Isle pages

New releases from
Hawaii authors

		"Crossword of the Pacific -- From the Pages of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin" by Charlotte Yee (Bess Press, $9.95) OK, we'll take partial credit for this one. The result of Yee's extraordinary -- and probably exhausting -- feat of creating a different locally themed crossword appears every Monday in this paper's Features section. I don't know how she does it. Bess Press has gathered together some of Yee's greatest hits from crosswords past and put it all together in a high-quality package that includes white paper and spiral binding. This isn't your cheapo, disposable crossword book. Crosswords are addictive, and this is just Volume 1!
		"The Surf Rats of Waikiki Beach," "Waltah Melon, Local-Kine Hero" and "Mele da Mynah's Noisy 'Ohana" by Carmen Geshell, illustrated by Jeff Pagay (Bess Press, $9.95 each) A trio of kid books features the latest attempts to create franchise characters, told with wit by Geshell and drawn with style by Pagay. "Mele da Mynah" is pretty standard-issue but the "Surf Rats" and "Waltah Melon" should have more adventures.
		"The Spirit of Hula" by Shari 'Iolani Floyd Berinobis (Bess Press, $29.95) Similar in spirit to the Star-Bulletin's "Signs of Hawaiian Life" weekly travel feature, Berinobis has collected information and photographs from hula halau scattered around the world. The result is a surprisingly attractive and memorable scrapbook designed by Carol Colbath.
		" 'O Kamehameha III: Kauikeaouli" by Jean Iwata Cachola, illustrated by Robin Yoko Burningham, and " 'O Kamehameha IV: Alexander Liholiho" by Ruby Hasegawa Lowe, illustrated by Robin Yoko Burningham (Kamehameha Schools Press, $9.95 each) Hawaiian-language editions of KSP's popular basic biographies of Hawaii's royalty make excellent introductory texts for the language.
		"Caritas Et Amor -- Mercy and Love" by Francisco Heftel Liquido (Publish America, $19.95) Yale student Liquido got carried away writing religiously themed essays back in his Punahou creative-writing class, and they are gathered here together in this slim print-on-demand volume. A serious lad!