Moloka'i transports the reader to the Hawaiian islands with its detailed descriptions. Set in the early twentieth century, the novel follows seven year old Rachael, a victim of leoprosy (Hansen's disease)who is torn from her family to be quarintined on Moloka'i. Through her eyes, the reader watches as her new friends and family succumb to the disease. Even as we despair at her many losses, we triumph when she escapes for one 'normal' night at a party when she and friends sneak away from the nuns and creep across one of Moloka'i's formidable mountains. The novel includes the USA's dubious role in 'settling' the islands, as well as its handling of Hanson's disease. Engrossing and educational.