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Thursday, June 25, 2015

P is for Pineapples . . .


Stoonn/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

in Peril! Of course! What better P words could there possibly be?

How about Plantation. The Pineapples that are in Peril are growing in the Tong Plantation. Someone is vandalizing—smashing, gashing, cutting and destroying plants. Leilani and her friends make it their mission to find out who’s doing it and why.

Did you know that it takes 18 months for a Pineapple to grow to maturity? That’s why the destruction has such a negative impact on the Plantation.

Another great P word is Pidgin. No, I’m not talking about a bird, but about the type of local English used by Hawaiians, especially when hanging out with friends. Kainoa uses Pidgin fairly regularly and you’ll have fun reading what he says and then figuring out what he’s talking about by Leilani or Maile’s response to him.

You’ll feel like you’ve been transported to the islands!

Don’t forget to come back every Thursday as I go through the alphabet, giving you little snippets of words from Pineapples in Peril, Menehunes Missing and Ukuleles Undercover (Books 1, 2 and 3 of The Hawaiian Island Detective Club.) It’s the ABCs OF THE HIDC!

Aloha, and Mahalo for visiting!
--Cheryl

The Hawaiian Island Detective Club
Book One—Pineapples in Peril
FINALIST!
Cascade Writing Competition 2013
Book Two—Menehunes Missing
FINALIST and WINNER!
Cascade Writing Competition 2014
Book Three—Ukuleles Undercover

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com

Thursday, June 18, 2015

O is for Olivia


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Three Precious Packages--
Mom (Olivia), Leilani and Kimo

Olivia Akamai is Leilani’s mom. She’s blonde and has a slight built, unlike her daughter who takes after the Hawaiian side of the family.

Olivia doesn’t appreciate Leilani’s intense interest in mysteries, spying, investigating, and interrogating. She worries about her and probably feels more than the normal amount of “mama bear” caring since Leilani’s dad died about a year before.

But then, like every great mom, Olivia recalls many a precious moment of her daughters youth when she’s caught her hiding in weird places, been interrogated to the point of feeling guilty (for doing absolutely nothing, by the way!) and had to patch Leilani up when she’d fallen from a less-than-cooperative tree or scratched herself when crawling through muck and mire to spy on someone.

You moms out there know about the angst that accompanies raising active, intense and determined kids!

O is also for OnakeaMaile and Kainoa’s last name. Maile is Leilani’s best female friend, and Kainoa is her surfing buddy and coach since Leilani was eight. Now that she’s 13, she see’s Kainoa a bit differently than when she was younger. Hmm . . . how will that play out??

Join me on Thursdays as I go through the alphabet, giving you little snippets of words from Pineapples in Peril, Menehunes Missing and Ukuleles Undercover (Books 1, 2 and 3 of The Hawaiian Island Detective Club.) It’s the ABCs OF THE HIDC!


Aloha, and Mahalo for visiting!
--Cheryl

The Hawaiian Island Detective Club
Book One—Pineapples in Peril
FINALIST!
Cascade Writing Competition 2013
Book Two—Menehunes Missing
FINALIST and WINNER!
Cascade Writing Competition 2014
Book Three—Ukuleles Undercover

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com

Thursday, June 11, 2015

N is for No Pro-blem-o!


Stuart Miles/freedigitalphotos.net


Sam Bennett, the third official member of the club and the only male (unless you consider Kimo who figures he really needs to be part of the group to round out the girl to boy ratios) uses No Pro-blem-o a lot. He’s pretty calm about things for the most part, but does like to talk a lot.

And burp a lot. That’s because he’s constantly eating or drinking something. If you checked Sam’s pockets, they’d always contain a good supply of snacks.

So, what if the kids ever got stranded? Hmmm . . .

No Pro-blem-o!
Sam's snacks to the rescue!

Come back again every Thursday as I continue to go through the alphabet, giving you little snippets of words from Pineapples in Peril, Menehunes Missing and Ukuleles Undercover (Books 1, 2 and 3 of The Hawaiian Island Detective Club.) It’s the ABCs OF THE HIDC!


Aloha, and Mahalo for visiting!
--Cheryl

The Hawaiian Island Detective Club
Book One—Pineapples in Peril
FINALIST!
Cascade Writing Competition 2013
Book Two—Menehunes Missing
FINALIST and WINNER!
Cascade Writing Competition 2014
Book Three—Ukuleles Undercover

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com

Thursday, June 4, 2015

M is for Maile


Vlado/FreeDigitalPhotos.net


Maile Onakea is Leilani’s best friend and one of the official members of The Hawaiian Island Detective Club. Maile is Leilani’s best cheerleader. She suspects Leilani has a crush on her older brother, Kainoa, but can’t really understand how her friend could like her “surfer dude” brother. Ahhh . . . sisters!

M is also for Mahalo which means Thank You in Hawaiian. Mystery is also a great M word since that’s what this series is all about!

Menehunes, Hawaii's mythical little people, are the stars of book 2, Menehunes Missing. Well, actually it's statues of the little Menehunes that are the stars. During the town's Menehune Hunt fundraiser, the kids discover missing statues and proceed to hunt down clues to find the culprit and why they're stealing the little statues.

And, finally, M is for Mahhhhhhhm! Any idea who screams, shrieks, hollers or yells this a lot? Of course—Kimo!

See you every Thursday as I go through the alphabet, giving you little snippets of words from Pineapples in Peril, Menehunes Missing and Ukuleles Undercover (Books 1-3 of The Hawaiian Island Detective Club.) It’s the ABCs OF THE HIDC!

Aloha, and Mahalo for visiting!
--Cheryl

The Hawaiian Island Detective Club
Book One—Pineapples in Peril
FINALIST!
Cascade Writing Competition 2013
Book Two—Menehunes Missing
FINALIST and WINNER!
Cascade Writing Competition 2014
Book Three—Ukuleles Undercover

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com