Asian American Literature Fans

So, I read Kawai Strong Washburn’s Sharks in the Time of Saviors (MCD, 2020) in anticipation of a course on speculative fiction concerning American writers of color. Washburn’s work fits perfectly based upon its narrative conceit and opening: “In 1995 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on a rare family vacation, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls overboard a cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean. When a shiver of sharks appears in the water, everyone fears for the worst. But instead, Noa is gingerly delivered to his mother in the jaws of a shark, marking his story as the stuff of legends. Nainoa’s family, struggling amidst the collapse of the sugarcane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favor from ancient Hawaiian gods—a belief that appears validated after he exhibits puzzling new abilities. But as time passes, this supposed divine favor begins to drive the family apart: Nainoa, working now as a paramedic on the streets of Portland, struggles to fathom the full measure of his expanding abilities; further north in Washington, his older brother Dean hurtles into the world of elite college athletics, obsessed with wealth and fame; while in California, risk-obsessed younger sister Kaui navigates an unforgiving academic workload in an attempt to forge her independence from the family’s legacy. When supernatural events revisit the Flores family in Hawai’i—with tragic consequences—they are all forced to reckon with the bonds of family, the meaning of heritage, and the cost of survival.” The novel uses (primarily) four alternating perspectives to great effect: Nainoa, Dean, Kaui, and their mother all receive primary storytelling billing, and we follow their rotating perspectives, as each character grows, matures, and must deal with Nainoa’s growing abilities. I will put in somewhat of a spoiler here, —so look away if you do not want to know—

**Spoiler**

 
From there the novel sort of begins a slow disintegration. By the word “disintegration,” I don’t mean that it loses its beautifully crafted qualities but rather that the family faces one of its biggest tests, one that pushes them to consider what it is that binds them and why it is that Nainoa ever came to be saved by the sharks. Washburn’s prose is as magical as his story, and it is his great attention and love for his characters that makes this work rise to its highest levels. My only minor quibble with this text is that I wanted more of the Hawaiian folklore explored in a more informational way, only insofar as I think some of the impact of the novel’s ending was lost of me because I didn’t understand all of the cultural contexts. Despite my readerly limitations, the book is sure to be read widely and joins a rich tradition of regionalist literature set in Hawaii. A novel fit to be taught next to Lois Ann Yamanaka’s Behold the Many or R. Zammora Linmark’s Rolling the R’s.

Buy the Book Here:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374272081