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A Story of Family, Land, and Legacy in Old Hawai'i
by Sara Kehaulani Goo
Set in one of the world's most beautiful landscapes, Kuleana is the story of an award-winning journalist's desire to hold on to her family's ancestral Hawaiian lands―and find herself along the way.
From an early age, Sara Kehaulani Goo has always been enchanted by her family's land in Hawai'i. The vast area along the rugged shores of Maui's east side―given by King Kamehameha III in 1848―extends from mountain to sea, encompassing sixty acres of lush, undeveloped rainforest jungle along the rocky coastline, and a massive 16th century temple with a mysterious past.
When a property tax bill arrives with a 500% increase, Sara and her family members are forced to make a decision about the property: fight to keep the land or sell to the next Mainland millionaire. As she returns to Maui and reconnects with her great Uncle Take, she uncovers the story of how much land her family has already lost over generations, sentries-old artifacts from the temple, and the insidious displacement of Native Hawaiians by systemic forces.
Part journalistic offering and part memoir, Kuleana interrogates deeper questions of identity, legacy, and what we owe to those who come before and after us. Sara's breathtaking story of unexpected homecomings, familial hardship, and fierce devotion to ancestry creates a refreshingly new narrative about Hawai'i, its native people, and their struggle to hold onto their land and culture today.
"[A] stirring debut memoir...Goo's heartrending saga serves as an urgent reminder that Indigenous culture is alive and braided with modern life, and that all Americans have a role in its survival." —Publishers Weekly
"A well-crafted work combining memoir, ethnography, history, and sharp-edged journalism." —Kirkus Reviews
"A powerful story of land, belonging, loss, and survival that challenges us all to think about what we are responsible for. Required reading for anyone who wants to understand the history of land in Hawaii―and for that matter, this land we now call the United States." ―Rebecca Nagle, bestselling author of By the Fire We Carry
"In her riveting memoir, Kuleana, journalist Sara Kehaulani Goo tells us more about the difficult past of one of the most beautiful places on earth than any history book can conjure. In it, a native Hawaiian family struggles to reclaim the ancestral lands that colonization, tourism, and rampant development threaten to overrun. A veteran reporter, Goo plumbs every aspect of this story, spooling an engrossing narrative that informs as much as it engages. It is at once a chilling and inspirational tale." ―Marie Arana, author of American Chica and LatinoLand
This information about Kuleana was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Sara Kehaulani Goo is a journalist and senior news executive who has led several news organizations including Axios, NPR and The Washington Post. She is the former editor-in-chief at Axios, where she launched the company's editorial expansion into national and local newsletters, podcasts and live journalism. Before Axios, she led online audience growth as a managing editor at NPR, overseeing the newsroom's digital news operation. Goo also served as news director at The Washington Post, where she also served as a business editor and reporter. Originally from Dana Point, California, she graduated from the University of Minnesota's journalism school. She lives in Washington, D.C.
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