Skip to main content

Review: Lei and the Fire Goddess

Image
By
Lei and the Fire Goddess
By Malia Maunakea
New York: Penguin Workshop, 2023. Fiction. 298 pages.

Anna Leilani Kama'ehu is stuck in something of an identity crisis. Ever since she moved from Hawaii to Colorado with her parents, she struggles to fit in. At home in Colorado, she only wants to be called Anna and gets picked on for believing in the native Hawaiian lore she was raised with and now her best friend has left her for the popular group. She used to always look forward to spending the summers in Hawaii with her Tūtū, but this year she doesn't want to hear any more stories about her culture -- she wants to visit Hawaii like a tourist. This year, Anna refuses to believe in the Hawaiian gods and goddesses and goes so far as to insult Pele, the volcano goddess, out of spite. In retaliation, Pele sends a giant hawk to snatch Anna's Hawaiian best friend Kaipo and sends a lava flow right for Tūtū's house. If she wants to fix things before they're too late, Anna must go on a quest to face Pele and come face to face with her own heritage.

Fans of Rick Riordan books will obviously love this culturally rooted adventure novel. Anna is a character that readers will want to root for -- she makes mistakes, sure, but as she finds herself she also sets out to repair the mistakes she's made. The Hawaiian setting of this book is rich and vibrant -- with references to local foods and landmarks tucked in naturally. Untranslated Hawaiian words and slang are sprinkled into the dialogue and add a level of authenticity and cultural understanding. We have readers all the time looking for stories about Pacific Islanders, and the pool of options has been pretty small. This awesome new addition is hopefully a indicator of things to come.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

By
KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Memory Spinner

By
The Memory Spinner Written by C.M. Cornwell New York : Delacorte Press, 2025. Fiction. 281 pages. Fantasy is a genre that I don't often read. When I finish a good fantasy book, I always ask myself why I don't read more of them! This book made me ask myself that exact question. Lavender is a young girl who is struggling after the death of her mother. Her father doesn't like talking about the family's loss, and Lavender feels very alone in knowing how to grieve and cope with her feelings. Making the grieving process even harder for Lavender is the fact that she is struggling to hold on to memories of her mother.  The family runs an apothecary shop where Lavender is an apprentice. She has dreamed of her apprenticeship for a long time, putting in a lot of work to show her father she is a valuable asset. Unfortunately, while working side by side with her father, Lavender starts to notice that memories of her mother aren't the only thing she is having a hard time recallin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Kareem Between

By
  Kareem Between By Shifa Saltagi Safadi New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2024. Fiction. 324 pages.  Kareem loves football and as he gets ready to start seventh grade he dreams of someday becoming the first Syrian American NFL player. Seventh grade is not off to a great start for Kareem, after football tryouts don't go as he had planned, his best friend moves away, and his mom returns to Syria to help bring his sick grandfather to the US for treatment. So when Austin, the quarterback and coach's son, offers to talk to his dad and get Kareem on the football team in the spring, if he will cheat and do his homework for him, Kareem agrees. Kareem really wants to fit in at school and he is desperate to find a friend, but deep down he knows that doing Austin's homework isn't the right thing to do. And to make things harder, Kareem's mom asks him to be a friend to Fadi, a Syrian Christian refugee. He knows he should stand up for Fadi and help him adjust to the new school,...
Post a Comment
Read more