[2][3] In 2002 it was adapted into a film, Whale Rider, directed by Niki Caro.

[4] Set in the 1980s in Whangara, a Māori community on the eastern edge of New Zealand's North Island, the novel is a retelling of the myth of Paikea.

Kahu is the eldest great-grandchild of chief Koro Apirana; had she been a boy, she would have been the future leader of the tribe but since she is a girl, she is detested by her grandfather Koro Apirana who is a male chauvinist who is blinded by culture.

She is attuned to the traditional Māori way of life, and has inherited the ability to speak to whales.

[6] The Whale Rider has been a worldwide bestseller, and is the most-translated work by a New Zealand author.