Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Review of Birth by Lehua Parker

Read for: Across the States & Mount TBR
 
Synopsis: "On a beautiful Sunday morning in Lauele Town, Hawaii, all Kahana wants to do is jump in the ocean and catch some breakfast. Too bad there’s something in the water that wants to eat a skinny old man. Unnerved, Kahana and ‘Ilima decide to comb the reef and look for ‘opihi instead. What they find changes everything.

In One Boy, No Water Uncle Kahana told one version of Zader’s birth. In this novella more of Zader’s remarkable story is revealed of how he came to be part of the Westin ‘ohana. While this novella is a companion piece to the middle grade/young adult Niuhi Shark Saga, the themes and content will appeal to a more mature audience.

There are two versions of Zader’s birth story in this eBook. The story is the same, but the language used in much of the dialogue is different. The first version is written in Standard American English and assumes the reader isn’t familiar with Hawaiian island culture or the local slang’s commonly used phrases and words. The second version uses Hawaiian Pidgin English and Hawaiian words and phrases without explanation."


My Review: I enjoyed this little prequel to the One Boy No Water and One Shark No Swim books of the Niuhi Shark Series. This definitely explains a few things that were left a little vague in the other books about where Zander came from. I really appreciated that this book had the option to read it in standard English or in the Hawaiian slang Pidgin (which the other books were written in) so that also helped clear up some other interpretation questions. It is a great little addition to the series but it is rather short.
  
 
My Rating: I did enjoy this, even with the shortness of the story. I liked the option to read both language versions. I give it a rating of Three Paws and a Stump Wag.

2 comments:

  1. Sometimes these short stories are the best.

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    1. If they are done well short stories or novellas are a lot of fun, but they need to be fully developed. I don't like if they are so short I don't get a chance to know the characters or the storyline.

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