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🧡🤟🏼hey bookfam! I know America celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day a few days ago, but we celebrate indigenous people everyday here 🤙🏼

Which also reminded me I never posted about this recently published Hawaiian Gothic I read in August WHICH WAS ALSO RECENTLY ANNOUNCED AS THE FIRST HAWAIIAN BOOK TO EVER BE A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST !! VERY spooky. VERY suspenseful! Persimmons will never look the same. Love a sibling chaotic dynamic and this one was for sure. Perfect for the October spooky vibes TBR 🎃 I also read it during a hurricane as the winds were screeching by around the old house I was staying in by myself 😂 definitely upped the creepy factor lol

I immediately thought of the 80s science fiction movie Soylent Green, which my Dad had my brothers and I watch in middle school 🙈 iykyk

Some Hawaiian History in this one: Plantation era mix of cultures, the desecration of sacred lands to build modern developments 🫠, the Hawaiian diaspora, and more…

*image description: Background of a hotel yard and palm trees. Foreground is my hand holding That Which feeds Us by Keala Kendall.

*some goodies that came with the pre-order! The hotel invite is so creative!!

My family stayed at Aulani for my nephew’s 2nd birthday 🥳 (our first time ever because it’s so expensive for local families 😭 but grateful for the opportunities we get to feel like tourists too haha)

Image description: A hotel yard with palm trees in the background. In the foreground is a dark bookmark with pomegranates that says “Even paradise has its ghosts” and a fake hotel invitation to Kopa’a Island Resort

Image description: Faded background of a brown hotel and palm trees with white title at the top that says “Pasifika Voices I’ve read and loved.” 3 rows of 3 books, including Tala Learns to Siva by Kealani Netane, The Killing Spell by Shay Kauwe, Hawai’i Rage by Tore Eldridge, Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier, The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera, Dawn Raid by Pauline Vaeluaga Smith, The Shark Prince by Malia Maunakea, An Expanse of Blue, and That Which Feeds Us by Keala Kendall

Image description: Faded background of a brown hotel and palm trees with white title at the top that says “Pasifika s

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Have you thought, “Gosh I wish PEAK Reads would feature more mysteries?” Well, your prayers are answered! Our October book might help set a spooky mood with “Hawai’i Rage” by @writer.tori! If you’re into long-buried family secrets or you’ve ever wished for YELLOWSTONE vibes but with more brown people, this one’s for you. Join @kealaninetane as she talks paniolo stories with the author on October 30 on Instagram Live!
#hawaiirage #torieldridge #hawaiimystery #thomasmercerpublishing

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After a short summer break, @kealaninetane is back with this month’s PEAK Reads! “Kuleana: A Story of Family, Land, and Legacy in Old Hawai’i” by Sara Kehaulani Goo proves to be a treasure trove of Hawaiian history! @saragoo.author talks about how kuleana has more than just one meaning, and it’s a perfect and meaningful way to close out Hawaiian History Month.
#peakreads #kuleana #saragoo #hawaiianhistorymonth

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If you missed PEAK’s in-person event with @saragoo.author at Vroman’s, then you have another chance to hear Sara talk about out her incredibly moving book, “Kuleana: A Story of Family, Land, and Legacy in Old Hawai’i” with @kealaninetane for our September PEAK Reads! This is a fitting book and conversation to close out Hawaiian Heritage Month, so join us on Instagram Live on September 24 @ 9am HT!

#peakreads #kuleana #saragoo #hawaiianheritagemonth

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We love the celebration of family and Pacific Islander culture in Tala Learns to Siva as well as its message that you can persevere and achieve your dreams.

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In 2026, there are more books coming out from Hawaiian authors than EVER before! This is a huge milestone, and I believe that it is just the beginning. It was an absolute honor to sit on this panel with @megankkakimoto and @kealaninetane to talk about how the future is fiction with @hawaiiancouncil !

We got some requests to share the resources mentioned during the panel, and we are currently working on putting that together! That said, we want to be sure to include folks who did not have the opportunity to attend, too.

If you’d like to get the resource packet, please scan the QR code at the end of these slides to send us your email! We’ll send you the packet, Q&A, and a link to all resources we mentioned for both readers and writers!

And if you have any questions about writing, publishing, or anything else related to Hawaiian storytelling — go ahead and leave a comment! We’ll be sure to include it!
(Resource site is now live! Link in bio!)

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From oral tradition to the page, our stories carry us forward.

Join published Hawaiian authors Shay Kauwe, Megan Kamalei Kakimoto, and Kealani Netane for Native Hawaiian Storytelling: Past and Present, a breakout session today at the 2026 Native Hawaiian Convention. Native Hawaiian storytelling carries generations of ʻike, shaping identity, resistance, and imagination across time. This panel explores the evolution of moʻolelo, from oral tradition to contemporary literature.

📍 ʻUlaʻula, Neal S. Blaisdell Center
🗓️ Day 1 | Today, 1:00–2:45 PM hawaiiancouncil.org/agenda-booklet or link in bio for the full agenda.

#2026NativeHawaiianConvention #HawaiianCouncil #Author #Hawaiian

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Do you know the answer? 🤔

Tomorrow, @megankkakimoto @kealaninetane and I will be answering these questions and more in our discussion on Hawaiian storytelling: past, present, and future at the #hawaiianconvention @hawaiiancouncil !!!

This is your chance to learn more about storytelling in the modern world, the publishing process, and what to do with that great story you’ve got inside your head!

Looking forward to meeting folks there to talk Pasifika storytelling and where this waʻa is headed next! 🚣

Leave your guesses on the True/False below!

#indigenousauthors #pasifikabooks #pasifikaauthors #hawaiian

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Absolutely honored to be a part of this panel on Native Hawaiian storytelling for the Hawaiian Council’s 25th annual Native Hawaiian Convention!

I’ll be sitting by some absolute hammahs! The USA Today Bestselling author @megankkakimoto of Every Drop a Man’s Nightmare and one of the founders of @pacificislanderbooks , the incredible children’s author @kealaninetane of Tala Learns to Siva.

Megan, Kealani and I are so stoked to have this chance to talk about Hawaiian storytelling: past, present, and future!

We hope to see you all there!!

#hawaiianconvention2026 #authorevent #hawaiianculture #authorsofinstagram

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We’re doing something a little different for our June PEAK Reads because we thought our amazing host @kealaninetane deserved a small summer break, plus some flowers as an author in her own right!

We spent the first half of this year honoring books for our YA, Middle-Grade, and General Fiction readers - so this month we’re celebrating amazing Pasifika Children’s Books BY Pasifika Authors!

Some books you might remember from your own childhood, some you might recognize from your keiki’s shelves, some might be new! The point is to uplift those Pasifika authors who are representing and preserving our cultural stories and philosophies for a new generation. Maybe we’ll get to see some of these titles on the new READING RAINBOW or even as the next great Disney animated feature (a not-so-subtle hint to those buyers out there)! So go check ‘em! Go!
#childrensbookstagram #childrensbooks #peakreads #readingrainbow #summerreads

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📚 Happy AANHPI Heritage Month! Because there are so many wonderful cultures to honor and celebrate, I’ve put together a non-extensive and non-encompassing stack of books for each age category to share this month and all year round. Please find below the list of books with the type of representation they feature.

Image One: Picture Books
Ánh’s New Word (Vietnamese)
Boys Don’t Fry (Malaysian)
Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei A Life in the Mountains (Japanese)
My Best Friend’s Bangles (Sri Lankan)
The Lion Queen: Rasila Vadher, The First Woman Guardian of the Last Asiatic Lions (Indian)
Maribel’s Year (Filipino)
Kapaemahu (Native Hawaiian)
Tala Learns to Siva (Samoan)
The Moon From Dehradun: A Story of Partition (Indian/Pakistani)
All You Need (Chinese)

Image Two: Middle Grade
Hamra and the Jungle of Memories (Malaysian)
Marikit and the Ocean (Filipino)
Shim Jung Takes the Dive (Korean)
No Purchase Necessary (Indian)
Morning Sun in Wuhan (Chinese)
Samira Surfs (Bangladeshi)
Through a Clouded Mirror (Japanese)
When Clouds Touch Us (Vietnamese)

Image Three: Young Adult
Tall Water (Sri Lankan)
An Expanse of Blue (Native Hawaiian)
Butterfly Yellow (Vietnamese)
When a Brown Girl Flees (Pakistani)
While You Were Dreaming (Indian)
The Fox Maidens (Korean)

Image Four: Adult
A Tale for the Time Being (Japanese)
The Pohaku (Native Hawaiian)
The Mountains Sing (Vietnamese)
When We Were Sisters (Pakistani)
The Covenant of Water (Indian)
The Lotus Shoes (Chinese)

📚📚📚
Shop Indie and small business: When you find a book at socialjusticebooks.org, please purchase it here. Titles at SocialJusticeBooks.org are linked to @bookshop_org. A portion of your book purchase helps sustain our work.

#diversebooks #diversebooksforkids #diversechildrensbooks #aanhpiheritagemonth #aanhpi

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Only 0.3% of children’s books feature Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander primary characters (according to the 2022 Cooperative Children’s Books Center). Thus, there is a gaping lack of Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian representation in children’s books.

⭐️ I hope to see more #ownvoices books with this representation published in the future! If you have any recs of books with this representation, please share in the comments below so we can amplify these voices and stories as well

🌏 Islands represented in this collection: Samoa, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), New Zealand, Guam, Hawaiian Islands

📖 Which title do you love or would you like to read more about?

‼️ Comment ISLAND for a link to this book list with book details. I’ll send it straight to your DMs ‼️

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