history

Last Fri­day illus­tra­tor Hari­nani Orme and I had the coolest school vis­it! Maha­lo to Pearl Ridge Ele­men­tary school librar­i­an Lori Tona­ki for invit­ing us to share the book with the school’s four class­es of fourth graders. The stu­dents were the per­fect audi­ence — atten­tive and  curi­ous. Librar­i­ans have always been my heroes, and Ms. Tona­ki is the kind of cre­ative and sup­port­ive school librar­i­an every child deserves.

What a bunch of aka­mai kids! They asked the best, most thought­ful ques­tions — like why I like to write non-fic­tion and what the hard­est thing about being a writer is. They asked Hari­nani when she knew she want­ed to be an artist and what inspires her to cre­ate her illus­tra­tions. It was so fun for us to inter­act with these bright, thought­ful students.

We hand­ed out col­or­ing pages (maha­lo, Hari!) and book­marks to thank the kids for being with us that day. 

Please enjoy these pho­tos of the event. We took so many more pho­tos with the kids, but I’m just includ­ing just a cou­ple for you here (to pro­tect the their pri­va­cy.) Aloha!

Pho­to cred­it: Lori Tonaki

On Sat­ur­day Feb­ru­ary 8, 2025, we held an epic book launch pāʻi­na — par­ty. Our host was the won­der­ful Native Books, a Native Hawai­ian owned book­shop locat­ed in the His­toric Chi­na­town Dis­trict in Hon­olu­lu. Thank to own­er Maile Mey­er and her staff, espe­cial­ly Kūakoloa Robin­son, the event was mag­i­cal. The space was filled with so much alo­ha, thanks to our many fam­i­ly and friends. 

Illus­tra­tor Hari­nani Orme and I are so thank­ful for all of your sup­port. We are thrilled that more kids will learn the true sto­ry of Kahoʻo­lawe and how the lit­tle island and her peo­ple con­tin­ue to thrive today. Please enjoy these pho­tos of the event. Maha­lo nui!

Protests about the build­ing of huge astro­nom­i­cal tele­scopes at the sum­mit Mau­na Kea have been going on for decades. They’ve only recent­ly been brought into focus because of the planned Thir­ty Meter Tele­scope. As descen­dants of the ear­li­est Poly­ne­sian voy­agers, the kana­ka ʻoi­wi have always under­stood the impor­tance of astron­o­my. But for a peo­ple who have long suf­fered the loss of their coun­try and auton­o­my, des­e­cra­tion of their sacred moun­tain and the nat­ur­al envi­ron­ment must end. 

As seen through the lens of Kai Markell, Native Hawai­ian activist, pho­tog­ra­ph­er, and attor­ney at the Office of Hawai­ian Affairs, this col­lec­tion of pho­tographs, Ka Poʻe Kiaʻi (the guardians and pro­tec­tors of Mau­na Kea), doc­u­ments one of the largest protests held at var­i­ous loca­tions in Hon­olu­lu. Whether  attend­ing a ral­ly at ʻIolani Palace with their fam­i­lies, meet­ing with offi­cials from the Office of Hawai­ian Affairs, or hold­ing a sign all alone at a street cor­ner, these poʻe kiaʻi feel deeply that their mes­sage must be heard.

Itʻs 2022 — sev­en years after this col­lec­tion was first pub­lished a Pūpū A ʻO Ewa — we are still fighting.