The Whale Rider

Ihimaera, W. (1987). The whale rider. Auckland, N.Z. : Heinemann.

A beautiful and heart warming story of Kahu Paikea Apirana, a 12 year old Maori girl.

Even though she is the only living child of the tribe's chiefly succession, Kahu is denied to become the leader of the tribe, as she is not a male. The death of her twin brother has further complicated her relationship with grandfather Koro, as he condemns and blames her for everything that goes wrong in the tribe. So Kahu has to fight to win the love of her grandfather and her destiny as tribe leader.
When a pod of whales is stranded on the beach, Kahu can prove she is destined to be the leader of the tribe by riding the biggest whale and leading the pod safely into the sea.

A renown Maori writer, Witi Ihimaera's another tale of the Maori people. He combined past &present and myth &reality and wove a beautiful and unforgettable story.

Our Secret, Siri Aang

Kessler, Crisitina. (2004) Our secret, Siri Aang. New York, NY : Philomel Books.

A story of a courageous twelve year old Masai girl. Namelock, who  comes to have many secrets that she cannot tell anyone.

She comes across a mother black rhino in labour and helps her to give birth. She vows to protect them and visit them as often as possible and keep them secret.

She starts to bleed but she keeps it secret too until it is noticed by her mum.

She wishes to go to school and learn to wirte her own name and how to do maths.

Once she decides she will go through her initiation and accepts the traditional way of life as a Masai girl/woman, she wants to vist and say good bye to the rhinos, only to find the mother rhino was killed by poachers. To keep her vows to them and also want to find Siri Aang, Namelock starts her journey to the bush to search for the poachers and bring justice to them, which leads her to a horrifying discovery that could completely shatter her foundation.

You can find the author Cristina Kessler's Behind the Books video and listen to her about how the book was written on this link. http://www.cristinakessler.com/Books_7.htm