Books Published in January - March 2025

We are excited to share all the books we could find that were written or illustrated by Pacific Islander creators published in January, February, or March 2025. Direct links to buy the books are below. Please also request these books at your local libraries and bookstores. If we are missing any books, please reach out to us so we can add them.

If you are a Pacific Islander creator with a book coming out soon, please let us know!

Children's Fiction

Picture Books

• Kaho’olawe by Kamalani Hurley (Kanaka Maoli)

• I Love My Island by Moemoeana Safa’ato’a Schwenke (Samoan) and illustrated by Moanaroa Te Whata (Niue, Ngā Puhi and Ngāti Porou)

• Filo’s Butterflies by Litea Fuata (Samoan) and illustrated by Myo Yim

• Samu and Devi: The Race Against Time by Duane Leewai (iTaukei)

Children's Non-Fiction

• Oceania Olympians by David Riley, illustrated by Chad Robertson (Niuean, Samoan) 

  

  
  

Middle Grade

• Spirit of the Crocodile by Aaron Fa’Aoso (Torres Strait Islander) and Michelle Scott Tucker with Lyn White

General Fiction

• You Are Here by Whiti Hereaka (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa) and Peata Larkin (Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, and Ngāti Tuhourangi)

• A farmer brings on a wife, a First Nations writers festival book by Baka Barakove Bina (Papua New Guinean)

Poetry

• Black Sugarcane by Nafanua Purcell Kersel (Samoan)

Non-Fiction

• Ricky: A Life Worth Sharing by Ricardo J. Bordallo (CHamoru) with C. Sablan Gault (CHamoru)

• The Treaty of Waitangi by Rosa Calman (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa-ki-te-tonga, Ngāi Tahu)

• Mana Moana by Carla Houkamau (Te Whānau o Tūwhakairiora – Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kere – Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāti Hāteatea ki Moeraki – Kāi Tahu) and Robert Powhare (Ngāi Tūhoe)

• Books of Mana Edited by Jacinta Ruru, Angela Wanhalla and Jeanette Wikaira

• Te Moana o Reo Ocean of Languages, edited by Michelle Elvy & Vaughan Rapatahana 

• Mahia Atua by Mark Kopua, Diana Kopua, and Lisa Cherrington 

• Pūrākau: Legendary Maori Tales by Mikaere Buddy (Ngāti Pākenga, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Pikiao, Tāhoe) & A.W. Reed

• Waiwai: Water and the Future of Hawai‘i Edited by Kamanamaikalani Beamer (Kanaka Maoli)

• The Mahele of Our Bodies: Nā Moʻolelo Kūpuna Māhū/LGBTQ Edited by Stephanie Nohelani Teves (Kanaka Maoli) 

• Toitū Te Whenua: Places and People of the New Zealand Wars by Lauren Keenan (Te Āti Awa ki Taranaki)

• Pātaka Kai: Growing Kai Sovereignty by Jessica Hutchings (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Huirapa, Gujarati) and Jo Smith (Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe, Kāi Tahu) with Johnson Witehira (Tamahaki, Ngāti Hinekura, Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Tūteauru, Ngāti Hāmoa) and Yvonne Taura (Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Uenuku, Ngāti Hauā)

Note: The ethnicities stated on this blog post were from internet sources where the creators self-identified. Only Pacific Islander ethnicities were included.