"Tu" by Patricia Grace *****

• Audiobook
• New Zealand author
• Originally published in 2005
• Link to info on Maori Battalion:   http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C4%81ori_Battalion
• Review:  I know, I know.....another war novel.  No it is not.  This is a story set during WWII, featuring the Maori Battalion of New Zealand.  This is more than a war story.  This story is told via the protagonist's journal kept during the war and afterwards.  This is the story of brothers and cousins bound together by blood and culture.  This is the story of loves found and lost.  This is the story of the cost of war.  This is the story of a culture which was used and manipulated.  This is the story of a proud culture with rich, joyful traditions.  This story is about being a Maori warrior, a Maori man, a lover, a son, a brother, a cousin, an uncle, and ultimately about being a human being whose life is battered and broken and then tries to heal
• 
  
• The author's prose is lyrical, joyful and profoundly moving.  The narrator for the audiobook was fantastic!!  I learned a lot and loved Tu's courage, joy, and attitude.  READ THIS!