Ho’onani the Hula Warrior by Heather Gale

• Plot Summary: An empowering celebration of identity, acceptance and Hawaiian culture based on the true story of a young girl in Hawaiʻi who dreams of leading the boys-only hula troupe at her school. Ho'onani feels in-between. She doesn't see herself as wahine (girl) OR kane (boy). She's happy to be in the middle. But not everyone sees it that way. When Ho'onani finds out that there will be a school performance of a traditional kane hula chant, she wants to be part of it. But can a girl really lead the all-male troupe? Ho'onani has to try . . .Based on a true story, Ho'onani: Hula Warrior is a celebration of Hawaiian culture and an empowering story of a girl who learns to lead and learns to accept who she really is--and in doing so, gains the respect of all those around her. Ho'onani's story first appeared in the documentary A Place in the Middle by filmmakers Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson.

• Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAreUoez6og

• This is a book set in Hawaii that mixes Hawaiian words and culture into the story. Based on a true story, Ho’onani feels in between wahine and kane. This is a nice portrait of a gender-queer kid as well as showing a modern-day Hawaiian setting (even if they missed the opportunity to use gender neutral pronouns and some reviewers critique the very Western story arc in a Hawaiian story).