{"id":46200,"date":"2026-09-21T22:06:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T02:06:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=46200"},"modified":"2026-09-21T22:06:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T02:06:34","slug":"review-of-kahoolawe-by-kamalani-hurley-and-harinani-orme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=46200","title":{"rendered":"Review of Kaho’olawe, by Kamalani Hurley and Harinani Orme"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Kaho’olawe<\/p>\n

The True Story of an Island and Her People<\/em><\/p>\n

written by Kamalani Hurley
\nillustrated by Harinani Orme<\/p>\n

Millbrook Press, 2025. 32 pages.
\nReview written February 4, 2026, from a library eaudiobook.
\nStarred Review
\n2026 Asian\/Pacific American Literature Pasifika Picture Book Award Winner<\/p>\n

I read this book because it won the Asian\/Pacific American Literature Pasifika Picture Book Award – and I wasn’t prepared to learn a story that’s completely new to me.<\/p>\n

It turns out, there’s an island named Kaho’olawe in the middle of the Hawaiian Islands that was used for target practice by the U. S. Navy for over fifty years, beginning the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked.<\/p>\n

But this book doesn’t start with that. It begins when the island was formed, and tells us about early settlers and abundant growth on the island. And it tells how, even before the bombs, bringing goats to the island devastated its natural habitat.<\/p>\n

Twenty years after the U. S. military took over the island, people started protesting. Many pages of the book are taken up with their brave and peaceful protests to restore and heal the island.<\/p>\n

But when the military moves out,
\nit leaves a terrible mess behind!<\/p>\n

Debris from the bombings litters the land
\nwhere plants and grasses used to grow.
\nKaho’olawe’s reefs are covered in red dirt, and
\nmarine animals and plants struggle to live there.<\/p>\n

Kaho’olawe endures.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The book goes on to tell us about the volunteers who lovingly are still working to restore the island.<\/p>\n

There’s a lot of love and hope in this book, with facts backing it all up in smaller print. An inspiring winner.<\/p>\n

kamalanihurley.com<\/a>
\nharinani.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Nonfiction\/kahoolawe.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

Subscribe<\/a> for more reviews and talk about books.<\/p>\n

Join the conversation: What did you think of this book?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kaho’olawe The True Story of an Island and Her People written by Kamalani Hurley illustrated by Harinani Orme Millbrook Press, 2025. 32 pages. Review written February 4, 2026, from a library eaudiobook. Starred Review 2026 Asian\/Pacific American Literature Pasifika Picture Book Award Winner I read this book because it won the Asian\/Pacific American Literature Pasifika […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,12,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-childrens-nonfiction-review","category-history","category-starred-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46200"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46977,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46200\/revisions\/46977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}