The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Hakes, Jasmin `Iolani. Hula. HarperCollins, 2023.

The novel begins in the community of Hilo, Hawai`i, where a young girl named Hi`i is born into the prominent Naupaka family. Hi`i's grandmother, Hulali, is an outspoken political activist against American colonialism, and the Naupakas have long held elevated social status in Hawai`i because of their foremother's success at dancing hula for the Hawaiian king. Hi`i, however, is shunned by Hulali, who does not believe that Hi`i is her real granddaughter; the community, in turn, responds with skepticism. As Hi`i grows up, her mother, Laka, is cagey about revealing the circumstances of Hi`i's birth; she appears much whiter than her peers and was born under mysterious circumstances while Laka lived in Maui after a falling out with Hulali. In spite of being ostracized by the community, Hi`i decides to dance hula so as to prove that she is a true Naupaka. She joins in the other girls in bullying a white girl, Jane, but still fails to fit in with her peers.

Things worsen for Hi`i following a class trip to the Waipi`o Valley, during which Hi`i accidentally violates traditional customs by entering a field while on her period, or ma`i. She is shunned by her peers for this infraction and begins to blame herself for the ills that befall the community. In the meantime, Laka becomes pregnant with another child by her abusive boyfriend, Tony, which creates distance between Hi`i and her mother. After Hi`i's rival, Leilani, is selected as Miss Aloha Hula in advance of a festival, Hi`i impulsively quits hula and begins to spend her time wandering the community instead. Laka gives birth to her second daughter, Malia, but Tony is incarcerated after hitting and killing a young man during a drunk driving incident. When Hulali comes to town and begins to dote on Malia, Hi`i realizes she is not related to her mother by blood.

The novel takes a step back in time to Laka's childhood, which is marked by intense pressure from Hulali to dance hula and behave submissively. Laka develops a romantic relationship with a half-white Hawaiian man named David, and when Hulali finds out about their affair she punishes Laka severely. Although Laka manages to win Miss Aloha Hula, she is so demoralized by Hulali's abuse and David's abandonment of her that she runs away to Maui in order to give birth to her and David's child in secret. Although Laka suffers a miscarriage upon arriving in Maui, she meets another woman, Beatriz, whom she quickly befriends. Beatriz gives birth to a child of her own and abandons it with Laka; this child is Hi`i. Years later, following the birth of her first blood daughter, Malia, Laka becomes aware that Hi`i has gradually begun to drift further and further away from her. When she learns from Jane that Hi`i is intending to dance a hula which honors the Naupaka name, she feels she must come clean with Hi`i about her heritage. The news shatters Hi`i so thoroughly that she leaves Hilo in order to attend college in Los Angeles.

After moving to Los Angeles, Hi`i finishes school and marries a well-to-do Hawaiian man named Jacob. Hi`i gives birth to two daughters, Emma and Ruth, before Jacob contracts pancreatic cancer and dies very suddenly. Hulali sends Malia to Los Angeles to help Hi`i mourn, but Hi`i realizes their relationship is irreparably strained and begins to contemplate Jacob's final wish that she take their daughters to Hilo. After Malia leaves and Hi`i reads a newspaper article about the ever-worsening state of Hawaiian politics, she decides to bring Emma and Ruth to her hometown. When they arrive, however, the turbulent political situation makes Hi`i feel as though she never should have come; worse yet, Laka spots Emma and Ruth on the beach near a political rally and hurls invectives against them, labeling them as tourists because she does not recognize them as her granddaughters.

Laka and Hulali set aside their differences in order to organize a massive protest against the American government. This protest results in their arrest, and Laka is astonished when Hi`i arrives to pay her bail. The two women have a bitter argument before Laka realizes that she has become just like Hulali, but Hi`i leaves before they can reconcile. When Hi`i makes to return to Los Angeles, however, she cannot bring herself to leave, and instead returns to her childhood home with her husband's ashes. Hulali, Laka, and Malia accompany Hi`i and her daughters in order to scatter them.