Mata Oti

Lani Young’s ‘Telesa’ series is often referred to as the Samoan ‘Twilight’. It is an apt comparison, for both the positive reasons (easy-to-read, very compelling for teenagers) and the negative (it’s not exactly high literature, and you’d hope it’s main function is to serve as a gateway to better books). Stephanie Meyers’ followup to ‘Twilight’ was the now largely-forgotten ‘The Host’, a science-fiction story that even the most die-hard Twilight fans almost completely ignored.

There is a possibility that may be the fate of Young’s new book, a dystopian horror about a zombie plague ravaging Samoa. It spent a week on our library’s New Releases shelf, and wasn’t taken out by a single student. (For reference, we have three copies of ‘Telesa’, and a waiting list because they are perennially out.) I saw one Year 11 pick it up, and she put it back ten minutes later saying she couldn’t get into it. She had read almost all of the first chapter without seeing even a single instance of an awkward-but-more-beautiful-than-she-realises girl meeting a brooding-devastatingly-handsome-boy-who-no-one-except-her-understands. (The student went on to issue ‘Scarlett Lies’, Young’s romantic drama book.)

Is that fair? ‘Mata Oti’ is an entertaining horror story, but it is definitely a horror story. There is blood, dismemberment and danger, and no hints of romance or YA-friendly teen-angst. It is written in Young’s typical easy-to-read style, but the content may not be what fans of ‘Telesa’ are looking for. Of course, it’s always good for people to broaden their literary horizons.

‘Mata Oti’ is to zombie stories what ‘Telesa’ was to supernatural romance: a serviceable example of the genre that is set apart only by its Samoa-specific setting and cultural references. But let’s not underplay how important that is in a world where many of our students don’t – and often can’t – see themselves in the books they are reading.

In the end, despite how different they are, my view of this book is very similar to my view of ‘Telesa’: I probably won’t reread it and I certainly wouldn’t teach it, but I’m very happy my students have access to it and I’m going to be suggesting it to multiple kids during every library period. Get your librarian to order a copy (or two, if you know you have horror fans) today.