2025 was an amaz­ing year! I am so grateful!

This ban­ner year began with the launch par­ty at Native Books of my debut chil­dren’s book, Kaho’o­lawe: The True Sto­ry of an Island and Her Peo­ple. The book was a dream come true and three years in the mak­ing. Maha­lo to own­er Maile Mey­er and her incred­i­ble staff for host­ing us! 

Then came the won­der­ful news that the book was a Junior Library Guild Gold Stan­dard selec­tion! By the end of the first quar­ter, Kaho’o­lawe had earned starred reviews by the School Library Jour­nal and by Kirkus.

I’m always up to talk about the book, and so I did in a flur­ry of inter­views and posts dur­ing the sum­mer and fall. Even more fun was attend­ing sev­er­al book events with the book’s tal­ent­ed illus­tra­tor, Hari­nani Orme.

We end­ed the year in the best way imag­in­able — Kaho’o­lawe was hon­ored on FIVE nation­al Best of 2025 lists:

I love Bet­sy Bird’s 31 Lists blog. So imag­ine my delight that Kaho’o­lawe: The True Sto­ry of an Island and Her Peo­ple is includ­ed in her 2025 Amer­i­can His­to­ry list! So grateful!

What start­ed out as a bit scary turned out to be such fun! I’d nev­er been inter­viewed for pub­lic radio before, so I was ner­vous.  Edi­tor Cather­ine Cluett Pactol made me feel right at home.  Hon­est­ly, I can talk about the book all day, and I think I did!  Because of time and space lim­i­ta­tions, she could­n’t include every­thing we’d talked about. She did a great job in focus­ing on the best parts for the inter­view. BUT what was left out was my heart­felt alo­ha for the book’s won­der­ful illus­tra­tor, Hari­nani Orme. Hari­nani’s art is rich­ly tex­tured and vivid­ly col­or­ful and based on tons of research. She is amaz­ing, and I am grate­ful to call her my friend.
Cather­ine asked for a pho­to of me with the book. Any­one who knows me knows I don’t like being pho­tographed, but duty called! So out to our lanai I went with my hus­band, Tim, in tow. 
Maha­lo to Hawai’i Pub­lic Radio for fea­tur­ing Kaho’o­lawe: The True Sto­ry of an Island and Her People! 

I believe that all voic­es deserve to be heard. Maha­lo to the Cen­ter for the Study of Mul­ti­cul­tur­al Chil­dren’s Lit­er­a­ture Best Books of 2025 List for includ­ing Kaho’o­lawe: The True Sto­ry of an Island and Her People!

Woohoo! I am so grate­ful that Kaho’o­lawe: The Sto­ry of an Island and Her Peo­ple is an NCTE Orbis Pic­tus Rec­om­mend­ed Book! Maha­lo nui to the NCTE for this honor!

We’re so excit­ed that KAHO’OLAWE: THE TRUE STORY OF AN ISLAND AND HER PEOPLE is on the New York Pub­lic Library Best Books 2025 List for Chil­dren’s Nonfiction! 

So very grate­ful that Kaho’o­lawe: The True Sto­ry of an Island and Her Peo­ple is on the School Library Jour­nal Best Books 2025 List for Non­fic­tion Elementary!