The Seventeenth Quest*

By Elizabeth Kamakawiwoole

Illustrated by Elise Hurst

Puffin  March 2027

Reviewed by Mia Macrossan

Here is an impressive debut by Eliazabeth Kamakawiwoole, who when not writing children’s books, manages a theatre company. Maybe it is this experience that has given her her skill with plot and character development and her delightful writing voice.

Seventeen is a little robot, 140cm high, who is given a quest to find humanity. He sets off full of hope, fully prepared with a twisty walking stick, a packed backpack and his databases full of fairy tales, poems and stories. Almost immediately he has to use all his ingenuity and skills to rescue Hazel, a lost girl with no memory of her past but a deep longing for her family. Together they embark on a thrilling series of adventures involving Tygers, hedgehogs, snakes, other robots, sentient octopuses, kitsune and more.

Each encounter deepens the mystery of what has happened to the people who were here more than a hundred years ago, the true meaning of their quest and what it means to be human. Seventeen is addicted to poetry and often uses appropriate quotes from his vast database. Kamakawiwoole’s choices here are challenging, always illuminating, extending and deepening the significance and appreciation of a scene. Poets quoted include Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson, Ezra Pound, Mary Oliver and Lewis Carroll. Another use of poetry to enrich the story is where the kitsune Hazel and Seventeen meet communicates with them in haiku. (A teacher could use this book as an introduction to poets and poetry)

As Seventeen is a robot his experience of his surroundings is different from a human’s: he cannot smell, but he still picks a violet to give to his ‘fair damsel’, he can’t do a proper jump for joy until taught by Hazel. However, gradually Seventeen develops and learns, always informed by his vast literary knowledge – I think Kamakawiwoole is trying to tell us something here about the power of stories.

While the overarching theme is exploring what it means to be human other themes are carefully developed. The octopuses have become sentient, living in a rigidly controlled colony with all life subservient to the aim of procreation and survival. Everyone’s ‘treatment is according to their purpose’ where ‘the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few’.  Plato’s Cave allegory – how hard it is to abandon comforting illustions for uncomfortable truths is also touched on. This very deep and meaningful stuff is cleverly counterbalanced by whimsy and humour throughout, and an abiding love and appreciation of the natural world mainly expressed through Seventeen’s experiences.

 The literary references to familiar kidlit classics scattered throughout will delight any child who is a reader.This rich and rewarding story is many things:  a quest, a mystery, an action-packed adventure, a buddies caper, a philosophical exploration of humanity and more – all wrapped up in poetry and engaging prose featuring an endearing main character you just want to take home.

*A StoryLinks starred review indicates a book of exceptional literary merit.