This coming-of-age fiction is a tribute to love, truth, and fighting for what’s right. It’s set in an evocative and historic Hawai’i, both mythical and familiar. Readers who enjoy literary novels, grounded fantasy, and book club fiction will relish Dawn Akemi’s triumphant story.

“Justice is never a zero-sum game,” said Amy’s dad.

It’s 1974, and the newest state in the Union is fast Americanizing Hawai’i. Hapa haole (biracial) Amy is ecstatic about reaching puberty and eager to grow up.

The free love movement led her to assume that sex was vital to satisfy her hunger for love and belonging. In seeking to understand her sexuality, she gets in over her head with her Micronesian Uncle Joaquin.

Meanwhile, Enki, a mongoose-shaped trickster god, arrives to tell Amy that she’s spiritually connected to Kumulipo, an imperiled spirit world hidden in the mountains behind her home. She decides to save Kumulipo by preventing the destruction of a heiau (ancient Hawaiian temple) by her grandfather's (Tutu) land development hui (company).

Amy discovers that Kumulipo’s spirits live with a trading system that mirrors the racial conflicts and inequities of Tutu’s childhood. His Japanese parents’ lives as contract laborers (almost slaves) for Caucasian sugar kings made Tutu bitter, ambitious, and greedy. Amy must overcome this to save the heiau before it’s too late.

Through it all, Amy learns the lessons of pono (righteousness) and aloha (love) and what growing up means.

Published by RJR Press