The vocabulary and sentence structure of this short novel are bright, clear, and easy to read. The characters are clearly outlined and if they are a little uncomplicated to be identifiable with living people as we know them, it is all in the interests of simplicity. Besides, this sort of presentation has the advantage of allowing the characters to stand for groups in the community which is the world of the story, instead of standing alone as individuals who represent only themselves. I have some doubts about the pace of the novel. It may move a little slowly for the younger readers who will take events and words at face value without seeing how they reflect the thoughts and anxieties of the people concerned. On the other hand it may be that such a reader would be led on by the nose to the end of the book as Elsie Locke makes him curiouser and curiouser to see just what does lie around the corner as the story takes another twist or turn. I cannot hope to appraise the historical accuracy of The End of the Harbour but the author's grounding in writing for the Department of Education's School Publications Branch will, I am sure, have made it instinctive for her to check her facts. It is evident from the author's acknowledgements that she has spent a good deal of time in research in libraries in several parts of the country and in talking to descendants of the people she writes about in this book. She spent her own childhood in Waiuku. There is a ring of authenticity about the story's portrayal of Maori life as it was then without degrading it to the level of a tourist attraction for overseas readers to gawk at. A good Christmas present if you want to show a younger reader that New Zealand's colonial history is about people and not just dates and documents.

GUIDE RANGI OF ROTORUA by Rangitiaria Dennan with Ross Annabel Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd., $2.75 reviewed by P. J. Ruha Who is Guide Rangi? Read her book and you will know the answer. Guide Rangi is written in such a simple and easy to read style that even children can enjoy it. The many photographs of Rangi provide interesting material — especially the ones of her taken with different members of the Royal Family. In her book, Guide Rangi begins by saying, … ‘I was born in the fashion of my ancestors, in a tiny thatched house at Ngapuna…. ‘Then she goes on to relate her early life as a ‘tapu’ child. She tells of Te Wairoa and Teariki, the two villages on beautiful Lake Tarawera and the disaster that struck when Tarawera erupted in 1886. Her grandfather Tene was a Ringatu, and his religion influenced her younger life so much that she respectfully writes about it in her book. Her account of penny divers and their, ‘Throw a penny here’, and ‘a penny a haka’, makes interesting reading. Rangi's early school days at Whakarewarewa were something to remember. She was different. She was tapu; so the other children had to be careful. However, her schooling did not suffer. This was largely due to the guiding influence of her teachers, the Rev. Burgoyne and his three daughters, Connie, Nettie and Gertrude. Connie was their idol, as she could speak flawless Maori. Rangitiaria pays tribute to the people who influenced her life; her grandfather Tene, Maggie Papakura, and Chief Nuta Taupopoki — … ‘like a sunburned Viking King …’ Rangi spent her secondary school years at Hukarere and from there she went teaching, but ill-health forced her to give it up. So nursing became her next occupation, but a recurrence of her old illness once more ruined a promising career. A very dejected Rangi went home to Whakarewerewa and tourism. In the latter chapters, Guide Rangi tells how she became a guide; of Tene building her a home; of the small but dynamic Scottish district nurse, Sister R. T. Cameron; of the Arawa women uniting in response to tourism; of her wartime interest in ‘the boys’; of her globe-trotting experiences, and last but by no means least of her acting as guide to famous visitors. Chapter 13 is devoted to Wakarewerewa today. As I read Guide Rangi, I could almost see her giving all this wealth of information