Tamihana Brown has a plan. Unfortunately, Peter wants absolutely nothing to do with it.

Twelve-year-old Tami reckons he's pretty awesome. His twin sister Mahanga disagrees. His cousin Gary thinks he's an egg. And Peter, the school bully, would rather chase him across the playground than have a conversation.

But when Tami accidentally discovers a different side to Peter, he decides they're going to be friends, whether Peter likes it or not.

Peter simply isn't convinced. He has enough going on in his life. There's no room for a Tami-sized headache.

But beneath Peter's tough exterior, things are beginning to unravel. And the one person who might just get through to him is the very boy he's spent so long pushing away.

What follows is a series of ridiculous encounters, family squabbles, schoolyard dramas and increasingly determined attempts by Tami to win over the one kid who can't stand him.

Fortunately, Tami has some strong wahine in his life. Between his fearless twin sister and his loving but no-nonsense Aunty Whina, there's always someone ready to bring him back down to earth. Keeping him humble, however, is another matter entirely.

And somewhere between the biscuits, video games, Scouts and an unexpected surprise, something is about to change.

Set in Aotearoa New Zealand, Tami and the Kumara is a funny, heartfelt middle-grade story about friendship, bullying, whanau and discovering that there's often more to someone than meets the eye.

With memorable Maori characters, everyday te reo Maori and plenty of Kiwi humour, it's a story about finding your place, learning to look beyond first impressions and discovering what it really means to be a friend.