Monday, July 20, 2009


Book # 42 Moloka'i by Alan Brennert. Seven year old Rachel wears long dresses and shoes to school to cover up the sores she has developed on her legs and feet. This is revealed when she has a fight with her sister at school. Thus starts her life as a leper. She is taken from her family and a normal childhood in Honolulu, Hawaii and is sent to the Leprosarium on Moloka'i. Her dreams of traveling the world like her father, a merchant seaman, are shattered. She is raised by nuns and has little contact with home because of the stigma and shame leprosy creates for the family. Most lepers live and die on the island where they are subjected to harsh and unjust treatment. Rachel finds love and family with Uncle Pono and gains a new family and community. The story is about life on the island, relationships, and the hardships of suffering from leprosy. Despite the disease, Rachel leads a full life including marriage and a child. The story includes Hawaiian religion and Catholicism, the caring and the superior, and the ups and downs of life in isolation. The story does have a happy ending including a cure for Hansen's disease. This is also a good history lesson on Hawaii and leprosy.