num_pages: 200
description: ﻿In School for Hawaiian Girls, first-time novelist Georgia KaÂ’apuni McMillen chronicles the inner workings of a native-Hawaiian family overcoming poverty to achieve wealth and independence. This tale of rags-to-riches is uniquely rendered as the author peels back the story of heroism and self-sacrifice. Underneath, she reveals a deep wound that plagues this family as it binds it together in secrecy, the 1922 murder of their 16-year-old sister, Lydia. While most murder mysteries grapple with whodunit, School for Hawaiian Girls focuses on the surviving siblingsÂ’ struggle with the first mystery presented, how to go on living after the murder. With an unflinching eye, the author follows the familyÂ’s decision to stop speaking of Lydia and its tragic consequence over the next two generations. This leads to the second mystery, how they might remember Lydia and who they were - and learn to understand who they have become. What is the cost of forgetting? What is the value of remembering? These questions are at the heart of this debut work.
language: English
title: School for Hawaiian Girls
titlecomplete: School for Hawaiian Girls
genres: Fiction
ratings_count: 40
publisher: Permanent Pr Pub Co