Author(s): Marion Day

New Zealand

Roa, fifteen, lives close to Whakaari/White Island and hangs out with her street gang. She has too many dads, and using the volcano as a metaphor for her feelings, she tells her story in days, weeks and months.

Meanwhile, she and her mother Huia both flashback to the past. Huia reveals how her choice of men has affected her daughter. Roa knows right from wrong, loves to write, but is crumbling beneath her two secrets. A botched robbery, a rash encounter with a boy. Finally, she confides in her brother and then her mother.

Whakaari's always there, deep inside Roa - beautiful and threatening. Guilt for what she has done, forces her into darkness. She must find her own way out.