Excerpt from Daughter of Moloka'i by Alan Brennert, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"Oh."

The sister tenderly straightened Ruth's hair and said, "Let's go to the playroom, all right?"

Due to public fear and prejudice, children of leprous parents were banned from attending public or private schools. But the Board of Education did, at least, provide the sisters with schoolroom equipment, and the Free Kindergarten and Children's Aid Association had years ago established a kindergarten at Kapi'olani Home and assisted the order in its operation. Girls from six to fifteen were taught by Sister Valeria Gerdes, who gave lessons in arithmetic and English.

After classes, the older girls sewed shirts and dresses for inmates at Kalaupapa—some of them, perhaps unwittingly, for their own parents.

Saturdays were housekeeping days and Sundays were for Mass and Benediction, but they were holy in another way: they were visiting days for friends and family—'ohana, a word Ruth knew, even if she had no use for it.

Ruth would listen as a brass bell rang, announcing the arrival of a visitor, and young Sister Praxedes would enter the dormitory to inform Maile that her uncle had come to see her, or Freda that her cousins from Wai'anae had arrived, or Addie that her friends from Kaimuki were here. The girls would jump off their beds, thrilled, and rush out of the room.

No bell ever rang for Ruth.

Until, one day, it did.

Sister Praxedes came in unexpectedly that afternoon and told her, "Ruth, there's a nice gentleman and lady here who want to meet you!"

Ruth, who knew no one outside the Home, could only think of one thing. She asked hopefully, "Are they my mama and papa?"

"They might be. They're looking for a little girl to adopt. To make part of their family."

"Really?" Ruth said excitedly.

Most of the time, when a resident girl was adopted, she was taken by relatives or friends in what was called a hanai adoption. But occasionally a couple with no relation to anyone in the Home would come seeking a girl to adopt. Usually these were Native Hawaiians, who were less afraid of leprosy and less mindful of the stigma that attached itself to children of lepers.

Ruth had watched as other girls were chosen to meet potential parents, but now, for the first time, she was taken to the Home's library where she was introduced to a man and woman, both Hawaiian. Ruth's heart raced with a new feeling—hope—as the man smiled warmly at her.

"Such a pretty little wahine. What's your name, keiki?" he asked, using the Hawaiian word for "child."

"Ruth," she answered, seeing kindness in his eyes.

"How old are you, Ruth?" the lady asked.

Ruth counted off three fingers on her hand. "T'ree?" she said uncertainly.

"Very good, Ruth," Sister Praxedes said, then, to the couple: "Ruth is a very bright little girl."

"Do you want a real home, Ruth, with a mama and a papa?" he asked.

"Oh yes!" Ruth cried out. "I do!"

The nice couple laughed and smiled, asked her a few more questions, then told her she was very sweet and thanked her for seeing them. Sister Praxedes escorted Ruth back to her dormitory and Ruth excitedly began wondering what her new home would be like, would she have brothers and sisters, would they have pets? She started planning which of her scant belongings she would pack first, until Sister Praxedes returned to tell her regretfully, "I'm so sorry, Ruth. They chose another girl."

Crushed by the weight of her hopes, Ruth asked, "Din't they like me?"

"They liked you fine, Ruth, it's just—"

"'Cause I'm hapa?" she asked, forlorn.

"No no, not at all. These things are hard to understand, Ruth."

She left, and Freda, a world-wise nine-year-old, said, "Same t'ing wen happen to me too. Sometimes they don't choose nobody at all. Don't let it get you down, yeah?"

Ruth nodded gratefully but felt no better.

Later, before lights out, Sister Lu came into the dorm, gave Ruth a hug, and assured her she would be chosen by someone, someday. "And meanwhile you have a home here and someone who loves you very much."

Excerpted from Daughter of Moloka'i by Alan Brennert. Copyright © 2019 by Alan Brennert. Excerpted by permission of St. Martin's Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.