Summary

In Part 1, "Deliverance," Chapter 1, "Malia, 1995, Honoka'a," Malia Flores addresses her narrative to her son Nainoa. She has a sense of clarity, feeling she now knows what the gods want for their family. She remembers the day she and her husband, Augie, had sex on the beach and conceived Nainoa. Sitting up, they spotted night marchers on the distant hill. As a boy Noa would tell her his strange dreams. Meanwhile the family struggled to retain jobs and pay bills. Then one day, the family was out on a boat and Noa fell in, surrounded by sharks. No one could reach him, though Malia tried. They watched as the sharks carried him gently back to the boat.

In Chapter 2, "Nainoa, 2000, Kalihi," on New Year’s, Noa and his older brother Dean played with two bullies, Skyler and James. Knowing Noa was fabled on the...