Chris Sasaki

Julie Abery

swimming

The inspirational and little-known story of a dedicated teacher who coached Hawaiian swimmers all the way to the Olympics, beautifully told in simple rhyme.When the children of workers on a 1930s Maui sugar plantation were chased away from playing in the nearby irrigation ditches, local science teacher Soichi Sakamoto had an idea. He offered to take responsibility for the children — and then he began training them how to swim. Using his science background, Sakamoto devised his own innovative coaching techniques: he developed a strict practice regime for the kids, building their strength and endurance by using the ditch water’s natural current. The children worked hard under the dedicated Sakamoto’s guidance, and their skills improved. They formed a swim club and began to dominate in swimming events around the world. And then one day, the proud Sakamoto saw an impossible dream come true — Olympic gold!In a unique approach that makes for a moving read-aloud, Julie Abery uses limited rhyming text to tell the little-known story of Coach Sakamoto and the Three-Year Swim Club. The stunning art of award-winning and highly acclaimed Chris Sasaki perfectly complements the lyrical storytelling. This inspiring picture book offers excellent lessons in perseverance, believing in yourself and not letting others define you, while wonderfully capturing how one person can make a huge difference in the lives of others. In highlighting the team’s “bright and loud” presence at events, with their Hawaiian dress and ukulele, it also encourages children to take pride in their heritage and view it as a strength. An author’s note with photos and more information tell the fuller story of Soichi Sakamoto and his Three-Year Swim Club.

Sakamoto's Swim Club: How a Teacher Led an Unlikely Team to Victory

Ilima Loomis

Kenard Pak

Join the family, or ohana, as they farm taro for poi to prepare for a traditional luau celebration with a poetic text in the style of The House That Jack Built.**  

“This is the land that’s never been sold, where work the hands, so wise and old, that reach through the water, clear and cold, into the mud to pick the taro to make the poi for our ohana’s luau.”  

Acclaimed illustrator and animator Kenard Pak’s light-filled, dramatic illustrations pair exquisitely with Ilima Loomis’ text to celebrate Hawaiian land and culture.  

The backmatter includes a glossary of Hawaiian terms used, as well as an author’s note.

Ohana Means Family

Robert Quackenbush

World-famous duck-tective Miss Mallard unravels her most dangerous mystery yet in this engaging Aladdin QUIX mystery. While surfing in Hawaii, Miss Mallard launches into one of her most dangerous cases—one which involves the ownership of sacred land and leads to kidnapping, mistaken identities, bribery, blackmail, and death-defying chases.

Surfboard to Peril

Jennie Englund

In journal entries alternating between two timelines—before and after a tragic accident—this heartfelt coming-of-age story follows the year that changes one girl’s life forever. Before, Taylor Harper is finally popular, sitting with the cool kids at lunch, and maybe, just maybe, getting invited to the biggest, most exclusive party of the year. After, no one talks to her. Before, she’s friends with Brielle Branson, the coolest girl in school. After, Brielle has become a bully, and Taylor’s her favorite target. Before, home isn’t perfect, but at least her family is together. After, Mom won’t get out of bed, Dad won’t stop yelling, and Eli… Eli’s gone. Through everything, Taylor has her notebook, a diary of the year that one fatal accident tears her life apart. In entries alternating between the first and second semester of her eighth-grade year, she navigates joy and grief, gain and loss, hope and depression. How can Taylor pick up the pieces of what used to be her social life? How can her house ever feel like home again after everything that’s happened? And how can she move forward if she can’t stop looking back?

Taylor Before and After

Barbara Park

Denise Brunkus

Meet the World’s Funniest First Grader—Junie B. Jones! Junie B. and her family are going on a vacation to Hawaii! And ha! Mr. Scary is giving Junie a real, actual camera to keep a photo journal of her trip! But taking good vacation pictures is not always easy. ’Cause what if there is an unfortunate inner tube incident at the swimming pool? (And, oh my! Let’s not even mention what happens if a tropical bird gets tangled in your hair!) Will Junie B.’s vacation end up picture-perfect? Or will her trip to Hawaii be aloha-horrible?

Junie B. Jones: Aloha-ha-ha!

Mary Pope Osborne

Sal Murdocca

Catch the wave! That’s what Jack and Annie do when the Magic Tree House whisks them back to a Hawaiian island of long ago. They learn how to surf and have a great time—until strange things start happening. Jack and Annie soon discover the cause: A tidal wave is headed their way! Can they help save their new friends in time?

High Tide in Hawaii

Robert Louis Stevenson

Jacqueline Mair

In the magical South Seas, a man named Keawe buys a bottle that grants all wishes but condemns the owner to hell, but he soon discovers the redemptive power of love through his courtship of beautiful Kokua.

The Bottle Imp

Lois Lowry

From two-time Newbery medalist and living legend Lois Lowry comes a moving account of the lives lost in two of WWII’s most infamous events: Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima. With evocative black-and-white illustrations by SCBWI Golden Kite Award winner Kenard Pak.  Lois Lowry looks back at history through a personal lens as she draws from her own memories as a child in Hawaii and Japan, as well as from historical research, in this stunning work in verse for young readers. On the Horizon tells the story of people whose lives were lost or forever altered by the twin tragedies of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima. Based on the lives of soldiers at Pearl Harbor and civilians in Hiroshima, On the Horizon contemplates humanity and war through verse that sings with pain, truth, and the importance of bridging cultural divides. This masterful work emphasizes empathy and understanding in search of commonality and friendship, vital lessons for students as well as citizens of today’s world. Kenard Pak’s stunning illustrations depict real-life people, places, and events, making for an incredibly vivid return to our collective past.  In turns haunting, heartbreaking, and uplifting, On the Horizon will remind readers of the horrors and heroism in our past, as well as offer hope for our future.

On the Horizon

Matt Forsyth

Mayumi Shimose Poe

Pearl Harbor

survival stories

history

In 1941, thirteen-year-old Alice’s days are filled with swimming in the Hawaiian sea, going to school, and helping watch her younger siblings. But on December 7, everything changes when she experiences an act of war, the bombing of Pearl Harbor. As the United States enters World War II, Alice’s father is sent to a Japanese internment camp, leaving Alice and the rest of her family struggling to adjust to life without him. Featuring nonfiction support material, a glossary, and reader response questions, this Girls Survive story takes readers to one of history’s most important moments.

Alice on the Island: A Pearl Harbor Survival Story

Amy Novesky

Yuyi  Morales

Georgia O’Keeffe’s Hawaiian tour celebrates natural beauty and powerful artistic convictions.Georgia O’Keeffe was famous for painting exactly what she wanted, whether flowers or skulls. Who would ever dare to tell her what to paint? The Hawaiian Pineapple Company tried. Luckily for them, Georgia fell in love with Hawaii. There she painted the beloved green islands, vibrant flowers, feathered fishhooks, and the blue, blue sea. But did she paint what the pineapple company wanted most of all? Amy Novesky’s lyrical telling of this little-known story and Yuyi Morales’s gorgeous paintings perfectly capture Georgia’s strong artistic spirit. The book includes an author’s note, illustrator’s note, bibliography, map of the islands, and endpapers that identify Georgia’s favorite Hawaiian flowers.

Georgia in Hawaii: When Georgia O'Keeffe Painted What She Pleased

The Magic School Bus is back and in the Branches line!This series is part of Scholastic’s early chapter book line called Branches, which is aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!Seatbelts, everyone! The Magic School Bus is back and ready to ride again. Professor Frizzle’s kid sister Fiona might be the new teacher at Walkerville Elementary, but she’s got the same old motto: take chances, make mistakes, and get messy! When the class decides to go to Hawaii for their latest fieldtrip, they think they’re in for rest, relaxation, and riding the waves. But when Wanda tries to save an endangered fish from a giant shark, its Wanda that needs saving. Luckily her own class learns something from a totally different type of school–fish!

Sink or Swim

On their vacation to Hawaii, the Aldens learn about the curse of the black pearl. But whenever they ask to hear the whole story, no one will talk about it. Can the Boxcar Children find out the secret behind the curse?

The Black Pearl Mystery

James Patterson

James Patterson’s bestselling Maximum Ride series is back, with Max and the gang as The Protectors. Someone–or some”thing-“-is decimating ships and sea life off Hawaii’s coast, and Max and her flock find themselves sucked into the Navy’s top-secret investigation of the catastrophe. Their objective: Rescue Max’s activist mom from a wicked subterranean enemy. The hitch: They must dive deep into dark waters, where gruesome evil dwells… and for high-flying Maximum Ride, could there be “anything” more terrifying than being trapped in the great abyss? Now in paperback, this soaring new adventure takes Maximum Ride and the Flock into terrifying new territory–fans, hold your breath! “”

Max: A Maximum Ride Novel

Jonathan London

Frank Remkiewicz

Perennial favorite Froggy says “Aloha!” in this great beachy read! The bestselling Froggy is back in another adventure! This time he’s off to sunny Hawaii, where his trip, of course, doesn’t go quite as planned. From surfing and swimming to learning how to dance the hula, this lovable frog brings trouble wherever he goes.

Froggy Goes to Hawaii

70 years later, the bombing of Pearl Harbor comes to life for a new generation of readers! History’s most terrifying moments are brought vividly to life in the action-packed fictional I SURVIVED series! Do you have what it takes to survive … the bombing of Pearl Harbor? Eleven-year-old Danny Crane is alone on his favorite beach in Hawaii when the world is torn apart and World War II officially hits the United States. Does he have what it takes to find his way home in the midst of the bombs, the smoke, and the destruction of the day that will live in infamy?

I Survived the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941

Join Thea Stilton and the Thea Sisters in this adventure packed with mystery and friendship!The Thea Sisters are in Hawaii to compete in an international hula festival. The mouselets are having a great time – until they learn that the festival is located on the side of a volcano that is about to erupt! No one else seems know about the danger. The Thea Sisters don’t have any time to lose!

Thea Stilton and the Legend of the Fire Flowers

Geronimo Stilton

When you’re with Geronimo Stilton, it’s always a fabumouse adventure!The most famouse goldsmith in Hawaii created a necklace for a famous actress, but someone wants to steal it! Can Geronimo figure out who the thief is before they run away with the jewels?

The Hawaiian Heist

Bill Nye

Gregory Mone

New York Times–bestselling authors Bill Nye the Science Guy and Gregory Mone take middle-grade readers on a scientific adventure in Book 2 of the exciting new Jack and the Geniuses series. The series combines real-world science along with a mysterious adventure that will leave kids guessing until the end, making the books ideal for STEM education. In the second installment, In the Deep Blue Sea, Jack, his genius siblings Ava and Matt, and inventor Dr. Hank Witherspoon travel to the Hawaiian island home of Ashley Hawking, a technology billionaire. Hawking and engineer Rosa Morris have built a revolutionary electricity plant that harvests energy from the deep ocean, but someone has been sabotaging the project. In their search for the culprit, Jack and crew navigate an unusual world of characters and suspects, including Hawking and her obnoxiously intelligent son, Steven; a family of surfers who accuse the billionaire of trespassing on sacred land; an ex–Navy SEAL with a fondness for cat photos; and a cigar-chomping man who calls himself the Air-Conditioning King of Hawaii. Readers will learn about the mysteries of the deep ocean, the scientific process, and the potential of green energy as Jack and his brilliant siblings use all their brainpower to survive. Integrating real science facts with humor and suspense and featuring a multiethnic cast of boy and girl characters, this engaging series is an irresistible combination for middle-grade readers. With easy-to-read language presented in a fun and accessible way, these books are great for both inquisitive kids and reluctant readers. In the Deep Blue Sea: Jack and the Geniuses Book 2 includes information about the science discussed and used to solve the mystery, as well as a cool project that kids can do at home or in the classroom.

In the Deep Blue Sea

A first comic for brand-new readers! Award-winning cartoonist R. Kikuo Johnson transports young readers to the lush tropical shores of his native Hawaii where Nanaue has to balance his yearning for Dad’s guidance with his desire for Mom’s nurture.  Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards.  Beginning Readers is an imprint of Spotlight, a division of ABDO.

The Shark King

Tim J Myers

Daryl Arakaki

When two proud fish of different species marry and have a baby fish, an argument erupts over what to name the child. The new parents learn to work together and teach young readers about cooperation and compromise.