Naomi Hirahara's Books

Clark and Division

By: Naomi Hirahara

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A New York Times Best Mystery Novel of 2021 Set in 1944 Chicago, Edgar Award-winner Naomi Hirahara’s eye-opening and poignant new mystery, the story of a young woman searching for the truth about her revered older sister's death, brings to focus the struggles of one Japanese American family released from mass incarceration at Manzanar during World War II. Chicago, 1944: Twenty-year-old Aki Ito and her parents have just been released from Manzanar, where they have been detained by the US government since the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, together with thousands of other Japanese Americans. The life in California the Itos were forced to leave behind is gone; instead, they are being resettled two thousand miles away in Chicago, where Aki’s older sister, Rose, was sent months earlier and moved to the new Japanese American neighborhood near Clark and Division streets. But on the eve of the Ito family’s reunion, Rose is killed by a subway train. Aki, who worshipped her sister, is stunned. Officials are ruling Rose’s death a suicide. Aki cannot believe her perfect, polished, and optimistic sister would end her life. Her instinct tells her there is much more to the story, and she knows she is the only person who could ever learn the truth. Inspired by historical events, Clark and Division infuses an atmospheric and heartbreakingly real crime with rich period details and delicately wrought personal stories Naomi Hirahara has gleaned from thirty years of research and archival work in Japanese American history.

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312

Publisher

Soho Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1641292504

ISBN 13

9781641292504

Hiroshima Boy

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Hiroshima Boy

By: Naomi Hirahara

LA gardener Mas Arai returns to Hiroshima to bring his best friend’s ashes to a relative on the tiny offshore island of Ino, only to become embroiled in the mysterious death of a teenage boy who was about the same age Mas was when he survived the atomic bomb in 1945. The boy’s death affects the elderly, often-curmudgeonly, always-reluctant sleuth, who cannot return home to Los Angeles until he finds a way to see justice served. Naomi Hirahara is the Edgar-winning author of the Mas Arai mystery series, including Summer of the Big Bachi, Blood Hina, Strawberry Yellow, and Sayonara Slam. She is also the author of the LA-based Ellie Rush mysteries, published by Penguin. Her Mas Arai books have earned such honors as Publishers Weekly’s Best Book of the Year and one of the Chicago Tribune’s Ten Best Mysteries and Thrillers. The Stanford University alumna was born and raised in Altadena, CA, where her protagonist lives; she now resides in neighboring Pasadena.

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128

Publisher

Prospect Park Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1945551097

ISBN 13

9781945551093

Strawberry Yellow

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Strawberry Yellow

By: Naomi Hirahara

Mas Arai returns for his fifth mystery by getting entangled in a family reunion murder in California's strawberry fields.

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149

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Prospect Park Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1938849035

ISBN 13

9781938849039

Murder on Bamboo Lane

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Murder on Bamboo Lane

By: Naomi Hirahara

Trouble awaits rookie LAPD Officer Ellie Rush as she patrols the mean streets of Los Angeles on her bicycle… Bike cop Ellie Rush dreams of becoming a homicide detective, but it’s still a shock when the first dead body she encounters on the job is that of a former college classmate. At the behest of her Aunt Cheryl, the highest-ranking Asian-American officer in the LAPD (a source of pride for Ellie’s grandmother, but annoyance to her mom), Ellie becomes tangled in the investigation of the coed’s murder—with equal parts help and hindrance from her nosy best friend, her over-involved ex-boyfriend, a smoldering detective, and seemingly everyone else in her extended family…only to uncover secrets that a killer may go to any lengths to ensure stay hidden.

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306

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Penguin

Published Date

ISBN 10

0425264955

ISBN 13

9780425264959

Summer of the Big Bachi

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Summer of the Big Bachi

By: Naomi Hirahara

In the foothills of Pasadena, Mas Arai is just another Japanese-American gardener, his lawnmower blades clean and sharp, his truck carefully tuned. But while Mas keeps lawns neatly trimmed, his own life has gone to seed. His wife is dead. And his livelihood is falling into the hands of the men he once hired by the day. For Mas, a life of sin is catching up to him. And now bachi—the spirit of retribution—is knocking on his door. It begins when a stranger comes around, asking questions about a nurseryman who once lived in Hiroshima, a man known as Joji Haneda. By the end of the summer, Joji will be dead and Mas’s own life will be in danger. For while Mas was building a life on the edge of the American dream, he has kept powerful secrets: about three friends long ago, about two lives entwined, and about what really happened when the bomb fell on Hiroshima in August 1945. A spellbinding mystery played out from war-torn Japan to the rich tidewaters of L.A.’s multicultural landscape, this stunning debut novel weaves a powerful tale of family, loyalty, and the price of both survival and forgiveness.

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370

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Dell

Published Date

ISBN 10

0440241545

ISBN 13

9780440241546

Grave on Grand Avenue

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Grave on Grand Avenue

By: Naomi Hirahara

LAPD bicycle cop—and aspiring homicide detective—Ellie Rush is back on patrol in the newest mystery from the award-winning author of Murder on Bamboo Lane and the Japantown Mysteries. Ellie stops for a friendly chat with gardener Eduardo Fuentes while patrolling one of Los Angeles’s premier concert halls. A few minutes later she’s shocked to discover him lying at the bottom of a staircase, clinging to life and whispering something indecipherable. Nearby, the father of Xu, a Chinese superstar classical musician, claims Fuentes was knocked down while attempting to steal his son’s multimillion-dollar cello—a story Ellie has trouble believing. Meanwhile Ellie has issues of her own to deal with—like the curious theft of her car, a 1969 Pontiac Skylark. But after the gardener takes his last breath and Xu mysteriously disappears, it’s clear to Ellie she must act quickly before someone else falls silent…

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183

Publisher

Penguin

Published Date

ISBN 10

110160946X

ISBN 13

9781101609460

Gasa-Gasa Girl

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Gasa-Gasa Girl

By: Naomi Hirahara

Invited to New York by his estranged daughter, Mari, seventy-something Japanese gardener Mas Arai discovers that Mari has taken off, leaving Mas alone with his new son-in-law Lloyd, who is planning to open a Japanese garden, only to find himself caught up in murder when Lloyd's boss is found dead and Mari is arrested for the crime. Reprint.

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370

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Dell

Published Date

ISBN 10

0440241553

ISBN 13

9780440241553

Life After Manzanar

By: Naomi Hirahara,Heather C. Lindquist

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Life After Manzanar

By: Naomi Hirahara,Heather C. Lindquist

“A compelling account of the lives of Japanese and Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II . . . instructive and moving.”—Nippon.com From the editor of the award-winning Children of Manzanar, Heather C. Lindquist, and Edgar Award winner Naomi Hirahara comes a nuanced account of the “Resettlement”: the relatively unexamined period when ordinary people of Japanese ancestry, having been unjustly imprisoned during World War II, were finally released from custody. Given twenty-five dollars and a one-way bus ticket to make a new life, some ventured east to Denver and Chicago to start over, while others returned to Southern California only to face discrimination and an alarming scarcity of housing and jobs. Hirahara and Lindquist weave new and archival oral histories into an engaging narrative that illuminates the lives of former internees in the postwar era, both in struggle and unlikely triumph. Readers will appreciate the painstaking efforts that rebuilding required and will feel inspired by the activism that led to redress and restitution—and that built a community that even now speaks out against other racist agendas. “Through this thoughtful story, we see how the harsh realities of the incarceration experience follow real lives, and how Manzanar will sway generations to come. When you finish the last chapter you will demand to read more.”—Gary Mayeda, national president of the Japanese American Citizens League “An engaging, well-written telling of how former Manzanar detainees played key roles in remembering and righting the wrong of the World War II incarceration.”—Tom Ikeda, executive director of Densho

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Page Count

302

Publisher

Heyday.ORIM

Published Date

ISBN 10

1597144460

ISBN 13

9781597144469

Blood Hina

A Mas Arai Mystery

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Blood Hina

A Mas Arai Mystery

By: Naomi Hirahara

Mas Arai's best friend Haruo is getting married, and he has grudgingly agreed to serve as best man. But when an ancient Japanese doll display of Haruo's fiancée goes missing, the wedding is called off with fingers pointed at Haruo. To solve the mystery to save Haruo's life, Mas must untangle a web of secrecy, heart-breaking memories, and murder.

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Page Count

249

Publisher

Prospect Park Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1938849205

ISBN 13

9781938849206

Sayonara Slam

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Sayonara Slam

By: Naomi Hirahara

Japan faces Korea in the World Baseball Classic at Dodger Stadium, and curmudgeonly gardener Mas Arai finds himself embroiled in a murder. A Japanese tabloid writer drops dead on the field, and Mas gave the victim his last drink. It turns out there's more at stake than a baseball championship—international diplomacy depends upon uncovering secrets buried decades ago. Naomi Hirahara is the Edgar Award–winning and Anthony and Macavity Award–nominated author of the Mas Arai mystery series, including Strawberry Yellow, Blood Hina, and Snakeskin Shamisen. She is also the author of the new series of Los Angeles-based Ellie Rush mysteries, published by Penguin.

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235

Publisher

Prospect Park Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1938849744

ISBN 13

9781938849749

Evergreen

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Evergreen

By: Naomi Hirahara

A Japanese American nurse's aide navigates the dangers of post-WWII and post-Manzanar life as she attempts to find justice for a broken family in this follow-up to the Mary Higgins Clark Award–winning Clark and Division. It’s been two years since Aki Ito and her family were released from Manzanar detention center and resettled in Chicago with other Japanese Americans. Now the Itos have finally been allowed to return home to California—but nothing is as they left it. The entire Japanese American community is starting from scratch, with thousands of people living in dismal refugee camps while they struggle to find new houses and jobs in over-crowded Los Angeles. Aki is working as a nurse’s aide at the Japanese Hospital in Boyle Heights when an elderly Issei man is admitted with suspicious injuries. When she seeks out his son, she is shocked to recognize her husband’s best friend, Babe Watanabe. Could Babe be guilty of elder abuse? Only a few days later, Little Tokyo is rocked by a murder at the low-income hotel where the Watanabes have been staying. When the cops start sniffing around Aki’s home, she begins to worry that the violence tearing through her community might threaten her family. What secrets have the Watanabes been hiding, and can Aki protect her husband from getting tangled up in a murder investigation?

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313

Publisher

Soho Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1641293608

ISBN 13

9781641293600

Snakeskin Shamisen

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Snakeskin Shamisen

By: Naomi Hirahara

From Summer of the Big Bachi to Gasa-Gasa Girl, Naomi Hirahara’s acclaimed novels have featured one of mystery fiction’s most unique heroes: Mas Arai, a curmudgeonly L.A. gardener, Hiroshima survivor, and inveterate gambler. Few things get Mas more excited than gambling, so when he hears about a $500,000 win–from a novelty slot machine!–he’s torn between admiration and derision. But the stakes are quickly raised when the winner, a friend of Mas’s pal G. I. Hasuike, is found stabbed to death just days later. The last thing Mas wants to do is stick his nose in someone else’s business, but at G.I.’s prodding he reluctantly agrees to follow the trail of a battered snakeskin shamisen (a traditional Okinawan musical instrument) left at the scene of the crime…and suddenly finds himself caught up in a dark mystery that reaches from the islands of Okinawa to the streets of L.A.–a world of heartbreaking memories, deception, and murder.

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Page Count

274

Publisher

Delta

Published Date

ISBN 10

0385339615

ISBN 13

9780385339612

Hometown Pasadena

By: Mary Lea Carroll

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Hometown Pasadena

By: Mary Lea Carroll

A lively new edition of the witty, colorful hit book that unlocks the insider secrets of Pasadena and environs.

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Page Count

200

Published Date

ISBN 10

193884999X

ISBN 13

9781938849992

An Eternal Lei

A Leilani Santiago Hawai'i Mystery

By: Naomi Hirahara

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An Eternal Lei

A Leilani Santiago Hawai'i Mystery

By: Naomi Hirahara

It's the middle of the pandemic and Hawaii has been virtually closed to tourists. So when Leilani Santiago and her young sisters save a mysterious woman wearing an unusual lei from drowning in Waimea Bay in Kaua‘i, questions abound. Who is she and where did she come from? Leilani suddenly finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation when the lei is traced back to her best friend, the very pregnant Courtney Kahuakai, and her family’s flower business. While the woman is in a medically-induced coma at a local hospital, Leilani sets out to discover her identity and her connections to the island. She is drawn deeper into the mystery, only to stumble into secrets that prove deadly. When Leilani’s investigation puts her family in danger, her survival and the safety of those dearest to her will depend on her sense of ingenuity and the strength of her island community.

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Page Count

125

Publisher

Turner Publishing Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

1684427983

ISBN 13

9781684427987

Blood Hina

A Mas Arai Mystery

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Blood Hina

A Mas Arai Mystery

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Page Count

249

Publisher

Prospect Park Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1938849205

ISBN 13

9781938849206

1001 Cranes

By: Naomi Hirahara

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1001 Cranes

By: Naomi Hirahara

“A contemplative story.”—Booklist When twelve-year-old Angela Kato arrives in L.A., the last thing she wants to do is spend the entire summer with her grandparents. But in the Kato family, one is never permitted to complain. Grandma Michi and Aunt Janet put Angela to work in their flower shop, folding origami and creating 1001-crane displays for newlyweds. At first, Angela learns the trade begrudgingly. But when her folding skills improve and her relationships with family and friends grow, Angela is able to cope with her troubles, especially her parents’ impending divorce. “A wonderfully engaging and poignant novel about a revered Japanese American custom that transforms the life of a lost young girl.”—Cynthia Kadohata, Newbery Award–winning author of Kira-Kira

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Page Count

242

Publisher

Yearling

Published Date

ISBN 10

0440422345

ISBN 13

9780440422341

Summer of the Big Bachi

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Summer of the Big Bachi

By: Naomi Hirahara

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370

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Dell

Published Date

ISBN 10

0440241545

ISBN 13

9780440241546

Iced in Paradise

A Leilani Santiago Hawai'i Mystery

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Iced in Paradise

A Leilani Santiago Hawai'i Mystery

By: Naomi Hirahara

Leilani Santiago is back in her birthplace, the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i, to help keep afloat the family business, a shave ice shack. When she goes to work one morning, she stumbles across a dead body, a young pro surfer who was being coached by her estranged father. As her father soon becomes the No. 1 murder suspect, Leilani must find the real killer and somehow safeguard her ill mother, little sisters, and grandmother while also preserving a long-distance relationship with her boyfriend in Seattle.

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Page Count

147

Publisher

Prospect Park Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1945551607

ISBN 13

9781945551604

Life After Manzanar

By: Naomi Hirahara,Heather C. Lindquist

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Life After Manzanar

By: Naomi Hirahara,Heather C. Lindquist

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302

Publisher

Heyday.ORIM

Published Date

ISBN 10

1597144460

ISBN 13

9781597144469

Iced in Paradise

A Leilani Santiago Hawai'i Mystery

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Iced in Paradise

A Leilani Santiago Hawai'i Mystery

By: Naomi Hirahara

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147

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Prospect Park Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1945551607

ISBN 13

9781945551604

Hiroshima Boy

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Hiroshima Boy

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Page Count

128

Publisher

Prospect Park Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1945551097

ISBN 13

9781945551093

Strawberry Yellow

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Strawberry Yellow

By: Naomi Hirahara

Mas Arai returns for his fifth mystery by getting entangled in a family reunion murder in California's strawberry fields.

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Page Count

149

Publisher

Prospect Park Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1938849035

ISBN 13

9781938849039

Gasa-Gasa Girl

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Gasa-Gasa Girl

By: Naomi Hirahara

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370

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Dell

Published Date

ISBN 10

0440241553

ISBN 13

9780440241553

Sayonara Slam

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Sayonara Slam

By: Naomi Hirahara

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235

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Prospect Park Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1938849744

ISBN 13

9781938849749

Murder on Bamboo Lane

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Murder on Bamboo Lane

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Page Count

306

Publisher

Penguin

Published Date

ISBN 10

0425264955

ISBN 13

9780425264959

Evergreen

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Evergreen

By: Naomi Hirahara

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313

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Soho Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1641293608

ISBN 13

9781641293600

Grave on Grand Avenue

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Grave on Grand Avenue

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Page Count

183

Publisher

Penguin

Published Date

ISBN 10

110160946X

ISBN 13

9781101609460

Snakeskin Shamisen

By: Naomi Hirahara

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Snakeskin Shamisen

By: Naomi Hirahara

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274

Publisher

Delta

Published Date

ISBN 10

0440335892

ISBN 13

9780440335894

We Are Here

30 Inspiring Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Have Shaped the United States

By: Naomi Hirahara,Smithsonian Institution

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We Are Here

30 Inspiring Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Have Shaped the United States

By: Naomi Hirahara,Smithsonian Institution

A stunning anthology licensed in partnership with the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, We Are Here celebrates 30 of the most inspiring Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in U.S. history. There are more than 23 million people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent living in the United States. Their stories span across generations, as well as across the world. We Are Here highlights thirty Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and the impact they’ve had on the cultural, social, and political fabric of the United States. Profiles include: Amanda Nguyen * Bruno Mars * Grace Lee Boggs * Lakshmi Singh * Naomi Osaka * Philip Vera Cruz * Vishavjit Singh * Shirin Neshat * Thenmozhi Soundararajan * Schuyler Miwon Hong Bailar * Channapha Khamvongsa * Lydia XZ Brown * Etel Adnan * Chien-Shiung Wu * Jerry Yang * Carissa Moore * Craig Santos Perez * Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson * Eddie Aikau * John Kneubuhl * Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner * Keanu Reeves * Hinaleimoana Kwai Kong Wong-Kalu * Manny Crisostomo * Momi Cazimero * Teresa Teaiwa * Mau Piailug * Taimane Gardner * Calvin and Charlene Hoe * Dinah Jane

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