Dia's Story Cloth
APA Citation:
Cha, D., Cha, C., & Cha, N. T. (1996). Dia's story cloth. New York: Lee & Low Books.
Annotation:
Published to widespread acclaim in hardcover, "Dia's Story Cloth" tells the tale of a young girl and her family's displacement during the war in Laos and Vietnam. The Hmong people's search for freedom is depicted on a colorful story cloth.
Author Information:
DIA CHA is an instructor at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota, where she teaches courses in cultural anthropology and Hmong culture and history.
Awards:
N/A
Target Audiences: Juvenile Adult, ages 6-15
Genre: NonFiction
Interest: Laotian history, Hmong culture, refugee, survival sorry
Honu
APA Citation:
Coste, M., & Gray, C. (1993). Honu. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Annotation:
Recounts the life cycle of a Hawaiian green turtle, including the threats from nature and humanity.
Author Information:
Coste was born in New Jersey and spent a happy childhood on the beaches near Asbury Park. She lived in many different parts of the country during her 26 years as a Coast Guard wife before her family moved to Hawaii in 1982. She has always loved learning about animals and natural history, and she draws on her background in teaching and museum education to convey this love to a new generation.
Awards: N/A
Target Audience: ages 5-11
Genre: Non-fiction
Interest: environmental concerns, culture, animals and mythology.
Taming the Tanawha
APA Citation:
Tipene, T., & Campbell, H. (2001). Taming the taniwha. Wellington, N.Z.: Huia.
Annotation:
Tama is being bullied by a nasty taniwha who happens to inhabit his local classroom. At a loss for solutions, he goes to his family for ideas. The story follows Tama as he tries out the suggestions and faces the taniwha.
Author Information:
TIM TIPENE developed Warrior Kids in 1994. Tim is a qualified martial arts instructor who has accumulated a total of 12 Dan Black Belt ranks. He is a youth and self-defense counselor, as well as the award-winning author of children's picture books and junior novels including Kura Toa: Warrior School, Bullies and Warrior, Haere Jack Haere and Taming the Taniwha. Tim is also a trustee of the Storylines Children's Literature Foundation.
Awards: N/A
Target Audience: PreK- 6th grade
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Interest: Maori culture, mythology, emotions, bullying
Cheap Meat
APA Citation:
Gewertz, D. B., & Errington, F. K. (2010). Cheap meat: Flap food nations in the pacific islands. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Annotation:
Cheap Meat follows the controversial trade in inexpensive fatty cuts of lamb or mutton, called "flaps," from the farms of New Zealand and Australia to their primary markets in the Pacific islands of Papua New Guinea, Tonga, and Fiji. Deborah Gewertz and Frederick Errington address the evolution of the meat trade itself along with the changing practices of exchange in Papua New Guinea. They show that flaps—which are taken from the animals’ bellies and are often 50 percent fat—are not mere market transactions but evidence of the social nature of nutrition policies, illustrating and reinforcing Pacific Islanders’ presumed second-class status relative to the white populations of Australia and New Zealand.
Author Information:
Deborah Gewertz and Frederick Errington are both Cultural Anthropologist with focused studies in Papua New Guinea.
Awards: N/A
Target Audience: Young Adult to Adult
Genre: Nonfiction/ Informational text
Interest: Culture impact of food, white privilege, and Pacific Island trade markets
The Pipi Swing
APA Citation:
APA Citation:
Aiono-Iosefa, S., & Dunn, S. (2004). Two cans of corned beef and a manulele in a mango tree: A Pacific Christmas. Auckland: Reed.
Annotation:
A Pasifika adaptation of the traditional Christmas song, “The 12 days of Christmas”, this book features all things Pacific, including fire dancers, drummers, hula, chiefs, weaving, lavalavas, jandals, tapa, frangipani, corned beef, and a manulele in a mango tree. It is beautifully illustrated using bold lines and colour prints of Pacific icons. This book was nominated because of its “Pacific flavour” and appealing illustrations.
Author Information:
Sarona Aiono-Iosefa is a Christchurch-born Samoan. She has a Certificate in Journalism and Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, and currently works as a senior writer for Health Education Trust.
Awards:
N/A
Target Audience: PreK-3rd grade
Genre: Picture book
Interest: Pacific Island culture, traditions across cultures, realistic illustrations
The Girl in the Moon Circle
APA Citation:
Figiel, S. (1996). The girl in the moon circle. Suva, Fiji: Mana Publications.
Annotation:
The Girl in the Moon Circle, like the cover drawing, shows Samoan life through the eyes of a ten-year-old girl called Samoana. Though young, Samoana is perceptive, not much escapes her analysis. She tells us about school, church, friends, family violence, having refrigerators and television for the first time, Chunky cat food, a Made-in-Taiwan Jesus, pay day, cricket, crushes on boys, incest, legends and many other things. Her observations offer a compelling look at Samoan society.
Author Information:
Sia Figiel is a contemporary Samoan novelist, poet, and painter. Sia Figiel grew up amidst traditional Samoan singing and poetry, which heavily influenced her writing.
Awards:
N/A
Target Audience: Adolescent and Young Adult. Ages 8-12
Genre: Fiction
Interest: Samoan culture, coming of age, prose
Tales of the Tikongs
APA Citation:
Hauʹofa, E. (1994). Tales of the Tikongs. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Annotation:
Tiko, a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean, faces a tidal wave of D-E-V-E-L-O-P-M-E-N-T, which threatens to demolish ancestral ways and the human spirit. From Sione, who prefers to play cards with his secretary during work hours, to Ole Pasifikiwei, who masters the twists and turns of international funding games, all of the characters in these pages are seasoned surfers, capable of riding the biggest wave to shore. These are not stories of fatal impact so much as upbeat tales of indigenous responses to cultural and economic imperialism. Epeli Hauofa uses devices derived from oral storytelling to create a South Pacific voice that is lucid, hilarious, and compassionate in a work that has long been regarded as a milestone in Pacific literature.
Author Information:
Epeli Hauʻofa was a Fiji Islander writer and anthropologist of Tongan descent. He was born in what was then the Territory of Papua.
Awards:
No awards
Target Audience: Young Adult
Genre: Fictional short strories
Interest:
Short stories, Fiji culture, surfing, impacts of development on culture in the Pacific Islands.
Sons of the Return Home
APA Citation:
Wendt, A. (1973). Sons for the return home. Auckland: Longman Paul.
Annotation:
This text is the story of a cross-racial romance between a Samoan student at Auckland University, the son of migrant parents, and the daughter of a wealthy palagi family.
Author Information:
Samoan-born Albert Wendt was working as a teacher in Samoa when he wrote the autobiographical Sons for the Return Home, first published in 1973. This was his first book.
Awards:
It was an instant bestseller and was later made into a successful movie.
Target Audience: Young adult
Genre: Autobiographical
Interest: Cultural diversity, Samoan mirror, Coming of age story, romance, interracial relationships.
