A new picture book is based on the true story of Ho’onani Kamai, an eleven-year-old Native Hawaiian who feels an identity in-between a boy and a girl. When Ho’onani’s school decides that the boys will perform a traditional hula chant, Ho’onani wants to join them, and must find physical and emotional strength to do so.
Ho’nani: Hula Warrior, by Heather Gale (Tundra/Penguin Random House), begins by telling us that in ancient Hawaiian culture, mahu, “people who embraced both feminine and masculine traits,” were valued as healers, caretakers, and teachers. We then learn the story of Ho’onani, who wants to audition for a school hula performance, encouraged by her teacher Kumu Hina. Ho’onani’s parents and brother are supportive, though a sister seems embarrassed by Ho’onani’s behavior. We see Ho’onani (who uses female pronouns) join the boys at auditions and channel the “strong, sure, and steady” strength of a hula warrior. She practices “until Hawai’i’s history was part of her,” and does such a good job that Kumu Hina chooses her as the group leader.
Kumu Hina advises, however, that some parents “might not appreciate a wahine leading their sons up on stage.” Ho’onani confidently asserts, “If someone wants to leave, that is their problem.” When her sister, however, asks, “Why do you always have to reject wahine things?” Ho’onani responds, “Just because I feel more kane doesn’t mean I’m not wahine! I’m in the middle!”
On the day of the performance, Ho’onani wonders what to do if people protest her appearance, but goes out on stage with a powerful stomp and a loud chant, winning over the audience, including her sister. “Ho’onani had found her place, Not as a wahine, not as a kane, but as a hula warrior,” the tale concludes.
The book was inspired by the award-winning PBS educational film A Place in the Middle, which tells the story of Ho’nani and Kumu Hina’s relationship in the run-up to the hula performance. A Place in the Middle was itself adapted by Kumu Hina (Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu) from the feature documentary Kumu Hina, which focuses on her work as a teacher, cultural practitioner, and community leader. (Among her other accomplishments, Kumu Hina was the first transgender candidate to run for statewide political office in the United States.) Gale, a first-time author, says in an interview at KidLit411 that after watching A Place in the Middle, she reached out to filmmakers Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson about creating a picture book. Hamer, Wilson, and Kumu Hina “trusted me with their vision, guiding the story until it reflected the same powerful message as their documentary,” she says. She explained further at Fab Book Reviews that “Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson were my allies, supporting each draft with important and very necessary suggestions and explanations needed for authenticity. Kumu Hina was very much involved as well as Ho’onani and her family. Everyone wanted the story as accurate as possible.”
The book omits some details from A Place in the Middle, which is understandable given the need to distill things down to picture-book length. One omission that struck me, though, is that the book never mentions that Kumu Hina is herself transgender, except in an author’s note on the copyright page, which I’m guessing most young readers will skip. In contrast, the film shows how Kumu Hina’s own gender identity and journey makes her a valuable mentor for Ho’nani, both in offering personal support and in creating a welcoming environment for her and for other kane-wahine and wahine-kane students (Kumu Hina’s terms for those who “exude both male and female”). I know the book is meant to be Ho’nani’s story, and was done in consultation with Ho’nani and Kumu Hina, according to Gale; perhaps they felt that bringing up Kumu Hina’s own gender identity and how it shaped her relationship with Ho’nani would have been too much to capture effectively in picture-book length. I only hope that parents and teachers understand the value that positive adult role models and a sense of community have for LGBTQ and gender creative youth, and do mention Kumu Hina’s identity at some point in their discussions.
I have some more critical comments about the supplementary and publicity materials for the book. The publisher offers a free Educators’ Guide, which does include the suggestion: “As explained in the Author’s Note, Kumu Hina is a transgender woman. Talk with students about the meaning of transgender and what they know about it. The author emphasizes the importance of ‘unconditional acceptance and respect.’ Have students discuss how this might be especially important in the life of a transgender person.” The guide lacks any pointers for where teachers themselves might find information about the “meaning of transgender” if they themselves need such a resource. (I’ll recommend Gender Spectrum, which was in fact a partner on the film project.)
I also raised my eyebrows at the jacket-flap blurb that says Ho’nani “doesn’t see herself as girl (wahine) OR boy (kane),” but then states that this is “an empowering story of a girl who learns to lead and to accept who she really is.” The Educator’s Guide for the book differs yet again, saying, “Today Ho’nani is a non-binary person who likes who she is.” Since Gale says Ho’onani and her family were involved with the book development, though, I’ll assume the language of both “girl” and “non-binary person” reflects Ho’onani’s own usage, though some readers may wonder about the changes in terminology without further explanation. (The film’s website also refers to Ho’nani as “a young Hawaiian girl.”)
My comments are meant to offer readers context and further food for thought and discussion, but I don’t mean to be too critical of the book in and of itself. Ho’nani: Hula Warrior is an empowering story of a child navigating and finding strength in both gender and cultural identities—a much needed intersectional tale. The bold lines and spare palette of Mika Song’s illustrations feel like a perfect fit to convey the strength Ho’nani finds.
After (or before) you read it, I also recommend that you go watch the 25-minute A Place in the Middle, which you can view in full at its website. (There’s a separate Educators’ Guide for that as well.) Thanks to both Ho’nani and Kumu Hina for sharing their stories with us in these ways.