When eleven-year-old Kilikina and her brother, fourteen-year-old Kaimana, are unknowingly given access to a hidden and legendary world in their native Oâahu in the Hawaiian islands, they are also gifted with an unexpected set of magical abilities. Soon, they find themselves on an adventure, one in which they experience the interconnectedness of the world around them and begin to learn firsthand about the islandsâ vast history and traditions, including the spirit of âaloha,â the act of showing others kindness and hospitality.
Guided by a quirky and silly duo from a mythical race of tiny people, the siblings soon learn they have been chosen to help protect their island and way of life from a great evil. Are they up to the challenge?
When eleven-year-old Kilikina and her brother, fourteen-year-old Kaimana, are unknowingly given access to a hidden and legendary world in their native Oâahu in the Hawaiian islands, they are also gifted with an unexpected set of magical abilities. Soon, they find themselves on an adventure, one in which they experience the interconnectedness of the world around them and begin to learn firsthand about the islandsâ vast history and traditions, including the spirit of âaloha,â the act of showing others kindness and hospitality.
Guided by a quirky and silly duo from a mythical race of tiny people, the siblings soon learn they have been chosen to help protect their island and way of life from a great evil. Are they up to the challenge?
The rat climbed over a crushed soda can taking care to not let it clang noisily. He gingerly avoided the thorns of the bougainvillea bush as he crept slowly underneath it into the shadows. A deep voice greeted him. âYouâre late, Manini.â
âIâm sorry, boss,â said the rat in a whiny voice. âIt takes time to get there and back again.â
A pair of savage-looking eyes glowed in the darkness. âYouâŠfound it, then?â
The rat pointed at a small pile with his stick. A half-eaten guava, a rusty nail, a nickel, and a peculiar-looking seashell were all thrown in a jumbled mess on top of a muddy old key.
A set of teeth gleamed now under the eyes. âThe storm is tonight,â said the terrifying voice. âIf nothing goes wrong, the way into Hunaia AwÄwa will be open by morning. Use this key to open the shed and wait there.â
Manini shivered as he spoke uneasily. âYâŠyes, bâŠboss. What is so important about this HâŠhâŠhoney place? Why go through all this trouble when we have such a gâŠgood life here in Kailua?â
âThat kind of information isnât for your nÄwaliwali mind, rat.â The voice grew impatient.
âI canââ Manini started to say, but was interrupted.
âSilence. Gather your brothers. Tell them to be ready and waiting in the shed by the first lightning strike. I need to know that this will work, and youâre going to prove that for me. Now go.â
The small rat snatched the key with one paw and fled out of the room on his other three legs, running unsteadily and careening from the weight of the heavy metal he was carrying.
âItâs time to finally end this madness. This is our island now,â the voice said as its teeth and eyes slowly moved back into the shadows. Outside, Manini continued to run as quickly as he could, his fear of the massive creature fueling his paw-steps.Â
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âBro!â The loud voice of the tall-for-her-age eleven-year-old girl, Kilikina, echoed through the small house. Around other peopleâher aunties and uncles, even at schoolâKilikina was normally quiet, reserved, and somewhat shy. At home with her brother, however, she had no problem speaking her mind and putting him in his place.
âNah, donât even with that,â her fourteen-year-old brother, Kaimana, said as he walked out of the living room. âLetâs go.â Outgoing, loud, boisterous, and always looking for an opportunity to push the limits, Kaimana was in many ways the opposite of his sister. He loved big crowds, making new friends, and finding excitement.
Kilikina stared, unwilling to move, hands on her hips.
Kaimana shrugged and put on his slippers. ââKay then, stay. I donât care. Itâs just a hike.â He smirked. He knew that she hated being left alone, and sheâd come with him.
Kilikina stomped towards Kaimana. âDad said we arenât allowed to go there,â she said as her hands flung forward. A rule follower at heart, she felt uneasy when her brother pulled these kinds of stunts. Why did he always feel the need to try to get away with things?
Kaimana smiled âSo? Heâs not here. Besides, itâs not like itâs hurting anyone. Weâre just going to see whatâs up there. Sure, itâs private, but Vinnie says thereâs some sweet
lilikoi up there, and Mom did say to go outside some today.âKilikinaâs mind whirred. She wasnât supposed to be at home by herself, and her brother made it sound not-that-bad to go with him. She could go next door to Auntie Jennyâs and hang out there until her dad got home, but Auntie Jenny was always cooking and super loud, so sheâd be stuck watching the news or playing in the backyard by herself, which was no fun at all.
âOkay,â Kilikina relented. âBut if anything happens Iâm your responsibility, and Dadâs gonna ground you big time if we get caught.â
âWhoâs going to catch us?â Kaimana smirked. âEveryone is probably at the beach.â
âWhy arenât we going to the beach?â Kilikina asked, in a last-ditch effort to try and change her brotherâs mind. He was stubborn, and in the back of her mind she figured it wouldnât work. She was right.
âI donât want to take the bus today,â Kaimana said, as he slung his backpack over his shoulder.
Kilikina put on her slippers, grabbed an Asian pear off the kitchen counter, and went outside with her brother, slamming the screen door behind her. The trade winds shifted directions and tossed her long black hair into her face. The sun felt warm and comforting on their skin. As they walked up the road toward the sharp green cliffs, the clouds overhead gathered and grew ever so slightly darker.
âWant some?â Kilikina held out the partially eaten pear in a peace offering to her brother.
âMahalo, kaikaina,â her brother said, taking the fruit and biting off a large section. âWhoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down, eh you!â She laughed, jumping to snatch it back.
Kaimana smiled, parts of the pear visible in his quite full mouth, and handed it back to her. Up the road they walked, the sun occasionally peeking through the clouds above them that cast fast-moving shadows on the ground. Even with the breeze, the temperature changes between overcast shadows and bright, direct sunlight were startlingly strong.
âWeâll cut through the Changsâ yard. They donât care. Besides, theyâre never home,â Kaimana said.
âWhy the Changs?â Kilikina asked.
Kaimana smiled. âTheyâre right up against the cliffs, and most importantly...they donât have a dog, so we can straight up go through their yard and not worry about being bit like two pieces of pizza.â
âYou are pepperoni,â Kilikina said seriously. They both laughed, hooked a right, and crossed the street and headed over to the Changs.
A low white fence wrapped around the front yard. Perfectly trimmed, soft green grass covered the ground, in the center of which was a small stone-lined area with several carefully manicured bushes. Not one branch was out of place.
âLetâs go! hurry!â Kaimana said. âEveryoneâs outside since itâs Saturday.â They ducked low and ran through the front yard, opening the side gate, moving past it, and closing it behind them with a clang!
âEh, you kids! Stop!â The thundering loud voice startled them. In their haste to get through the front yard, they hadnât checked to see if the Changsâ neighbors were outside in their own side yard. They were. A towering, elderly gentleman who was doing yardwork waved his trimming shears at them. âDonât go back there. Itâs not safe!â he yelled, moving quickly towards the back gate of his yard.
âRun, kaikaina!â Kaimana said hoarsely. Hearts racing, they dashed through the Changsâ equally perfectly maintained backyard, climbed the short cinderblock wall, and disappeared into the lush, tropical forest.
âHey, get your Ê»Ćkoles back hereâ the kupuna yelled, but even as his voice finished the question it was growing quieter as the children got farther into the dense woods. âIs he going to call the police?â asked Kilikina.
âYou worry too much,â said Kaimana.
Bright green ferns, brown dead limbs, clumps of tall yellowed grass, and red clay dirt all blurred as they ran, climbing over bushes and diving under branches. After a few moments, their heavy breathing broke into relieved laughter.
âOh my gosh, that was cray-zyâ Kilikina said, huffing and tripping over her own feet. The ground beneath their feet suddenly jutted steeply up, and after a few moments they had slowed to a labored walk.
âHere we go!â Kaimana said. âItâs time to get our climb on!â No sooner had he said that than a loud crack echoed over their heads. Instinctively, they dropped low, startled by the noise. A tropical storm that had been hidden behind the mountains had just broken through the edge of the skyline and was towering over them with thick, charcoal-colored clouds that roiled furiously.
âSeriously? Kai, you stupid-head, you didnât look to see if it was going to rain?â Kilikina was not happy at the thought of getting soaked.
Kaimana paused and stared at her. âIt always rains and doesnât rain. The weather channel donât know nothing. Besides, you wouldnât come if I woulâhey!â Kaimana looked down. Much to his delight, there lay, tangled amongst the greenery of the forest floor, bright yellow lilikoi fruits on the vine. âTheyâre ripe!â He picked one, wiped it off on his shirt, bit thinly through the skin several times, then took a big bite of the tangy, sweetness inside. âOh man, is it good.â He bit thinly through the skin several more times then handed his little sister the small, fist-sized fruit.
She took her own big bite, and her eyes widened. She nodded furiously, her mouth too full of the seeds to talk. Kaimana bent over and picked several more, handing a second one to his sister. He dropped his backpack, opened it up, and dropped in a few lilikois.
As he turned and stretched his arm out to pick another one, completely without warning, there was a bright flash of a million lights and an earth-shattering explosion as lightning struck the tree that stood only five feet away. Electricity shot through the ground, and the concussion of the tree exploding knocked the children off their feet rendering them immediately unconscious. A lilikoi rolled out of Kaimanaâs flung-open bag for a few feet then came to an abrupt stop.
Where the lilikoi stopped, there was a puff of smoke, and out of the smoke hobbled a very old, very small man, no more than four feet tall with a twisted and well-worn walking stick.
âNa keiki naaupo ilihune,â he said in a soft, gravelly voice and shook his head slowly. âThese children have no idea how important they are. Their time has come to look beyond themselves and if they choose, help many others.â
He had a long beard that almost touched the ground. and long hair, half gray and half white. He was wearing clothes that looked a thousand years old and were bland and brown. As he looked at the children, his eyes changed from black to a pure, white light. He bent over them, carefully laid his staff down, put his hands on their foreheads, and whispered indiscernible words.
Kaimana and Kilikinaâs eyelids fluttered, their chests heaved as they took deep breaths and they began to cough. The elder reached over, picked up his staff, raised it, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
In a nearby stream that gurgled quietly, a prawn crawled out onto the mud and stared at the children, beginning to crawl towards them slowly as they were coming to. A moment later it sensed danger, glanced upwards in time to see a myna bird that was swooping towards a nearby tree, and shot backwards into the clear, cool water.
Islanders: The Pacific Chronicles, by James & Richard Eldridge, is a middle-school romp through Hawaii. Itâs the first of a series to be written. The authors grew up ârunning around the islands barefoot,â so they bring a sense of intimacy with the place, people, and stories of their childhood. The most charming aspect of the book for this reviewer was the introduction of Hawaiian words as a natural part of the dialogue. Definitions in English are provided, so one doesnât get lost.
The plot pits ancient enemies against each other while adding concern for the environment. This increases the urgency of the conflict. As Kaimana and Kilikina, a brother and sister, learn more about the islands they live on, they realize that paradise may need their help. Furthermore, they learn to help each other, each using their own strengths and talents.
This book empowers young people to see the value of their input into âgrown-upâ problems. When Kaimana and Kilikina wonder how they could possibly help when there are older and wiser people there, a character comments, âBut are old problems best solved with old solutions? Or can new perspectives be important?â
While the prose fails to reach the level of polish in the greatest middle school novels (Beverly Cleary comes to mind) itâs nevertheless clear and easy to read.
Kaimana and Kilikina find themselves pulled into an unexpected encounter with the Menehune, tiny island people thought to be mythical. The lovely islands are threatened by a great evil, and it will take our two heroes, the animals, and the Menehune working together to conquer it. The pace of the story keeps the reader interested and happy to swim along with these adventurous kids.
The dialogue features the unique syntax of Hawaiian speech patterns. It feels authentic and helps readers believe they are listening in on native speakers.Â
Despite a few clumsy sentences, the story moves along well and was enjoyable to read. I recommend this book for middle schoolers who are going to visit Hawaii or have an interest in island and ocean life. The book introduces a rich background of native words and legends.
The looming problem facing the islands is not resolved in this book, and the reader is left hoping to learn more when the next book comes out.