ewa Which Way (Bamboo Ridge, Journal of Hawai*i Literature and Arts)

Fiction. EWA WHICH WAY is a coming-of-age novel set in the early 1980s, around the time of Hurricane ‘Iwa. The DeSilva family, in economic straits, has suffered the setback of having to move from town to Ewa Beach, and the dissonance between parents impacts the lives of their young sons, Landon and Luke. In addition to humorous moments of growing up local, Portuguese, and Catholic, there are serious underlying themes regarding religion, ethnic tensions, assimilation issues, domestic violence, and the reality that children sometimes need to find their own way in the world at a very young age. With problems in the home and at school, the two brothers are forced to find ways to survive. The economic, ethnic, and family violence issues dominating their lives make for provocative reading relevant to similar contemporary issues of today."