HULA

Two Hawaiian women are caught up in the contemporary battle between colonial encroachment and Hawaiian sovereignty. Laka Naupaka returns to Hilo and her august family with a pale redheaded baby named Hi'i, offering no explanations and keeping her distance from her mother. Narrator Mapuana Makia voices the women central to the story with the strength, passion, and pain that fuel them. Hi'i grows into a child who is unsure of her place in the Hawaiian community and devoted to being Miss Aloha Hula like her mother. A chorus perspective of the Hawaiian people ties the story of family and responsibility to the political history of the islands. Makia's deft handling of the frequent Hawaiian words and dialect perfectly evokes the culture and people of Hilo. S.T.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2023]