This richly imagined novel, set in Hawaii more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place - and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit. Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting far-off lands. Then one day a rose-colored mark appears on her skin and those dreams are stolen from her. Taken from her home and family, she is sent to Kalaupapa, the quarantined leprosy colony on the island of Moloka'i. - SL