"Twelve-year-old Niko lives in Pohe Bay, a small, rural town with a sacred hot spring and a taniwha named Taukere. The government plan to build a prison here and destroy the home of the taniwha has divided the community. Some are against it, but others see it as an opportunity. Niko is worried about the land and Taukere, but who will listen to him? Hés an ordinary boy whós laughed at, bullied, and called p¿rangi, crazy, for believing in the taniwha. But its Niko who has to convince the community that Taukere is real, unite whnau in protest against the prison and stand up to the bullies"--Publisher information.