Sharks in the Time of Saviors

In 1995 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls overboard a cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean. In a story akin to a legend, he is delivered back to his mother in the jaws of a shark. His family, struggling to make ends meet amidst the collapse of the sugar cane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favor from ancient Hawaiian gods.

But as time passes this hope gives way to economic realities, forcing Nainoa and his siblings to seek salvation across the continental United States. When supernatural events revisit the Floreses in Hawaii again - this time with tragic consequence - everyone is forced to reckon with the bonds of family, the meaning of heritage and the cost of survival.

With a profound command of language, Kawai Strong Washburn's powerful debut novel examines what it means to be both of a place and a stranger in it.