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My Name Is Loa
Set in the year 1898, this fictional tale tells the story of Loa, a 15-year-old Hawaiian boy who is diagnosed with leprosy and banished to Kalaupapa, the leper colony on the island of Molokai. Courage, love and youthful adventure are central themes to this heartfelt novel you'll never forget.
191 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 10, 2020
If I'm being honest, I haven't seen another book that covers this topic. It's a very controversial part of Hawaiian history from a unique perspective. Loa was part of the royal family, but was diagnosed with leprosy and sent to live the rest of his life in the leprosy colony, Kalaupapa. The plot itself is fast paced and eventful. Interestingly enough, most of these events are documented! This book is a history geek's day dream.
My personal recommendation is to have ice cream and a tissue box nearby.
My personal recommendation is to have ice cream and a tissue box nearby.
March 20, 2020
(Lit Circle; YALO)
With the leper colony on the island of Molokai as the backdrop for the novel, this story follows Loa as he is exiled from home despite his royal blood, and the adventures he joins while stranded on Molokai, and the promise of hope and romance.
Having read The True Story of Kaluaikoolau prior to this, it truly made the experience so much better. Although it's a fictional story, the events that take place in them are very much real and genuine, and the author does an excellent job at making sure that the facts are straight and proper, relatable feelings are conveyed. It mediates the concept of death against truly living, and the reconciliation of the two in place such as Molokai where death is a certainty. This book made me weep like a baby at the crack of dawn, and is definitely something I will continually think about in the future.
With the leper colony on the island of Molokai as the backdrop for the novel, this story follows Loa as he is exiled from home despite his royal blood, and the adventures he joins while stranded on Molokai, and the promise of hope and romance.
Having read The True Story of Kaluaikoolau prior to this, it truly made the experience so much better. Although it's a fictional story, the events that take place in them are very much real and genuine, and the author does an excellent job at making sure that the facts are straight and proper, relatable feelings are conveyed. It mediates the concept of death against truly living, and the reconciliation of the two in place such as Molokai where death is a certainty. This book made me weep like a baby at the crack of dawn, and is definitely something I will continually think about in the future.
April 9, 2022
My Name is Loa by Dorothea N. Buckingham is a historical fiction novel set in 1898 about a fifteen-year-old Hawaiian boy named Loa. After being diagnosed with leprosy, he is sent to the colony of Kalaupapa on Molokai, which was specifically settled as a place for people with leprosy. Loa meets finds friendship and romance there, as well as grief, death, and hardships as he grows up in the colony. This book is really just a story about a boy coming of age in extraordinary circumstances.
I’ve always been interested in Kalaupapa and the people who lived there, so I really enjoyed the way this book discussed this historical event through the eyes of a fictional character that readers can relate to. I also appreciated how it covered more than just the colony; the underlying tension surrounding the acceptance of Hawaii as an American state was really interesting to read about and explore, especially because the perspective of the Hawaiian islanders on this moment in history is so often overlooked.
The main reason I didn’t love this book was just the writing style. It felt very simplistic and it didn’t engage me as much as I wanted to. Plus, while I loved the deep themes that the book explored in its later pages, it started off pretty slow and I don’t think it would appeal to a lot of YA readers.
I hope to see more YA books incorporating Pacific history and culture in the future because this is a really important field that has great potential for expansion!
I’ve always been interested in Kalaupapa and the people who lived there, so I really enjoyed the way this book discussed this historical event through the eyes of a fictional character that readers can relate to. I also appreciated how it covered more than just the colony; the underlying tension surrounding the acceptance of Hawaii as an American state was really interesting to read about and explore, especially because the perspective of the Hawaiian islanders on this moment in history is so often overlooked.
The main reason I didn’t love this book was just the writing style. It felt very simplistic and it didn’t engage me as much as I wanted to. Plus, while I loved the deep themes that the book explored in its later pages, it started off pretty slow and I don’t think it would appeal to a lot of YA readers.
I hope to see more YA books incorporating Pacific history and culture in the future because this is a really important field that has great potential for expansion!
December 2, 2018
The topic is what carried this book - that and moments of writerly brilliance with characters and description.
It's a YA book with heavy adult themes, square peg/round hole. However, that does work sometimes as in the case of Ruta Sepetys. For "My Name is Loa", I think it needed to go one direction or the other. Sometimes it veered in the young adult direction and Loa sounded and interacted like a young boy. And then suddenly the voice got older and he was an angsty man. And then it would switch back. His changes of heart and growth as a character were sudden and seemingly without explanation.
Overall, however, I did really like this book and loved all the secondary characters. It's a compassionate look at a horrible part of Hawaiian history.
It's a YA book with heavy adult themes, square peg/round hole. However, that does work sometimes as in the case of Ruta Sepetys. For "My Name is Loa", I think it needed to go one direction or the other. Sometimes it veered in the young adult direction and Loa sounded and interacted like a young boy. And then suddenly the voice got older and he was an angsty man. And then it would switch back. His changes of heart and growth as a character were sudden and seemingly without explanation.
Overall, however, I did really like this book and loved all the secondary characters. It's a compassionate look at a horrible part of Hawaiian history.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews