CUZ by Liz Van Der Laarse – Reviewed by Pete Werner (werner.220)

CUZ

 Liz Van Der Laarse

Fiction

For ages 11 and up

OneTree House Ltd, New Zealand, 2018  

ISBN: 978-0-473-42188-5

Set in the far southern region of remote Argentina, Liz Van Der Laarse’s Cuz takes the intermediate, early-teen reader through a harrowing journey to survive a devastating boat accident and the elements relying simply on their common family bond, perseverance and keen knowledge of Mother Earth’s gifts.  

River knows his cousin Huia, but not very well— 

“The last time he saw Huia was at their koro’s unveiling. She was an         annoying eight-year-old, poncing around knowing everything tikanga Maori. Making him feel even dumber than he already felt. And now they were, both fourteen” (p 7).

Now he has found himself on a journey to take a boat up the shore to buy a replacement engine with Huia and her father/his uncle Tau.  Struggling at first with this close-knit father/daughter relationship, River longs for a father who left him many years ago, not ready to take on his responsibilities.  The journey comes to a devastating end when a gas leak causes the trawler to explode, blasting River and Huia into the sea.  River knows that Tau went down in the explosion and tells Huia when they reach the shore.

“He’s out there! she cried. River said nothing. He stared out to sea. How could life change in a single moment? One minute everything was good as and the next Tau was gone” (p.28).

River and Huia quickly realize that they are on their own, no help in sight and no one coming anytime soon.  “[River] stared at the sea. That’s where they’d be looking, all right.  Out there. The Tasman Sea. There would be no help” (p. 53).  They must rely on Huia’s Maori knowledge and guidance from their tupuna (ancestors) to survive.  “Koro (grandfather) said the forest provides. If people look after the forest…then the forest will look after them…but you’ve go to respect it. River…Respect its Mauri (life-force)” (p. 56).  Huia’s Maori ancestral background directs her to the healthy plants and berries to eat.  She knows which barks burn well and which are good for lighting fires, which is in great need since they are in the mountains and need warmth from the freezing weather and snowy conditions.  Huia shows River how to make a kete (flax basket) to catch eel in the river and how to put fern leaves in the water so kutai (mussels) will settle on them.  River takes a more warrior approach and sharpens a stick to hunt and kill a few weka (birds) to cook and eat.  

These two cousins encounter many obstacles along their journey.  The weakness and pangs of hunger, thirst and lack of shelter continually plague them.  River builds crude shelter huts from sticks and fern branches in the crooks of boulders to ward off the rain and snow.  Huia suffers a fall, breaking some ribs and attempts to cross the river, only to be caught in its turbulent rapids, gashing the back of her head.   After several days of heading east, up and down mountains, they are at their wits end thinking they may never survive. 

Huia says, “I can’t go on…”, and River, who finally begins to buy-in to their Maori Heritage replies, “Look. Takitimu. Our wake. Our tupuna.  They’re walking with us, remember” (p. 134). 

They walk a little further and stumble upon a path in the snow. “People,” she whispers (p. 135). This path leads to a hunter’s cabin full of canned food and warm beds.  After recuperating,  they continue on the path to yet another cabin, only to find their way back to civilization and their worried families.  

“[River] sat in the quiet of the forest with his back against a tree trunk, thinking about all that had happened.  Everything he’d learned.  Knowing he needed toknow more.  What his tupuna knew.  In his mind, he saw his father’s Marae, the whare tupuna waiting among the farmland near Huia’s home and heard its silent Karanga reach out to him” (p. 144).  

River would be forever changed, and the bond between cousins would remain unbroken.  They relied on each other.  They survived because of each other.  This lesson of resilience and an unbreakable family bond teaches an enduring lesson to young people about the importance of heritage and family.  

This energetic and suspenseful novel is all about SURVIVAL. Author Liz Van De Laarse includes a pictorial section in the back of edible native plants of Argentina, as well as eight important survival tips, “What can you do to increase your chances of surviving and being found when lost in the bush?” (back of book, no page).  She also includes a glossary of Maori terms to help those not from her region.  There is a map of this specific region in Argentina on the back inside cover.  Teachers can incorporate this novel into many lesson plans, including ones on survival, other cultures and beliefs, and reading around the world.  

Liz Van Der Laarse has written two other early-teen novels entitled Trouble Patch and Not Even, which won a Storylines Notable Book Award in the Junior Fiction Division in 2003.  

Works Cited

Van Der Laarse, Liz. Cuz. OneTree House Ltd: Wickliffe, Auckland, New Zealand. 2018.