Sharks in the Time of Saviors

December 2, 2019
Washburn’s standout debut provides a vivid portrait of Hawaiian identity, mythology, and diaspora. This family chronicle opens in 1995 Honok’a as the seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls from a ship, only to be rescued and returned to his parents by sharks. This seminal event in the lives of the Filipino-Hawaiian Flores family marks Nainoa for life as the “miracle boy,” even as his parents struggle to turn a profit on their sugarcane plantation. As things become more desperate, Nainoa and his violent older brother, Dean, and adventuresome younger sister, Kaui, leave the island to seek their fortunes on the mainland. Dean embarks on a promising career as a basketball player in Spokane only to wind up in trouble with the law, while Kaui discovers her sexuality in San Diego, and Nainoa becomes an EMT in Portland, Ore. Poised halfway between their cultural upbringing and hopes for the future, the family is riven by a horrific tragedy that will test them to the breaking point. Though perhaps overlong, Washburn’s debut is a unique and spirited depiction of the 50th state and its children.

January 10, 2020

DEBUT Washburn's first novel is a story of Hawaii and of its strength, founded not merely in sentiment but in tangible, mystical forces rooted in history and in the very soil. When Noa falls into the ocean as a child and is rescued by sharks and later as a middle schooler miraculously restores a playmate's mangled hand by touch, his reputation as a "healer" is made. Noa's brother, Dean, develops into a basketball phenomenon, aggressively recruited by colleges, and their sister, Kaui, breaks the curves in her mechanical engineering curriculum. The three siblings are seen by their parents as the saviors the parents could never be, but they are flawed saviors. Noa's healing power is erratic, and he eventually disappears in the Hawaiian wilderness in search of his destiny. His siblings also encounter roadblocks, largely of their own making, leading to greatly lowered expectations. All this wreaks havoc on the hopeful parents, with their father suffering a nervous breakdown and their mother carrying the burden of the family's travails. Recalling Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, each character in turn narrates portions of the story, an effective technique that offers a 360-degree perspective while keeping the story's secrets until ready to be revealed.

VERDICT A more than noteworthy first foray into contemporary fiction by Hawaiian native Washburn. [See Prepub Alert, 9/9/19.]--Michael Russo, Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 15, 2020
By turns lyrical and gritty, a moving family story focuses on the aftermath of miracles. From its opening pages, this debut novel juxtaposes the realities of life for a working-class Hawaiian family and the mysticism of the Native culture that shapes them, with surprising results. Augie and Malia and their children--sons Dean and Nainoa and daughter Kaui--find their lives forever changed when, during a boat tour, little Noa falls overboard and is rescued by sharks, unharmed, as witnessed by a boatload of passengers. It's an echo of old legends that is reinforced a few years later when the boy heals an accident victim's injuries (although his mother offers an origin story that suggests he was marked by the old gods from conception). Noa's gift is a source of both wonder and cold hard cash, not to mention a baffling burden for a kid. In chapters narrated in turn by each member of the family, the siblings grow up, Dean and Kaui always feeling they are in their brother's shadow, all of them balancing on the edge of poverty. Dean is a talented athlete, Noa and Kaui top students, and Augie and Malia manage to send all three to the mainland for college. But with the family fractured, all of them struggle, and only some find redemption. Washburn's prose is lush and inventive; a native of Hawai'i, he portrays the islands and their people with insight and love. He skillfully creates distinct voices for each of his narrators: resentful Dean, wisecracking Kaui, happy-go-lucky Augie, and Malia the true believer: "The kingdom of Hawai'i had long been broken--the hot rain forests and breathing green reefs crushed under the haole commerce of beach resorts, skyscrapers--and that was when the land had begun calling. I know this now because of you." That "you" is Noa, sweet and bighearted and wrecked by his unasked-for powers. Their stories go in unexpected directions, from hilarious to heartbreaking. Striking style, memorable characters, and a believably miraculous premise add up to a beautifully crafted first novel.

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February 1, 2020
Augie and Malia are raising three children in their native Hawaii: basketball prodigy Dean, free spirit Kaui, and miracle son Nainoa, who fell into the ocean during a boat ride in childhood, and was lifted and saved from the water by a pack of benevolent sharks. His salvation becomes the stuff of legend. People travel from far and wide to harness his energy and good fortune for their own healing. Later in life, Nainoa becomes a paramedic, repeatedly conjuring his mythical magic to revive the unrevivable. After Nainoa is unable to save a young mother and child, he faces an existential crisis and returns to Hawaii to soul search. Alone, he journeys deep into the jungle and doesn't return. With Nainoa missing, the rest of the family struggles to understand their dynamic as a unit and their identities on their own. Perfect for fans of Little Fires Everywhere (2017), by Celeste Ng, Washburn's debut is an unforgettable tale of family, heartbreak, and healing, and his prose is lyrical and fresh.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)