This book was able to put into words what anyone who's lived in Hawai'i has sensed all along. Chapters on the Hawaiians, the Caucasians, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Portuguese, the Okinawans, the Koreans, the Filipinos, the Samoans and the people of Indochina discuss the history of the arrivals of the different people in the islands, value systems, stereotypes, contemporary situations, etc.

As a kid at Makalapa Elementary school I knew that lots of my Chinese friends had extended families, lots of my Japanese friends had YBA on Saturdays, lots of my Caucasian friends from military families lived almost cloistered, separate lives, that you couldn't tell who was part Hawaiian by someone's first name, that lots of people put down Filipinos, etc. But I didn't know most Caucasians value individuality over extended family and that they are unique in doing this in the land of 'ohana. Or that hanai adoptions by a child's tutu were the norm (such that nearly 1/3 of the Hawaiian community surveyed in 1970 had legal or informal adoptions in their family). Or that traditional Japanese wives were expected to move in with their mothers-in-law. Or that traditional Samoan views on childrearing involve older children taking care of younger children and physical punishement or shaming for "bad" behavior.

The different chapters were all written by experts on the community in question. The book does a great job of presenting balanced views (including both positive and negative stereotypes) and avoiding generalizations. The book is geared towards use in the mental health care field, but will appeal to a far greater audience. This is a must-read for anyone curious about the histories of different cultural groups in Hawai'i, or with an interest in racial relations in the United States. Accessible and extremely well done!