Two Reviews of Storied Landscapes: Hawaiian Literature and Place. Charlene Luke

"Legends and living color of the Islands," Honolulu Advertiser, October 9, 1999: Storied Landscapes contrasts moral values with the ideas of mortal men. It blends fact with fiction, letting you pick and choose to form your own opinion. And it mixes Hawaiian landscapes with ancient legends. This book would make a good research tool for a college paper on Hawaiian literature, landmarks or mythology. From its bountiful bibliography, it's clear much time was spent in putting this slim collection together. Author Kawaharada is a community college instructor long active with the Polynesian Voyaging Society and his book is certainly a worthwhile find.

From a heartfelt firsthand encounter, Kawaharada humanizes the face of Kalaupapa, offering words that soften nearly a century of infamy and segregation. He examines our fears and gives us facts and figures that help put things into perspective. Once you've digested all the qualitative and quantitative data with which Kawaharada surrounds these Hawaiian landscapes, you'll never view the Islands' landmarks quite the same way again.

"Best of '99 / Nonfiction," Honolulu Advertiser, December 25, 1999: [Storied Landscapes] tells the stories of a number of Hawaiian places -- in itself a very Hawaiian conceept, as the ancient people imbued their 'aina with great poetic power. Kawaharada, a teacher and historian long active with the Polynesian Voyaging Society, has created a work highly useful for students of Hawaii history, but also very readable; it will change and enrich your view of the islands' landmarks.