Dance For The Land

by Clemence McLaren

When twelve-year-old Kate, who is half-white, moves to Hawaii with her brother and father, she becomes a victim of racial prejudice but also learns the meaning of her middle name

Genres: Middle Grade

160 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1999

About the author

Clemence McLaren was born in New Jersey on November 3, 1938 to Edward Dobson, an engineer, and Grayce Berg Dobson. She attended Rutgers University from which she received a degree in 1960. In the same year she married Robert McLaren. Together, the couple had two children, Kevin and Heather.

For a number of years she and her husband taught overseas. During this time they built a cottage on a small Greek island "only four miles from Achilles' home island of Aegina," she says. She studied the Greek language and walked the trails which dated back to antiquity. Always fascinated by the ancient myths, her own elaborations of them became stories which she first told to her students and her own family.

The McLarens later moved to Hawaii, where Clemence McLaren taught in Honolulu secondary schools for four years and obtained an doctorate degree in religion.

Supplemental Information:

Career

Pan American Airlines, flight attendant, 1960-61; teacher in Dover, NJ, Guam, Saudi Arabia, and Maui, Hawaii, 1962-84; affiliated with Johns Hopkins University as a summer program dean, 1987—; occasional stints as a professor and researcher with University of Hawaii, 1987-95; teacher of senior English, Kamehameha Secondary Schools, Honolulu, HI, 1993—.

Member

Phi Beta Kappa.

Awards, Honors

Books for the Teen Age, New York Public Library, 1997, and Best Books for Young Adults, American Library Association, 1997, both for Inside the Walls of Troy.

Writings

Inside the Walls of Troy: A Novel of the Women Who Lived the Trojan War, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1996.

Dance for the Land, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1999, expanded edition published as Dance for the Aina, Bess Press (Honolulu, HI), 2003.

Waiting for Odysseus, Atheneum (New York, NY), 2000.

Aphrodite's Blessings: Love Stories from the Greek Myths, Atheneum (New York, NY), 2002.

Contributor to popular magazines and professional journals. Contributor to Cat Heaven, Island Heritage Press, 1998.

Reviews

[Lessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than I thought it was going to be. It was interesting to see contemporary Hawaiian politics brought to light from an "outsider's" voice. I also really enjoyed the inner struggle the hapa girl felt and her struggle within the islands to have her skin accepted since she can't bleed for them to prove her ancestry. More thoughts will be posted to my blog

[Becky-Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book says it's for ages 10-14 ( in fact the copy I have used to belong to a high school library) and the story is told from the point of view of a 12 year old girl, it's also a fairly short read (easily read in a day or two). But I should point out that it does have a few swear words and a lot of Hawaiian words that some younger reader's could possible struggle with.

 The book is about hula but if you love any sort of dance then I think you would enjoy it. The other main plot line of the book is about racism.

Even though this book is a bit 'young' for me I still really enjoyed it, I haven't found that many fiction books about Hawai'i. It might not be the best or your most favourite book but I do recommend it. I think it's a worthwhile read.

[Courtney Chappell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an ok book. I enjoyed reading about the experience of Hawaii, yet had a hard time understanding some words written in the hawaiian way. I thought the ending was good. I couldn't really picture anyone in my head and I didn't even know that the main character was 12 until about halfway through the book. I don't think I would read this again, but for a one time read it was pretty good.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book because i am a dancer and i could relate to the different types of dance. I also loved the different side of hawaii it showed.