The Dink Diaries Trilogy - The Dink Diaries, #4

If you go to Auckland Uni, you probably know someone like Dink.

Leaving Wairoa for the big city of Auckland, he thinks he's got his life planned out. He doesn't.

He lives in a catered hall, meets a bunch of people he probably wouldn't choose for himself, and somehow starts collecting friends. There's Persephone, who becomes his best friend. Ethan, who turns out to be pretty important. Benji, who is Benji. And then there's Braden, Dink's twin brother, who is never quite as far away from the story as Dink would probably like.

Dink writes everything down.

Some of it is funny. Some of it is embarrassing.

He's trying to get through lectures, assignments, hall food, parties, money, friendships and the general confusion of being away from home for the first time. He's also trying to work out where he fits in Auckland without losing his connection to Wairoa.

And then things happen that aren't funny.

Dink becomes the target of harassment and starts to feel unsafe. He becomes more watchful. More guarded. The sort of things most people can put behind them don't stay behind him. Even his own memories become difficult to sort out.

The three books follow Dink through that year.

Dink: Diary of a Wairoa Boy is where it starts. A kid from Wairoa arrives at university and discovers that Auckland is a very different place from home.

Dink: Diary of a Reluctant Target is where things get harder. Dink deals with hostility and harassment while trying to carry on with ordinary university life.

Dink: Diary of a Reticent Loudmouth picks up after that. Dink is a bit steadier by then, but the past hasn't gone anywhere. His friendships change, home is still home, and some things are harder to remember than they should be.

Taken together, the books are really about watching Dink grow up.

Not in some grand, inspirational way. He doesn't suddenly have everything figured out.

He just gets a little better at being Dink.

The Dink Diaries is a funny, sometimes uncomfortable story about university, friendship, family, Wairoa, Auckland and one young Māori guy trying to work out what he's doing with his life.

And if you know a Dink, you'll probably recognise him.