Henry Rivera, one-time activist and now full-time construction worker, has just been evicted from his home in Waikiki and is forced to move to the Wai'anae coast. While in the midst of moving, Hank and his wife, Kanani, are approached by a young man who is researching the early years of Hawai'i's modern civil rights movement, which culminated in the rigorous protests surrounding the bombing of Kaho'olawe in 1976 and 1977. Hesitant at first, Henry and Kanani agree to talk about the past and their role in the movement. Vivid and sometimes painful memories surface, causing both to question their feelings of love and loyalty--not only for each other, but for their complex and sometimes competing heritages. Through the voices of Henry, Kanani, and the many others who populate this sprawling, passionate novel, Rodney Morales tells a thoroughly contemporary story of Hawai'i--one that addresses the realities of asserting one's culture in a multicultural world.
"Rodney Morales tells old-fashioned stories in a new way, or maybe it's the other way around. Either way, his stories are funny and sad at the same time, and those are the best kind of stories." --- Sherman Alexie
"Rodney Morales has written a compelling mo'olelo of a family's twenty-year struggle to protect the 'aina. He breathes vividness into Hawaiian characters who risked their lives to save Kaho'olawe, but whose real triumph was to retain their souls amid the steady betrayals of modern Hawaiian life." --- Jonathan K. Kamakawiwo'ole Osorio
