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Te Ao Hou, March 1966, Page 57

I understand that she goes back. Why, I don't know, because there is certainly nothing in the book which shows that she should. (If I were Rata, I'd have been tempted to stay at the pa.) Mrs Holden has written a book about a child who is neither one thing nor the other …. like myself she is neither Maori nor Pakeha. Many Pakehas today speak with a sort of envy about how fortunate Maoris are to belong to something; have something to go back to, to hold on to—and yet in the same breath they decry the fact that Maoris are not taking their rightful place in the community. The rather rootless existence of many Maoris today becomes an increasing social problem. If Rata had not gone back to the ‘right’ world of Miss Carter, perhaps she would have had such an existence. I did not particularly like ‘Rata’, and it is difficult to say why. I do not know whether it is an adult children's book, or a childish adult's book. I believe almost every person has at least one book in them — perhaps this was Mrs Holden's. I hope not, for I feel that amongst all the well-meaning words written about Rata the child, there is promise of a better book, perhaps written about something or someone other than Maoris.