Wondering About Kaitangata

Margaret Mahy’s Kaitangata Twitch is reviewed on the Guardian’s children’s book site, a site “by kids, for kids”. “The Kaitangata Twitch is an earthquake that happens regularly,” Bookworm 88 writes. “The island of Kaitangata seems to devour people. People are trying to stop Sebastian, a developer, ruining the island. Meredith thinks there’s a little more to it than a simple island being taking over by a developer. She thinks the island has a voice of its own but only Meredith can hear it. The descriptions are beautiful. I felt like I was Meredith, canoeing to Kaitangata, dreaming her dreams, listening to Lee Kaa play the saxophone. This book still leaves me wondering, thinking about Kaitangata.” Mahy was born in Whakatane in 1936. She has written more than 100 picture books, 40 novels and 20 collections of short stories.