A young daughter of the legendary Hawaiian Naupaka dynasty dreams of healing the rift in her family by competing in and winning the next Miss Aloha Hula contest and proving herself worthy of carrying on her family’s name. - (Baker & Taylor)
"Hi'i is proud to be a Naupaka, a family renowned for its contributions to hula and her hometown of Hilo, Hawaii, but there's a lot she doesn't understand. She's never met her legendary grandmother and her mother has never revealed the identity of her father. Worse, unspoken divides within her tight-knit community have started to grow, creating fractures whose origins are somehow entangled with her own family history. In hula, Hi'i sees a chance to live up to her name and solidify her place within her family legacy. But in order to win the next Miss Aloha Hula competition, she will have to turn her back on everything she had ever been taught, and maybe even lose the very thing she was fighting for. Told in part in the collective voice of a community fighting for its survival, Hula is a spellbinding debut that offers a rare glimpse into a forgotten kingdom that still exists in the heart of its people."--Amazon.com. - (Baker & Taylor)
Named a Best Book of the Summer by Harper's Bazaar and ELLE • Audiofile Magazine Earphones Award Winner • HONOLULU Magazine’s Book of the Year About Hawai`i
“Stunning . . . An intricately built novel that spans decades, moving in and out of a collective voice, while also telling Hi’i’s deeply personal and devastating story of trying to find her way.” —Los Angeles Times
Set in Hilo, Hawai’i, a sweeping saga of tradition, culture, family, history, and connection that unfolds through the lives of three generations of women—a tale of mothers and daughters, dance and destiny.
“There’s no running away on an island. Soon enough, you end up where you started.”
Hi'i is proud to be a Naupaka, a family renowned for its contributions to hula and her hometown of Hilo, Hawaii, but there’s a lot she doesn’t understand. She’s never met her legendary grandmother and her mother has never revealed the identity of her father. Worse, unspoken divides within her tight-knit community have started to grow, creating fractures whose origins are somehow entangled with her own family history.
In hula, Hi'i sees a chance to live up to her name and solidify her place within her family legacy. But in order to win the next Miss Aloha Hula competition, she will have to turn her back on everything she had ever been taught, and maybe even lose the very thing she was fighting for.
Told in part in the collective voice of a community fighting for its survival, Hula is a spellbinding debut that offers a rare glimpse into a forgotten kingdom that still exists in the heart of its people.
“A full-throated chant for Hawai'i . . . It’s impossible to come away unchanged.” —Kawai Strong Washburn, author of the PEN/Hemingway award-winning Sharks in the Times of Saviors
- (
HARPERCOLL)
Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* Hakes' immersive and astute debut novel centers on girls coming-of-age in Hawaii and is peppered with Hawaiian folktales and history. After running away from home, Laka returns to Hilo with a baby that looks haole (white) and no explanation. The former Miss Aloha Hula, Laka was a shining star in her native Hawaiian Naupaka family. Now, Laka's refusal to share Hi'i's birth certificate proving her heritage thoroughly displeases her mother, Hulali, who is heavily involved in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. As Hi'i grows up, she thinks that learning traditional hula could heal the rifts in her family. But nothing goes to plan, and Hi'i even believes she brings a curse to her family. Hakes jumps around in time, to Laka's childhood and to Hi'i's adulthood, to reveal family secrets and illustrate the U.S. government's historical failure to honor promises made to the Hawaiian people. It is a strong testament to her writing that the threads of the story are clear, the characters fleshed out, and the history seamlessly tied into what is otherwise a deeply affecting story of mothers and daughters and what makes a family. This should have wide appeal to readers of character-driven stories, family dramas, and historical fiction. Copyright 2023 Booklist Reviews.