"This interesting and compelling read on an infrequently written-about topic will find an appropriate audience in a middle or a high school setting. Highly Recommended."
     —Library Media Connection

"For readers who’ve only ever imagined Hawai‘i as a vacation paradise, this is a riveting look into its history and people during a dark period. ... The portrait of Father Damien, the Belgian priest who dedicates his life to helping the villagers, is rendered so compassionately (and realistically)...he reminds the people of the values they carry inside them already, and draws them away from the despair and grief that have temporarily kept them from helping and caring for each other. ...[R]eaders will find their compassion stirred and their interest piqued through this truly fine historical novel."
     —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Hostetter's meticulous research on the history of the leprosy settlement results in a believable account of what it must have been like to be a leper at the Kalawao settlement around the 1870s and 1880s. She provides a good bibliography of resources plus information about leprosy. ... This well-written novel offers teens an interesting perspective of Hawaiian history through Pia's first-person narrative, but it is also a story about anger, reconciliation, and acceptance."
     —Voice of Youth Advocates