, and some parts might be a little sad or hard to understand. But if you like stories about history and adventure, this is a great book for you. We really liked how the book shows the Māori way of life and how things were so different back then. It’s an awesome story and we totally recommend it!