Excerpt from
S I S T A _ T O N G U E
by Lisa Linn Kanae • First Edition 2001 • Second Edition 2008 • $10
Designed by Kristin Lipman

At firs my madda was supa worried dat Harold-Boy neva start talking da same time as me and my cousin dem.  Now she stay mo worried, because he no can talk like everybody else.  But, not like everybody in dis house talk good English.  My madda, she every time tell me,

"you not going get one good job if you no can talk good English.  People going tink you stupid."

Lisa Linn Kana`e was born and raised in Honolulu.  Her work can be found in Bamboo Ridge: Journal of Hawai`i Writers Quarterly, Hybolics, and Tinfish.  Kana`e received both her B.A. and M.A. in English at the University of Hawai`i at Manoa.  She is currently a lecturer in English at Kapiolani Community College and serves as an editorial assistant for `Oiwi: A Native Hawaiian Journal.

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