Volcano (2 cents)

As we get ready to go to Hawaii (yes, you may not have known that), I read "Volcano", a beautifully written book by University of Oregon creative writing professor Garrett Hongo. Volcano is not Mauna Loa, but rather the town of Volcano, located near the timber line in the southeastern section of the Big Island.

Hongo's ancestry is not Hawaiian, but Japanese. In fact, Hawaiian natives are not to be found in this book. And Hongo, ethnic Japanese, who was raised in Los Angeles, discovers that his roots are in the town of Volcano, at the Hongo Store, founded by his grandfather, who like many Japanese came to Hawaii years ago to work in the sugar cane fields. Their lives were hard, the store was no supermarket, they had typical family issues, they were sent into detention camps during World War II, and they came to the mainland to try to get a fresh start.

But, like the Jews after the Holocaust, they were quiet about their experiences during the war, and it has only been recently that so many books about the Japanese experience have been written. But adolesence in Los Angeles was difficult. There was prejudice and, just as bad, lack of known history.

An adult writer, Hongo, his wife and young son, went to Hawaii for a sabbatical, and decided rent a house in the forest on the side of a mountain near Volcano. And here, Hongo finds his roots.

You get island history, you get a lot of family history, and you get an incredible amount about Hawaiian flora and fauna, and geology. And because Hongo is primarily a poet, you get all of this served up beautifully. Worth while even if you don't go to Hawaii.