Showing results by narrator "Jolene Kim" in All Categories

How did Hawaii become part of America? This story, inspired by true events suppressed for nearly 100 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 locals. When she arrives in Honolulu, she’s surprised to find her relatives are among the wealthy elite plotting to overthrow the Hawaiian monarchy. And the Hawaiians have developed a charming and prosperous Victorian kingdom.

In 1995 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on a rare family vacation, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls overboard a cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean. When a shiver of sharks appears in the water, everyone fears for the worst. But instead, Noa is gingerly delivered to his mother in the jaws of a shark, marking his story as the stuff of legends. Nainoa’s family, struggling amidst the collapse of the sugarcane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favor from ancient Hawaiian gods - a belief that appears validated after he exhibits puzzling new abilities.

At the age of 16, in a nationwide selection for royal consorts, Cixi was chosen as one of the emperor's numerous concubines. When he died in 1861, their five-year-old son succeeded to the throne. Cixi at once launched a palace coup against the regents appointed by her husband and made herself the real ruler of China - behind the throne, literally, with a silk screen separating her from her officials who were all male.

Edie is done with crime. Eight years behind bars changes a person—costs them too much time with too many of the people who need them most. And it’s all Angel’s fault. She sold Edie out in what should have been the greatest moment of their lives. Instead, Edie was shipped off to the icy prison planet spinning far below the soaring skybridges and neon catacombs of Kepler space station—of home—to spend the best part of a decade alone. But then a chance for early parole appears out of nowhere and Edie steps into the pallid sunlight to find none other than Angel waiting—and she has an offer.

Jiang Ying Yue assumed her kidnapping was random, that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. After all, who would want to harm her? But then her rescuer - a charismatic former soldier who takes her breath away - uncovers a traitor in her father's organization. Now, Ying Yue realizes that she's become a pawn in a dangerous game, and her kidnapper won't be satisfied until she disappears for good. Zu Anyanwu's work with Search and Protect and his canine partner Buck have always been his first priority...until he's tasked with keeping Ying Yue safe.

Progressing from the 1960s to the turbulent present, the novel begins on the island of O’ahu and centers on Ana, abandoned by her mother as a child. Raised by her extended family on the “lawless” Wai’anae coast, west of Honolulu, Ana, against all odds, becomes a physician. While tending victims of Hurricane ‘Iniki on the neighboring island of Kaua’i, she meets Nikolai, a Russian filmmaker with a violent and tragic past, who can confront reality only through his unique prism of lies. Yet he is dedicated to recording the ecological horrors in his motherland.

Beginning with the fateful meeting of a 19th-century Yankee sailor and the runaway daughter of a Tahitian chief, and sweeping over a century and a half of passionate, turbulent Hawaiian history, Shark Dialogues takes its place as the first novel to do justice to the rich heritage and cruel conflicts of the beautiful and beleaguered islands and their people.

Audie Award, Multi-Voiced Performance, 2016. The year is 2575, and two rival mega-corporations are at war over a planet that's little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra - who are barely even talking to each other - are forced to fight their way onto one of the evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

Ssukgat, or Chrysanthemum greens, are treasured in Korean culture for their healing abilities. You can coax its withered stalks to bloom again, with sun, water, soil, and care. It’s a fitting metaphor for eco-entrepreneur and CEO Michelle Jungmin Bang, who found herself in excruciating pain due to the constant sacrificing of her health and wellness for work—a trade many of us make daily. Thus started her fascinating journey to overhaul her health and reconnect with her heritage in South Korea.

Liv. Reese. Faith. Yes, they are plus-size, curvy, thick, whatever. Point is, they are past sick of society’s relentless body shaming defining them. Liv slays in dance classes, where she shakes off her frustrations as a struggling writer. Introverted Reese avoids “taking up too much space” by staying in the background as Liv’s sidekick. And while diva-cold professional dancer Faith aces countless auditions, she’s “too big” for starring roles. At the end of their respective ropes, all it takes is one more insult … for Liv to suddenly have an idea that will unite them all.

Best-selling author Kiana Davenport (The Spy Lover, Shark Dialogues) is pleased to offer a special-edition bundle, featuring the first three volumes of her prize-winning Pacific stories, many of which have appeared in the O. Henry Awards, the Pushcart Prizes, and The Best American Short Stories. Set across the Pacific, in islands where the author has traveled and lived, the stories comprise tales of love, lust, racism, family, murder, rape, the search for identity, and the universal search for human dignity.

After accidentally wishing on a family heirloom to hear what boys are thinking, Clara wakes up the next day able to do just that. Every idea, every worry, every generous or petty thought crossing their minds—somehow, they now form a chorus of voices in hers. But why couldn’t her newfound powers have arrived sooner? Then, maybe, she could have stopped her ex–best friend Leo from betraying her and ditching her for the more popular kids. At least her dad is open to the idea of moving her off O‘ahu and out to Arizona to be with him.

In 1995 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores is saved from drowning by a shiver of sharks. His family, struggling to make ends meet amidst the collapse of the sugar cane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favour from ancient Hawaiian gods. But as time passes, this hope gives way to economic realities, forcing Nainoa and his siblings to seek salvation across the continental United States, leaving behind home and family.

A fascinating mystery featuring Ladarat Patalung, the first and only nurse detective in Thailand. As a nurse ethicist, Ladarat Patalung works to save the lives of her patients, and to make sure the ones she can't save have at least the dignity of a "good death". But when wealthy foreign travelers start to go missing all across Thailand, Detective Wiriya Mookjai fears that a killer is at large and turns to Ladarat for help.

As a child, horses consumed Halimah Marcus' imagination. When she wasn't around horses she was pretending to be one, cantering on two legs, hands poised to hold invisible reigns. To her classmates, girls like Halimah were known as "horse girls," weird and overzealous. Decades later, when memes about "horse girl energy" began appearing across social media, Halimah reluctantly recognized herself. The stereotypical horse girl is also white, thin, rich, and straight, a daughter of privilege. Yet so many riders don't fit this narrow, damaging ideal.

Moving beyond the quasi-fraternal bond of the unforgettable George and Lenny from Of Mice and Men, Hurt You explores the actual sibling bond of Georgia and Leonardo da Vinci Daewoo Kim, who has an unnamed neurological disability that resembles autism. The themes of race, disability, and class spin themselves out in a suburban high school where the Kim family has moved in order to access better services for Leonardo.

The King of Tresterville is a tyrant and no one has felt his wrath more than his music-loving daughter Lilinova. When the Dark Duke, the mysterious ruler of a neighboring kingdom, invades Tresterville, Lilinova is accidentally killed in her father’s place, learning a terrible truth and catching a glimpse of the Dark Duke himself before she dies. Except somehow, Lilinova wakes up from death, three days before the start of the Dark Duke’s siege. Armed with this knowledge, she disguises herself as a traveling musician, steals a horse, and rides off.

Edie is done with crime. Eight years in prison changes a person. Particularly when you're only there because your partner, your best friend, your all-but-sister, sold you down the river. Even getting Edie out on early parole doesn't earn Angel any forgiveness. That's why Edie knows they'll turn down Angel's offer of a job. One last, big score. A chance to take down the man who put them away: Joyce Atlas.

In 1995 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores is saved from drowning by a shiver of sharks. His family, struggling to make ends meet amidst the collapse of the sugar cane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favour from ancient Hawaiian gods. But as time passes, this hope gives way to economic realities, forcing Nainoa and his siblings to seek salvation across the continental United States, leaving behind home and family.

For centuries, Korean families have shared wellbeing wisdom with loved ones, like gifted heirlooms passed down from generation to generation, to prevent and treat early illness. The idea is to stop symptoms before they become chronic, taking inspiration from the ssukgat, or chrysanthemum greens, that are treasured in Korean culture for their ability to heal. Natural, effective, and environmentally conscious, these solutions quietly and radically shift conventional Western thought.