Kids’ and Adult Books by Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Authors

Curses aren’t real. At least, that’s what 12-year-old, part-Hawaiian Anna Leilani Kama’ehu thinks when she listens to her grandmother’s folktales about sacred flowers and family guardians. But when Anna accidentally insults Pele the fire goddess by destroying her lehua blossom, a giant hawk swoops in and kidnaps her best friend, and she quickly learns just how real these legends are. To save her friends and family, Anna must now battle mythical creatures, team up with demigods and talking bats, and evade the traps Pele hurls her way.

An exciting follow-up to Lei and the Fire Goddess features a mysterious, invisible island, dangerous spirits, and a newcomer who does not need Lei’s help … or does she? Malia Maunakea crafts a tale about friendship, family, culture, and what it means to forgive each other, and yourself.

Part memoir, part manifesto, Chamorro climate activist Julian Aguon’s No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies is a collection of essays on resistance, resilience, and collective power in the age of climate disaster; and a call for justice — for everyone, but in particular, for Indigenous peoples.

A gripping YA fantasy with a deadly contest to win a crown, a fierce heroine determined to right the wrongs done to her people, and a smoldering love story that could change everything…

Elegant, brutal, and profound — this magnificent debut captures the grit and glory of modern Hawai’i with breathtaking force and accuracy. Exquisitely written and bursting with sharply observed detail, Kahakauwila’s stories remind us of the powerful desire to belong, to put down roots, and to have a place to call home.

Told in spellbinding and mythic prose, House of Many Gods is a deeply complex and provocative love story set against the background of Hawaii and Russia. Interwoven throughout with the indelible portrait of a native Hawaiian family struggling against poverty, drug wars, and the increasing military occupation of their sacred lands.

The powerful, visionary, Booker Award-winning novel about the complicated relationships between three outcasts of mixed European and Maori heritage. Out of this unorthodox trinity, Keri Hulme has created what is at once a mystery, a love story, and an ambitious exploration of the zone where Indigenous and European New Zealand meet, clash, and sometimes merge.

In this epic, original novel in which Hawaii’s fierce, sweeping past springs to life, Kiana Davenport draws upon the remarkable stories of her people to create a timeless, passionate tale of love and survival, tragedy and triumph, survival and transcendence.

A fiery second collection of poetry from the acclaimed Indigenous New Zealand writer that U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo calls, “one of the most startling and original poets of her generation.”