by Selina Tusitala Marsh
Fabulous Cover.
Ms Tusitala Marsh won the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults.
Ms Tusitala Marsh was then interviewed on NZ light news show The Project & after hearing what [book:Mophead|50902856] was about, I knew I had to read this book.
Although never called a name like Mophead I certainly was teased about my unmanageable mop of hair. It was frizzy and often knotted at a time when most teens wanted straight,silky, long hair. My mothers suggestion (always) was to cut it short, but I stubbornly longed for what I was never going to have.
Better hairdressers and hair products have helped. I now love my curls, and yes I now keep my hair short!
Children can be very unkind and the young Selina was certainly called some awful racist names which brought me to tears – in our town’s library. Desperate to conform, she ties her hair up;
while having a vibrant fantasy life at home.
All this changed when Kiwi poet [author:Sam Hunt|283599] gave a talk at her school. Sam Hunt is described on his Wikipedia page as having iconic status.
“…with long hair curling wildly above a well-worn face”
Inspired by the unconventional poet’s complete lack of interest in what people thought of him, Selina stopped conforming too – with very positive results.
The ending had me laughing out loud!
Joyous, happy, vibrant with a strong be true to yourself message.
And if even one bully reads this book and realises how much words can hurt…
Awesome.
Carol - She's So Novel! 