NZ
Writer
Leonie
Agnew
Conrad Cooper’s Last Stand
Puffin Books 2014 $19.99pb 223pp
ISBN 978 0 1435 7119 3
Themes: Bastion Point Occupation, 1978/ Family
problems/ Search for God/ Stepfathers/ Tane, God of the Forests
Conrad thinks
he believes in Tane as he talks and shares his worries with him. But, he is not
too sure if a Maori god would really want to listen to a Pakeha kid. However,
he needs to persevere as Tane is the only adult ‘voice’ that seems to be
listening as Conrad struggles with his search for a faith in God and with
increasing problems with his family on the home front. Written against the background of the
Bastion Point Occupation in Auckland in 1978 with a sense of
humour to which children will really relate makes for an amazing and totally
original story.
Recommended.
