"Displacing Natives" is a splendid study, making Hawai'i resonate with wit and concern, by tracking how the "rhetoric of demonization" was followed by a "rhetoric of preservation" that, in both historical instances and rhetorical tropes, worked to displace the Hawaiian Natives and their prior mythologies of place and nation. The wry chapter on the Hollywood movies of "safe savagery" makes an important and lasting contribution to the semiotics of imagining Hawai'i. This book would be of value to all students of Hawaiian literature and culture, and to scholars of Pacific native cultural studies as well. When transnational cultural and postcolonial studies turn to work up the Pacific (when the heck would that be?), this fine book will be here waiting, despite the poor marketing tactics or the lack of market flash.

Once again we have an excellent combination of Author and Publisher who have collaborated to provide an invaluable guide book for any diver contemplating a trip to Hawaii. "Diving Hawaii" is another Scuba Diving guide book in the medium size format favoured by Aqua Quest. These publishers have a reputation for high standards - in terms of quality of information and standard of photography, and it is easy to see why.

"Diving Hawaii" is clearly laid out with chapters on; An introduction to the Hawaiian Islands, Diving in general, the specific dive sites of Oahu, Maui, Hawaii and Kauai and local Marine Life. The book concludes with some very useful Appendixes containing; Emergency information, details of local Scuba Diving centres, miscellaneous useful numbers for visitors and some brief notes on another 20 dive sites.

Chapter One begins with an all-important historical précis of Hawaii. This gives the visitor a brief insight into the country's first Polynesian settlers, the way in which the country was then ruled by it's own system of chiefs for something like 1,000 years, the islands' discovery by Captain Cook, the importance of sugar plantations, the time when Hawaii became a US territory and, eventually (in 1959) the 50th State. All of which is followed by equally important notes on present day Hawaii and all the essential information the visitor needs to know.

Chapter 2 is an overview of Diving in general with notes on; boat, shore and night diving as well as conservation. There is also a very important and well written description of the unusual underwater lava tubes and cave formations created by the flow of volcanic lava into the sea. These are probably very different from any other form of Cave Diving found anywhere else in the world and Page 21 is rightly devoted to a full-page warning of the dangers involved here.

We now come to those Chapters individually dedicated to each of the four main islands in the Hawaiian group and these take in any smaller adjacent islands as well. Once again, we are treated to an introduction to the island itself before getting down to diving specifics. This commences with a map of the island(s) showing the primary dive sites as numbers - each of which is then described in more than adequate detail and headed by the relevant depth, experience level required and access.

Altogether a well-rounded book containing all the information required by anyone considering a diving trip to Hawaii.

According to the Author's biography on the back page, Steve Rosenberg specialises in underwater photography. As a fellow professional "Underwater Photographer & Author," I congratulate him on some truly outstanding pictures.

NM

Electronic Literacies is an insightful study of the challenges and contradictions that arise as culturally and linguistically diverse learners engage in new language and literacy practices in online environments.

The role of the Internet in changing literacy and education has been a topic of much speculation, but very little concrete research has been done in the area. This book is one of the first attempts to document the role of the Internet and other new digital technologies in the development of language and literacy. Warschauer looks at how the nature of reading and writing is changing, and how those changes are being addressed in the classroom. His focus is on the experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse learners who are at special risk of being marginalized from the information society.

Based on a 2-year ethnographic study of the uses of the Internet in language and writing classrooms, the book includes data from interviews with students and teachers, classroom observations, and analysis of students' texts. This rich ethnographic data is combined with theories from a broad range of disciplines to develop conclusions about the relationship of technology to language, literacy, education, and culture. Central to Warschauer's discussion and conclusions is how contradictions of language, culture, and class affect the impact of Internet-based education.

Clear, informative, and up to date, Electronic Literacies is highly relevant for those interested or involved in technology-based school reform; critical pedagogy; cultural studies; the social context of learning; composition and literacy education; and ESL, bilingual, and multicultural education.

Art history adds truth that political history lacks. One hundered sixty paintings and sketches were gathered for an exhibit at the Honolulu Acadmey of Arts. This book " ENCOUNTERS WITH PARADISE" documents the event. Each painting or drawing is combined in the book with a brief but thoughful commentary.

Ann Kondo Corum, is a librarian who decided kids had a tough time researching the various ethnic foods of Hawaii. What did the early Hawaiian eat? What cultures influenced what is now known as modern Hawaiian cooking?

Fascinating, and easily devoured tidbits on Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Portugeuse, Samoan, Filipino and other eating habits, taboos and cultural heritage that make up the delicious melange that represent ethnic foods of Hawaii.

The recipes are simple, and representative of each group's classic dishes. Find your favorites from among kahlua pork, chicken long rice, haupia, malassadas, Portuguese Bean Soup, adobo, Kal Bi Ribs, Kim Chee, and more.

An amazing little book that is sure to be the beginning of adventures in cooking foods like those found in the drive-ins, the coffee shops and the places locals like to eat. The author's chatty and laid back style help to decrease the intimidation factor and demystify plenty of delicious ingredients and culture so germane to each group's cuisine.

Ian MacMillan is a writer from Hawai'i, and while some of these short stories have that "local flavor", you don't have to be a kama'aina to enjoy his writing style. Each story is very unique, and MacMillan definitely knows how to use words to its fullest potential. Subtitled "Stories Of Hawai'i", the short stories all have to do with people in Hawai'i. Not only do you want to read them, but you want to get to know them too. It builds up to the last story, a novella about a man who still struggles with the death of his daughter. He eventually joins a support group and finds the others there are just as bad as he is. He finds someone, a woman, and they manage to get along. But along the way he comes across things that steer him towards another direction. I'll stop before I give away the whole story, but at one point, MacMillan writes the story so well you almost feel like you're moving in "slow motion" in the appropriate spots. An excellent book that will you not be able to put down.

If you've seen enough of the standard guides on Hawaii, try this one out as an alternative to the regularity of the norm. We discovered lots of amazing "locals only" secrets from this book. You will too if you are going to HI for outdoor activity.

Pratt, Bruner, and Dickinson have produced a superb field guide completely covering all the islands of the tropical Pacific from Hawai'i west through Micronesia. This is a true field guide: it gives the field marks of every species, notes problems in identification with special emphasis on distinguishing similar species, and wastes no space on matters not related to identification. (The exception is that Pratt, a significant ornithologist as well as an expert in identification, summarizes controversies in classification whre appropriate.)

The text is organized by order and family, not by region, so the flycatchers of Tahiti appear next to the flycatchers of Palau rather than near other Tahitian birds. But the illustrations are grouped by region: Samoan land birds appear together, regardless of relationships. This greatly facilitates use in the field.

The illustrations are paintings, not photographs, which allows the authors to show similar birds in identical poses as well as eliminating the accidental marks which appear in even the best photographs and can confuse the user.

The authors have chosen to include the extinct birds of the region as well as the living ones. This puts a certain amount of "deadwood" on the illustration pages, which may be detrimental. But, considering that more than one "extinct" bird has been found after being missing for nearly a hundred years, it is probably worth the minor inconvenience.

I have used the book extensively in Hawai'i and believe it to be the best guide Hawai'i's birds. I would not consider being without it anywhere in its area of coverage.

Presented as Mark Twain's Legendary Lost Journal, the story reads as if actually told by Twain, but it's the authors artistry that makes it sound like Twain is speaking. This is the adventure Twain might have had in Hawaii if he could have entered a world of fantasy and met the mythological creatures there. Charming illustrations of Menehunes by MAD's Sergio Aragones, plus some special effects photos of Moho the god of steam and others. It's like Hawaii's "Wizard of Oz" starring Twain.

If you like to fish and are going to visit Hawaii this is the book for you. Jim Rizzuto covers everything from Blue Water gear and techniques to fishing from the beach. I am a person that likes to go on vacations where my wife can relax, read and shop while I am enjoying low cost fishing. Rizzuto gives us all of the information we need to successfully fish for everything from small reef fish to tackle busting 100 pound Ulua, right from the beach. Bait, lures, rods it's all covered with many tips and directions as to what you can make/buy at home and bring to the islands. I wish he had included an index in the book and what each season has to offer. Even so, he earned a five star rating from me.