Healing WaterAges: 10 and up Grades: 6–9 Pages: 208 List Price: 17.95 Cover: Hardcover Published: 4/1/2008 ISBN: 1-59078-514-2 ISBN-13: 978-1-59078-514-0 |
Nineteenth-century Hawai i. Thirteen-year-old Pia’s life is forever changed by leprosy. Pia has never known his real father. But Kamaka, a family friend, has taught him how to work, explore, and take on physical challenges. Pia believes Kamaka is fearless. He never suspects that a time will come when Kamaka could actually be afraid of him. Neither does he expect his own body to betray him, or his government to tear him from his family and send him into exile. When Pia finds himself abandoned on Moloka‘i, in Hawai‘i’s leprosy settlement, he turns to the skills he learned from Kamaka to help him survive. But the conditions are harsh. Pia discovers that he must choose between lawlessness and aloha, revenge and forgiveness, his own willfulness and the example of someone worthy of being like a father. This fictional account was inspired by the experiences of the many Hawaiians who were sent to Moloka‘i’s isolated Kalaupapa peninsula starting in 1866 and by the life of Father Damien deVeuster, who chose to live and work there in the late 1800s. The author conducted extensive research, working with experts and visiting the leprosy settlement. Reviews
"For readers who’ve only ever imagined Hawai‘i as a vacation paradise, this is a riveting look into its history and people during a dark period. ... The portrait of Father Damien, the Belgian priest who dedicates his life to helping the villagers, is rendered so compassionately (and realistically)...he reminds the people of the values they carry inside them already, and draws them away from the despair and grief that have temporarily kept them from helping and caring for each other. ...[R]eaders will find their compassion stirred and their interest piqued through this truly fine historical novel." "Hostetter's meticulous research on the history of the leprosy settlement results in a believable account of what it must have been like to be a leper at the Kalawao settlement around the 1870s and 1880s. She provides a good bibliography of resources plus information about leprosy. ... This well-written novel offers teens an interesting perspective of Hawaiian history through Pia's first-person narrative, but it is also a story about anger, reconciliation, and acceptance." |
"This interesting and compelling read on an infrequently written-about topic will find an appropriate audience in a middle or a high school setting. Highly Recommended."