Cuz
Liz van der Laarse
OneTree House
Pub. 2018
June 01, 2021
Spending time with your family, enjoying the scenic landscape and eating lots of seafood. That sounds great doesn’t it? Well, everybody hopes for the best to happen and not the worst when travelling over the sea.
Fourteen-year-old cousins River and Huia are hoping for the best when they go fishing with Huia’s dad, Tau, on his trawler Whetū. When things go terribly wrong, River and Huia are left to fend for themselves in the West Coast wilderness and they have to let their differences wither away and work together to survive. Read more
Cuz
Liz van der Laarse
OneTree House
Pub: 2018
24 May, 2021
I have recently read a book called Cuz. This is a story about a 14-year-old boy called River and his cousin, Huia, who is also 14. River envies his cousin because she knows way more about te reo Māori than him. Then something happens that forces them to chuck their differences out the window and work together just to survive.
I enjoyed this book because it had some very interesting parts in it and also teaches the reader a few words in te reo Māori. I love how it has Māori translations at the back, along with survival tips and plants you can eat if you are lost in the New Zealand wilderness. Read more
Cuz
Liz van der Laarse
OneTree House
Pub. 2018
18 May, 2021
Cuz, written by Liz van der Laarse is New Zealand’s version of Hatchet, a short survival novel about finding the way back home. The genre of this book is adventure fiction, and officially rated for children twelve years and over.
River is enjoying catching up with family, even though his uncle reminds him so much of his absent father. He’s also reminded how close his cousin Huia is to their Nan, who has taught her their Māori language, customs, protocols and medicine for much of her life. Read more
Cuz
Liz van der Laarse
OneTree House
Pub. 2018
11 May, 2021
Cuz is a suspenseful, getting-to-know-each-other story, with a fierce plot. It’s the kind of book that makes the reader want to keep turning the page to find out more about the fascinating tale. Cuz also includes a lot of Māori words and culture, helping readers learn more about New Zealand.
Cuz is a great book for those who like survival, Māori culture and suspense, revealing cool survival tricks and plants that can be eaten in the wild. It’s also really well written and all the small details are easy to understand. Read more
Cuz
Liz van der Laarse
OneTree House
pub. 2018
12 March, 2021
Liz van der Laarse tells an epic story of survival in her book Cuz, which is so descriptive and perfectly written, it almost seems real. This is the story of two teenagers, River and his cousin Huia, as they fight their way through the merciless bush of Fiordland to get back home.
After a boat accident kills Huia’s Dad and leaves River and Huia stranded in a foreign terrain of bush with nothing but each other, they must learn the ways of the forest. They must learn to provide food and water for themselves while they make their hard journey home. Read more
Cuz
Liz Van Der Laarse
OneTree House
pub. 2018
03 March, 2021
I chose the book Cuz By Liz Van Der Laarse because I felt that the description was interesting and the cover looked cool. I found the book a bit hard to get into at the start, but I found that I really enjoyed it after the first few chapters.
I liked that the book included so much about Māori culture and had a glossary at the back of the book so when I came across a word or sentence that I haven’t come across before I could just look it up at the back and continue reading. Read more
