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Summary
Summary
Moving from Texas to Hawaii in 1960, 12-year-old Peggy Sue faces a difficult transition when she is bulled as one of the few haole (white) students in her school. This lyrical debut novel is perfect for Common Core classroom connections. It's 1960 and Peggy Sue has just been transplanted from Texas to Hawaii for her father's new job. Her cat, Howdy, is stuck in animal quarantine, and she's baffled by Hawaiian customs and words. Worst of all, eighth-grader Kiki Kahana targets Peggy Sue because she is haole--white--warning her that unless she does what Kiki wants, she will be a victim on "kill haole day," the last day of school. Peggy Sue's home ec teacher insists that she help Kiki with her sewing project or risk failing. Life looks bleak until Peggy Sue meets Malina, whose mother gives hula lessons. But when her parents take a trip to Hilo, leaving Peggy Sue at Malina's, life takes an unexpected twist in the form of a tsunami. Peggy Sue is knocked unconscious and wakes to learn that her parents' whereabouts are unknown. Peggy Sue has to summon all her courage to have hope that they will return safely.
Author Notes
Anne Bustard is the former co-owner of the children's bookstore Toad Hall Bookshop in Austin and an MFA graduate of Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her picture book biography, Buddy: The Story of Buddy Holly (S&S/Wiseman 2005) was an IRA Notable Book and a Bank Street Book of the Year. Like Peggy Sue, Anne has lived in both Texas and Hawaii.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The early days of Hawaiian statehood set the stage for this satisfying novel about a 12-year-old girl grudgingly navigating the biggest upheaval of her life. When Peggy Sue's ex-military father moves their family from Texas to Hawaii in 1960, she is less than thrilled. As the new "haole" (white) girl at school, she's an instant bully magnet for an especially bitter classmate. Peggy Sue desperately misses her grandparents and best friend back home, and her beloved cat, Howdy, must be kept in "animal quarantine jail" for 120 days. A frightening tsunami that threatens the islands pushes Peggy Sue to the brink, but she sees flashes of beauty and hope in her adopted surroundings that eventually help smooth her transition. Brief chapters help readers feel that they are counting the days until Howdy's return along with Peggy Sue, and Bustard's (Buddy: The Story of Buddy Holly) evocative descriptions highlight both the local and universal aspects of island life. Born in Hawaii, Bustard adeptly weaves elements of Hawaiian culture, lore, and history into an emotionally rich story. Ages 10-up. Agent: Emily Mitchell, Wernick & Pratt. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
It's 1960, and twelve-year-old Peggy Sue's family has moved from Texas to the recently declared state of Hawaii. As the new girl, Peggy Sue is crudely pigeonholed as a haole--a non-native white person--by a bully. Bustard's historical setting adds a unique backdrop to this story of a terribly homesick girl who learns a lesson about family. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
As far as Peggy Sue is concerned, Hawaii is no paradise. The seventh-grader is already unhappy about moving from Texas to Hawaii in 1960, halfway through the year and with her cat, Howdy, stuck in quarantine for 120 days, when an eighth-grader at her new school calls her a "stupid haole" (white), warning that the last day of school is "Kill Haole Day." Despite Peggy Sue's efforts to make peace, the bullying continues. Learning how Queen Liliuokalani was deposed and her kingdom taken over by American businessmen helps Peggy Sue understand anti-haole sentiment, but it still hurts. Despite being befriended by Malina, a classmate whose mother teaches Peggy Sue's hula class, Peggy Sue's miserableplus Howdy's losing his fur and has stopped purring. How can she feel at home in a place where native Hawaiians are prejudiced against whites and devastating tsunamis take lives? By sewing outfits for the upcoming hula recital, she can earn airfare back to Texas. Hawaii born and raised, Bustard brings this early statehood era and its racial tensions to life effectively. However, Peggy Sue's portrayal as indifferent to race distinctions and free of racial bias herself feels anachronistic at best for a white adolescent from Texas, where, in 1960, desegregation was vigorously opposed by whites and barely touched public institutions, schools and businesses. Why is only cruel Kiki a child of her time? Despite concerns, this coming-of-age tale offers a vivid, accessible portrait of a fascinating time and place. (author's note) (Historical fiction. 9-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
When Peggy Sue's family moves from Texas to Hawaii right in the middle of seventh grade, paradise seems more like purgatory. It's 1960, Hawaii is a brand-new state, and many of the local inhabitants hate haoles, or white people especially Peggy Sue's new nemesis at school, Kiki Kahana. With Peggy Sue's beloved cat in long-term quarantine, too, it's no wonder she is looking for odd jobs and secretly saving up to run away back to the mainland. But when her parents disappear in a tsunami, Peggy Sue's friendship with her next-door neighbor Malina deepens, her own gift for sewing pays off, and she realizes she might find a true home in Hawaii after all. The author grew up in Hawaii, and her descriptions of the island are lovely, and her explanations of its history and customs ring true; unfortunately, the characters and plot are somewhat thin and predictable. But the book is set in an unusual time and place and should appeal to fans of historical fiction by Jennifer L. Holm, Gennifer Choldenko, and Patricia MacLachlan.--Zeitlin Cooke, Ariel Copyright 2015 Booklist