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| The Whale Rider | 
 enlarge | Author: Witi Ihimaera
Publisher: Harcourt Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $8.00
Buy New: $3.38
You Save: $4.62 (58%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $3.38
Avg. Customer Rating:  (32 reviews)
Sales Rank: 99941
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1-Simul
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 168
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.5
ISBN: 0152050167
EAN: 9780152050160
ASIN: 0152050167
Publication Date: May 1, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Lyrical.... September 21, 2005
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Simple without being simplistic, here's a magical tale of destiny and love. Essential reading for those who have become world-weary and cynical from the constant battering of our scientific-material world.
The Whale Rider-movie August 28, 2005
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
The acting, scenery, and message in this movie are superb. I bought this as a birthday gift for my granddaughter's tenth birthday. It is heavy with family anguish through most of the movie; however, it is an incredibly empowering experience.
A great read-even the fourth time around. August 21, 2005
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is one of the best, most magnificently written books I have ever read. I actually broke my usual rule and saw the movie first. It is now my favorite movie. In no extremely drastic way do the book and the film differ, there are differences, but I've come to appriciate them both as seperate stories. It really is a fascinating read, combining a kind of magical realism and very real discription of issues indiginous groups face around the world. The story fuses spirituality with science.
Review of The Whale Rider July 24, 2005
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
The conflicts of person versus society and person versus person are evident in this realistic contemporary fiction with Kahu trying to get Koro, her grandfather, to recognize her as a person worthy of love and attention. Koro represents society as well as being her grandfather. This is portrayed in a very realistic way with Kahu in tears whenever he ignores her. She grows up trying to please him in ways, such as learning tribal chants and history, which also would serve her well as a leader of her people. The narration by her uncle lends humor to Kahu's growing up with her grandparents at odds with each other over her worth to society and the family. Also multi-cultural fiction, The Whale Rider helps students understand both the Maori people in New Zealand, and other religions as the Maori religion is built into their day to day living. The supernatural element of the whale being both an ancestor and present today is believable because it adheres to the present day tribal beliefs. Told with an insider's perspective, both the uncle in the story and the author are Maori, Ihimaera uses phrases of Maori language authenticated in the glossary. There is little stereo typing in the characters with each seen as an individual in their own culture.
Great book, though I wish it was more in depth July 28, 2004
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
After watching the movie I wanted to read this book, since the movie was based on the book. I was hoping for more clarity, which you do get from the book. A lot of things go unexplained in the movie and it did make more sense after reading the book. The stories are sightly different in the movie and the book. It is a great book that really made me think and feel sympathetic to the girl. Also, the movie is told from the girl's perspective, while the book is told form her uncle's perspective.
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