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Home > Categories > Books > Fantasy > Red Rocks review
While holidaying at his father's house, Jake explores Wellington's wild south coast, with its high cliffs, biting winds, and its fierce seals. When he stumbles upon a perfectly preserved sealskin, hidden in a crevice at Red Rocks, he's compelled to take it home and hide it under his bed, setting off a chain of events that threatens to destroy his family.
Red Rocks takes the Celtic myth of the selkies, or seal people, and transplants it into the New Zealand landscape, throwing an ordinary boy into an adventure tinged with magic. With its beautiful writing and eerie atmosphere, junior readers will be thrilled and moved by this captivating story.
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Review by: mizim (Miriam)
Dated: 19th of October, 2012
I asked to review this book as I love old myths and legends, and this has selkies in it.
For those of you who haven't heard this particular tale, it is about seals and how they can shed their skin, hiding it away, and spend some time walking around as a human. But should someone hide their skin (generally someone who has fallen in love with them) then they are trapped, eventually starting to waste away.
I like that it is set in New Zealand, showing how these stories are now worldwide, and also that it is set in the perfect place for it, windy Wellington. The story follows a young boy who is down on holiday, staying with his dad, and free to roam as his dads job consumes all of his time. He finds a seal skin and takes it home, having no idea of the events that he has set in motion. Jake is a very believable character, easy to like and accept as a viable character. It's so easy to feel in the moment and believe that he is feeling what is written down on paper. His father, whilst not being the main character, is also a very real character.
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