“BEST BOOKS OF 2020” “This one’s a winner.” -- Kirkus"BEST BOOKS OF 2020" -- Mind Joggle“Riveting ... Perfect for history buffs.” -- Booklist"Highly recommended." -- Historical Novel SocietyHawaii, 1884. While the rest of the world is jubilantly expanding horizons, for Hawaiians it is the worst of times. Painful enough that they have already lost so much: their land, their rights — even their royalty are dying out. Now something else is taking the native population to the brink of collapse as another deadly disease — this, too brought by foreigners — is burning through the islands. Hawaiians and foreigners are divided to the core over what to do with those who, with no immunity, have contracted leprosy. Strangely enough, Hawaiians — in a manner almost unheard of around the world — don’t fear the disease like foreigners do. Instead, for the most part, they embrace those who have contracted the disease: “Our loved ones” they call them. Hawaiians typically want their lepers at home where they will be loved and can die with dignity. But foreigners make the laws in the late 1800’s in Hawaii, and they want the lepers gone — exiled to a small, remote peninsula on the island of Moloka’i. This is a gut-kick to the Hawaiians. Everything they cherish is slipping away, but this? Sick loved ones being torn from their arms? This they cannot bear. Quietly, spoken only in whispers, something else, too, is happening on all the islands. Most with the disease are sent away — but not all. Almost no reference of it will be made in history books or in stacks of historical archives: on all the islands, wrapped in a protective silence, some of those with the disease are being hidden. Some in caves and cane fields, others in lava tunnels. Some in backyard sheds. It’s a quiet underground…of sorts. This loving veil of silence was the only protection from the health authorities and the sheriff. A ruthless bounty hunter was paid ten dollars per leper…enough to buy a good pair of boots. In this painful and sadly true historical setting comes the tender fictional story of fifteen-year-old Mele Bennett, whose family must face their own heated conflict over this issue. Mele’s Hawaiian mother stands tall on the side of Hawaiians. “Without family,” she says,” we have nothing!” Mele’s white father is a physician who is adamant that “every last leper!” must be separated and sent to Moloka’i for the safety of the remaining Hawaiians: “If we don’t control this disease,” he says, “there won’t BE any families!” Mele longs for a moment that will define her. She wants a shiny moment, like when the firebrand is tossed over the cliff and lights up the night sky! But her moment is not shiny. She could not have foreseen the power of greed or the tenacity of hatred; the anguished secret of Keahi, the island boy she has loved since childhood — one tiny patch of discolored skin on a shoulder, and your life is pau, finished. The story of Mele and Keahi has as many facets as a gem, as many chambers as a heart. It is the story of young love, of a fragmented family finding itself anew even as betrayal nicks at its soul. Mele Bennett is the strong female character to step forward in such times. Her story reveals the best and the worst of humanity: our capacity for compassion and our penchant for cruelty. “Unless your heart is made of ice,” writes a reviewer, “you will likely enjoy this story.” Step into the unfolding of her world as only Mele can tell it: rich and painful and life-giving in this extraordinary period in Hawaiian history. "Running from Moloka’i" tells the untold story. Suitable for YA or adults. Read more
