Hawaiian History Month

Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen

By: Lili‘uokalani
Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
Length: 9 hours 52 minutes

In 1893, Liliuokalani, the Queen of Hawaii, was deposed and five years later her nation became an incorporated territory of the United States.

Published shortly after these momentous events, her book Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen is an incredibly personal history of the islands that she was born to rule. Liliuokalani covers from her birth in... Read more

Aloha Rodeo

Three Hawaiian Cowboys, the World's Greatest Rodeo, and a Hidden History of the American West

By: David Wolman & Julian Smith
Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
Length: 6 hours 15 minutes

In August 1908, three unknown riders arrived in Cheyenne, Wyoming, their hats adorned with wildflowers, to compete in the world’s greatest rodeo. Steer-roping virtuoso Ikua Purdy and his cousins Jack Low and Archie Ka’au’a had travelled 4,200 miles from Hawaii, of all places, to test themselves against the toughest riders in the West. Dismissed... Read more

Aloha Betrayed

Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism

By: Noenoe K. Silva
Narrated by: Kaipo Schwab
Length: 8 hours 57 minutes

In 1897, as a white oligarchy made plans to allow the United States to annex Hawai'i, native Hawaiians organized a massive petition drive to protest. Ninety-five percent of the native population signed the petition, causing the annexation treaty to fail in the US Senate.

This event was unknown to many contemporary Hawaiians until Noenoe K.... Read more

Shoal of Time

A History of the Hawaiian Islands

By: Gavan Daws
Narrated by: Kaipo Schwab
Length: 20 hours 41 minutes

The Hawaiian kingdom was tiny, and the big world was huge. The nineteenth century was the high water mark of Western imperialism, worldwide, and the great powers were planting their flags across the Pacific. Hawai'i was in their sights. By late in the century, two strong American currents were running, one east from the islands, one west from... Read more

Unfamiliar Fishes

By: Sarah Vowell
Narrated by: Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, John Hodgman, Catherine Keener, Edward Norton, Keanu Reeves, Paul Rudd, Maya Rudolph & John Slattery
Length: 7 hours 28 minutes

Sarah Vowell thinks of Hawaii as the most American state. She argues that it’s “breathtaking in its beauty, sometimes hideously developed, overwhelmingly religious, impoverished (except for pockets of staggering wealth), crass and spiritual all at once.” In Unfamiliar Fishes, she will explore the exceptional history of Hawaii with her personal... Read more

Sharks in the Time of Saviors

By: Kawai Strong Washburn
Narrated by: Tui Asau, G.K. Bowes, Kaleo Griffith & Jolene Kim
Length: 10 hours 37 minutes

“Night Marchers, gods, goddesses, and the dead all walk Hawaii with the Flores family, if only they can stop struggling to survive long enough to see them. At seven years old, Nainoa falls into the Pacific only to be brought back to his mother in the mouth of a shark, unharmed and now burdened with the rumor of legend. Noa struggles to... Read more

Lost Kingdom

Hawaii's Last Queen, the Sugar Kings, and America's First Imperial Adventure

By: Julia Flynn Siler
Narrated by: Joyce Bean
Length: 10 hours 54 minutes

The New York Times-bestselling author delivers "a riveting saga about Big Sugar flexing its imperialist muscle in Hawaii... A real gem of a book" (Douglas Brinkley, author of American Moonshot). Deftly weaving together a memorable cast of characters, Lost Kingdom brings to life the clash between a vulnerable Polynesian people and relentlessly... Read more

Kapaemahu

By: Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer & Joe Wilson
Narrated by: Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu
Length: 23 minutes

An Indigenous legend about how four extraordinary individuals of dual male and female spirit, or Mahu, brought healing arts from Tahiti to Hawaii, based on the Academy Award–contending short film.

In the 15th century, four Mahu sail from Tahiti to Hawaii and share their gifts of science and healing with the people of Waikiki. The islanders return... Read more

The Colony

The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai

By: John Tayman
Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
Length: 15 hours 19 minutes

In the bestselling tradition of In the Heart of the Sea, The Colony reveals the untold history of the infamous American leprosy colony on Molokai and of the extraordinary people who struggled to survive under the most horrific circumstances.

In 1866, twelve men and women and one small child were forced aboard a leaky schooner and cast away to a... Read more

Song of the Exile

By: Kiana Davenport
Narrated by: Cristine McMurdo-Wallis
Length: 16 hours 51 minutes

This beautiful and haunting novel bares the soul of a Hawaiian-American family during World War II. As you share in the Meahuna family's misfortunes and triumphs, a sense of intense intimacy evolves. Cristine McMurdo-Wallis lets you savor the family members' remarkable, heartwrenching stories as they are revealed piece by piece in language rich... Read more

Paddling My Own Canoe

A Solo Adventure On the Coast of Molokai

Patagonia

By: Audrey Sutherland
Narrated by: Mapuana Makia
Length: 3 hours 59 minutes

A Book for Connoisseurs of Wild Places of the EarthAn Epic Memoir of an Intrepid Solo Adventurer, a Woman Who Lived by the Philosophy "Go Simple, Go Solo, Go Now"

Go Simple, Go Solo, Go Now

In 1958, while flying from one island to another, Audrey Sutherland sees the remote and roadless northeast side of Molokai, with its spectacular sea cliffs and... Read more

A Song for the Stars

By: Ilima Todd
Narrated by: Justine Eyre
Length: 8 hours 7 minutes

Hawaiian Islands, 1779As the second daughter of a royal chief, Maile will be permitted to marry for love. Her fiancé is the best navigator in Hawaii, and he taught her everything he knows—how to feel the ocean, observe the winds, read the stars, and how to love.But when sailors from a strange place called England arrive on her island, a... Read more

The Last Aloha

A Novel

By: Gaellen Quinn
Narrated by: Jolene Kim
Length: 13 hours

How did Hawaii become part of America? This story, inspired by true events suppressed for nearly one hundred years, is the one James Michener never wrote. In 1886, Laura Jennings travels to Hawaii to live with missionary relatives. She imagines she’ll live in a grass hut, ministering to uncivilized natives. When she arrives in Honolulu, she’s... Read more

Juniors

By: Kaui Hart Hemmings
Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie
Length: 8 hours 54 minutes

Lea Lane has lived in between all her life.

Part Hawaiian, part Mainlander.  Perpetual new girl at school. Hanging in the shadow of her actress mother’s spotlight. And now: new resident of the prominent West family’s guest cottage.

Bracing herself for the embarrassment of being her classmates’ latest charity case, Lea is surprised when she starts... Read more

Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers

By: Sara Ackerman
Narrated by: Carly Robins & Devon Hales
Length: 10 hours 18 minutes

Hawaii, 1944. The Pacific battles of World War II continue to threaten American soil, and on the home front, the bonds of friendship and the strength of love are tested.

Violet Iverson and her young daughter, Ella, are piecing their lives together one year after the disappearance of her husband. As rumors swirl and questions about his loyalties... Read more

Airi Sano, Prankmaster General: New School Skirmish

AIRI SANO, PRANKMASTER GENERAL: Book #1

By: Zoe Tokushige
Narrated by: Sara Matsui-Colby
Length: 7 hours 35 minutes

A hilarious story of new-school hijinks, filled with friendship, family, and plenty of pranks--perfect for fans of Dork Diaries and Diary of a Wimpy Kid!

Meet Airi Sano. After spending her entire childhood moving from one military base to another, she's excited to be settling down for the long-term in Hawai'i. She's less excited about her new... Read more

Hawaiian

Proven Techniques to Learn and Speak Hawaiian

The Passport to Fluency Series

By: Made for Success
Narrated by: Made for Success
Length: 7 hours 49 minutes

Holiday in Honolulu? Meetings on Maui?Aloha, malihini*! You don’t have to be a stranger to the cultural rebirth of the language of the Hawaiian Islands. With this Passport to Fluency audio, you’ll bask in the language, culture, and spirit of Hawaiian, providing proficiency and insights you can use on the beach or in the boardroom. Unique in... Read more