Written by Heather Gale
Illustrated by Mika Song
(Tundra, 2019)
There is much we’re learning about gender identity. If it’s confusing and maybe overwhelming for adults, imagine what it’s like for a child, born in a body representing a particular gender and yet feeling it’s not the right fit. The feeling is not a passing curiosity; it stays with the child, a persistent thought. Who do you talk to? How do you explore this seeming mismatch? Imagine, too, what it’s like for a friend of this person. How do they ask questions, understand and support?
Picture books can help us all begin to process things we may have never considered. They can help children who feel they don’t belong suddenly feel connected. That character is like me! It’s even more satisfying to find a book about gender identity that is told in a culturally diverse setting.
Heather Gale’s Hoʿonani: Hula Warrior addresses the grays of gender within the context of Hawaiian culture. The story’s main character, Hoʿonani, is based on a real person, Hoʿonani Kamai, raised in Honolulu. While “girl” is wahine in Hawaiian and boy is kāne, “[s]he preferred just Hoʿonani.” The book notes that, in traditional Hawaiian culture, māhū people “embraced both feminine and masculine traits” and had a role “as healers and as caretakers and teachers of ancient traditions.”
Hoʿonani’s
mentor
is Kumu Hina, another
real
person
whom we’re
told
in the
author’s
note
is
a Hawaiian cultural practitioner and the
first
transgender
candidate
to
run for state
office
in
the
U.S.
(Based
on
how the
book
is written,
both Hoʿonani
and Kumu identify
with female
pronouns.)
It is Kumu who announces
that, as part of a high school cultural event,
the
kāne
(boys)
will peform
a traditional hula chant. Hoʿonani
is neither
a boy nor in high school, yet
she
wants
to try out and Kumu encourages
her
to do so. To be
accepted,
Hoʿonani
must be
strong
and convincing in her
warrior stance,
in
her
movement
and in
her
delivery
of the
chant.
Not only is she
accepted,
she
is
selected
as the
leader.
This book is based on the twenty-five-minute PBS documentary A Place in the Middle. It’s worth watching after reading the book to gain more context and to see that this story is not simply a fairy tale version of reality. Truthfully, I felt Kumu Hina came off as a bit too stern, perhaps even harsh, in the documentary, but seeing Hoʿonani on video will be especially worthwhile to convey to children how utterly normal she is. This is important since children may feel awkward in understanding who Hoʿonani based only on two-dimensional drawings in a picture book.
For opening minds about gender and Hawaiian culture, Hoʿonani: Hula Warrior is a worthwhile read.
