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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
A well written and accessible piece of insight into the dawn raids, normalised racism and the socio-cultural climate in Aotearoa during the 70s from the perspective of 13 year old Sofia, a young girl who’s biggest priority shifted from gogo boots to sharing the inequality and reality of the dawn raids. This collection of diary entries are a complete must read and something I would personally love to see incorporated into primary school curriculum in Aotearoa.
A friendly reminder: Polynesian people only made up a third of the population of overstayers while the majority of overstayers were from the UK, South Africa and the USA.
A friendly reminder: Polynesian people only made up a third of the population of overstayers while the majority of overstayers were from the UK, South Africa and the USA.
Dawn Raid by Pauline Vaeluaga Smith is a wonderful middle grade book about a 13-year old girl in New Zealand in the 1970s whose world is gradually opened to the world of social activism. Dawn Raid is told in journal entries by Sofia, a young girl, who has mixed ethnicity parentage. She is a typical, insulated middle class kid until she begins to learn more about Dawn Raids and the work of the Polynesian Panthers.
Dawn Raids were immigration raids performed in the very early morning by the New Zealand government in the mid-1970s, targeting the Pacific Island population. If a person could not immediately provide correct identification, they would be arrested and detained, and eventually deported if their ID/current visa could not be located. Though Pacific Islanders made up a minority of those in the country illegally, they were specifically targeted, including Maori people--native to New Zealand. I am an American and there were so many echoes to present-day. The economy is struggling, non-European immigrants are blamed for taking jobs and targeted by the government.
When we first meet Sofia, she is an average middle-class girl. She is nervous about giving a speech at school and desperately wants a part-time job so she can buy white go-go boots. Through her older brother and new friend, she learns about the Dawn Raids and fight by Maori people to have their land returned to them. In Sofia’s diary entries, we learn about the racial profiling and stereotyping going on with a backdrop of time and place. I loved Sofia’s journey to activism, learning to identify injustice and stand up for herself. The audiobook is excellently narrated Tameka Sowman Vahatau, who has wonderful inflections. Dawn Raid is a marvelously-written story about family and justice for middle grade readers.
Thank you Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for providing this ARC.
Dawn Raids were immigration raids performed in the very early morning by the New Zealand government in the mid-1970s, targeting the Pacific Island population. If a person could not immediately provide correct identification, they would be arrested and detained, and eventually deported if their ID/current visa could not be located. Though Pacific Islanders made up a minority of those in the country illegally, they were specifically targeted, including Maori people--native to New Zealand. I am an American and there were so many echoes to present-day. The economy is struggling, non-European immigrants are blamed for taking jobs and targeted by the government.
When we first meet Sofia, she is an average middle-class girl. She is nervous about giving a speech at school and desperately wants a part-time job so she can buy white go-go boots. Through her older brother and new friend, she learns about the Dawn Raids and fight by Maori people to have their land returned to them. In Sofia’s diary entries, we learn about the racial profiling and stereotyping going on with a backdrop of time and place. I loved Sofia’s journey to activism, learning to identify injustice and stand up for herself. The audiobook is excellently narrated Tameka Sowman Vahatau, who has wonderful inflections. Dawn Raid is a marvelously-written story about family and justice for middle grade readers.
Thank you Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for providing this ARC.
What a brilliant piece of NZ literature. Even cooler considering the author is a local. I learnt more from this book than I did from 13 years of mainstream pakeha centric education in Aotearoa. These are important stories that need told and shared! Wonderful read, informative, educational and entertaining! Faafetai Pauline!
I am obviously not the target audience for this, so it wasn't my favorite. But I did enjoy learning a little bit about the history and culture of Aotearoa.
really great nz MG about a Samoan girl in the 70s learning about the dawn raids, then experiencing one, and getting more into civil rights. wild that we don't learn about this in school.
Also, the narration is really funny!
Also, the narration is really funny!
~~ received an ARC from the publisher/NCTE conference ~~
3/5
To start off, I will acknowledge my ranking is based on the fact that I am a high school educator, so that's how I read books. I did learn a LOT from this, and it was all NEW information...especially since the Dawn Raids and Pacific Islander culture is not taught in American Schools. It was fascinating to see the parallels between these events and those in American history. The narrator was likable, and it was an easy, quick read.
I do think the "journal" style of writing got old, especially with the purposefully misspelled words and other situations where I grew tired of reading it from the mind of the narrator. That's predominantly the reason for the 3/5 stars. It just felt ~young~ and I could not see even my freshmen engaged with this novel.
3/5
To start off, I will acknowledge my ranking is based on the fact that I am a high school educator, so that's how I read books. I did learn a LOT from this, and it was all NEW information...especially since the Dawn Raids and Pacific Islander culture is not taught in American Schools. It was fascinating to see the parallels between these events and those in American history. The narrator was likable, and it was an easy, quick read.
I do think the "journal" style of writing got old, especially with the purposefully misspelled words and other situations where I grew tired of reading it from the mind of the narrator. That's predominantly the reason for the 3/5 stars. It just felt ~young~ and I could not see even my freshmen engaged with this novel.
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I definitely flew through this one!! Quite good, I learned a lot about the dawn raids in New Zealand and about Samoan culture! My only major complaint is that the main character’s narration sounded too immature for 13 (IMO).
Very important book written in the style of a 13 year old girl’s diary.
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated