Kealaula
When Kealaula and her little sister Virgilia are sent to Hawaiʻi Island to learn the secret strand of their mother's story, and by extension their own, she learns much more than the origin of her own name. "Part bear and part trout," as her father calls her, Vermont-born Kealaula forms indestructible bonds with her cousin Nalu and Melody and George Nunes, whose friendship teaches her how a person can be two things at once without being less of either. She has always known that Ke Ala Ula was "the red way," or the path that the sun blazes on the ocean when it sets, but in Waimea she learns that it denotes that same blazing pathway...when the sun is rising over the water. Full of endings and beginnings, Kealaula is a coming-of-age story about growing up, opening up, and letting go.
Reviews
Kealaula reminds all of us who straddle two worlds: it is the two that make us strong and it is the two that make us whole. It is a resonating tale of family and place and our undeniable connection to both, no matter where our lives take us. A timeless accounting of the spiritual connection one will always have to their homeland and ancestors and of the genealogical obligation of all people to their origins. It brings to focus the strength that one can draw from knowing who they are and where they come from and honors the process of self-discovery. May the words on these pages empower all people, young and old, to embrace their identity wholeheartedly and welcome it into their life journey.
~Pualani Lincoln Maielua, ‘Aukai Makali’i (Hawaiian canoe voyager) and Hawaiian Studies Instructor, Hawaiʻi Island
In Kealaula, I found myself taken to a place of familiarity. Being “hapa,” born to a pure Hawaiian father and a haole mother, I felt as if Kim was writing about me, about my life, my internal struggles that I alone harbored in ‘protective mode.’ As I watched Kealaula grow, it helped me to reflect on my personal time of coming into my own and then to peer into the hearts of my own children as they navigate their own journeys. I will gift this book to as many as I can, as that’s exactly what it is for me…a gift.
~Kuʻulei Keakealani, Writer and Cultural Director of Hui Aloha Kīholo