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DRAGONFRUIT. Now available in paperback. 🌺 🐉A New DRAGONFRUIT. Now available in paperback. 🌺

🐉A New York Public Library Best Book

🌺A USA TODAY Bestseller

🐉One of NPR’s “Books We Love”

🌺Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, Youth Honor

🐉Oregon Book Award winner

🌺A Kirkus Best Book

🐉A School Library Journal Best Book

🌺”A mesmerizing, captivating Pacific Islands-inspired fantasy.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

🐉”(D)azzles from start to finish.” — Publishers Weekly

🌺A “lush, captivating fantasy.” — Booklist

🐉”The seadragons are rad.” Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

From acclaimed author Makiia Lucier, a dazzling, romantic fantasy inspired by Pacific Island mythology.

In the old tales, it is written that the egg of a seadragon, dragonfruit, holds within it the power to undo a person’s greatest sorrow. An unwanted marriage, a painful illness, and unpaid debt...gone. But as with all things that promise the moon and the stars and offer hope when hope has gone, the tale comes with a warning.

Every wish demands a price.

Hanalei of Tamarind is the cherished daughter of an old island family. But when her father steals a seadragon egg meant for an ailing princess, she is forced into a life of exile. In the years that follow, Hanalei finds solace in studying the majestic seadragons that roam the Nominomi Sea. Until, one day, an encounter with a female dragon offers her what she desires most. A chance to return home, and to right a terrible wrong.

Samahtitamahenele, Sam, is the last remaining prince of Tamarind. But he can never inherit the throne, for Tamarind is a matriarchal society. With his mother ill and his grandmother nearing the end of her reign, Sam is left with two choices: to marry, or to find a cure for the sickness that has plagued his mother for ten long years. When a childhood companion returns from exile, she brings with her something he has not felt in a very long time-hope.

But Hanalei and Sam are not the only ones searching for the dragonfruit. And as they battle enemies both near and far, there is another danger they cannot escape...that of the dragonfruit itself. 🌺
Last night I had the honor of presenting the Orego Last night I had the honor of presenting the Oregon Book Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Literature. Thank you very much to @literaryarts for the invitation. I didn’t take very many photos! But I love this one dark crowd shot because it shows how many people turned out on a school night to celebrate books and authors. 🖤

Congratulations to all the nominees, and to winner Roseanne Parry for A WOLF CALLED FIRE 🐺🖤🐺, who told us all, “Please never doubt that your words have weight.”
Very scary times back home on Guam, Rota, Tinian, Very scary times back home on Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan. When it made landfall this week, Super Typhoon Sinlaku had sustained winds of 150 mph (National Weather Service). That’s a lot of damage and a lot of heartache. If you’d like to learn about ways to help, I’ll link to the ‘American Red Cross Pacific Islands Region’ and ‘World Central Kitchen’ in my stories.
I’m so pleased to share that DRAGONFRUIT is an ‘Or I’m so pleased to share that DRAGONFRUIT is an ‘Oregon Battle of the Books’ selection for the 2026-2027 school year. 🌺🐉🌺 Thank you to all the students who voted on my seadragon book (I think the cover might have had something to do with it!) and to the Oregon teachers and librarians who have championed Hanalei’s story from day one. 🌺

You can find the DRAGONFRUIT hardcover, ebook, and audiobook in all the usual book places. The paperback edition comes out in one week. 🐉🌺🐉

@oregon_battle_of_the_books
My DRAGONFRUIT paperbacks arrived yesterday while My DRAGONFRUIT paperbacks arrived yesterday while I was in the yard pulling ten thousand weeds. They’re delightful! And portable! You can find them on bookstore shelves Tuesday, April 21st. 🐉🌺🐉
Getting there. 🌺 Getting there. 🌺
Save the date! 🌺 The Bay Area Book Festival will t Save the date! 🌺 The Bay Area Book Festival will take place May 29-31, and I’m delighted to be a part of it this year. You can find me on the ‘Epic Quests’ panel at The Magnes (full schedule @baybookfest) where I’ll be talking about island magic, seadragons, and fruit bats. 🐉🌺🐉 If you’re in the Berkeley area in May, I hope you’ll stop by and say hello!
Crawled out of my writing cave long enough to see Crawled out of my writing cave long enough to see the cherry blossoms. 🩷
Souvenirs. 🌺 Found these beautiful prints while vi Souvenirs. 🌺 Found these beautiful prints while visiting Guam and Hawaii, by artists Taylor Alvarez, Maria G. Fitzpatrick, and Viktoria Sayrs. 🌺
Congratulations and HOORAY to this year’s Oregon B Congratulations and HOORAY to this year’s Oregon Book Awards finalists!! (And extra ⭐️🔥♥️💃🏻 for those writing for our youngest readers). 😍 If you’re in the neighborhood, come and cheer everyone on Monday, April 20th at Portland Center Stage at the Armory. Tickets and info @literaryarts, hope to see you there! 

#OregonBookAwards
Ask a brain inside a jar would top my list. 🧠♥️🧠 ( Ask a brain inside a jar would top my list. 🧠♥️🧠 (Reposted with kind permission from @alexdawcreates). ♥️
no shirt, no shoes, no problem ☀️🌴🐓♥️ no shirt, no shoes, no problem ☀️🌴🐓♥️
A very kind review of DRAGONFRUIT. 🌺 Thank you, Ee A very kind review of DRAGONFRUIT. 🌺 Thank you, Eerie. 🌺🐉🌺
A few favorites from 2025. Happy New Year! 1 Fav A few favorites from 2025. Happy New Year! 

1 Favorite Guam librarian

2&3 Oregon Book Awards, with friends

4&5 Los Angeles-leis for our grad + no more tuition payments 🕺🏻⭐️

6 Philadelphia-an @ala_apala honor for DRAGONFRUIT

7 happy

8 sad

9 Empty chairs at empty tables

10 A long trip home, a much loved cousin

11 Latte stones on Guam (latte rhymes with flat-ee)

12&13 Everyday Portland
Writing break. 🍃🖤🍃 Writing break. 🍃🖤🍃
Two fall pics, from Portland. 🍁 Two fall pics, from Portland. 🍁
“Five hundred dragoners to capture and kill. And t “Five hundred dragoners to capture and kill. And then there was Hanalei.” 🐉🌺🐉

The DRAGONFRUIT audiobook is narrated by Hawaii born actor and singer Mapuana Makia, who does such a brilliant job of bringing Hanalei’s story to life. You can find it in all the usual book places, including your neighborhood library. 🌺

Big bonus-Mapuana also happens to be 100% human and 0% Al. This author supports #HumanVoicesOnly in audiobook production and the arts in general, today and forever after. 🌺
I am so pleased to share that DRAGONFRUIT is a rec I am so pleased to share that DRAGONFRUIT is a recipient of the Wisconsin Library Association’s Elizabeth Burr Award, which honors the most distinguished work in children’s and young adult literature each year. ♥️ When I graduated with a library degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, I fully intended to become a children’s librarian. Life has its own plot twists, however, and, well, you can see what I ended up doing instead. 😊

I’m delighted DRAGONFRUIT continues to find readers throughout the U.S. and around the world. Thank you very much to the Children’s Book Awards Committee of the Wisconsin Library Association, including chair Hanna Collins, and to librarians across the state who have championed Hanalei’s story. I am deeply grateful. ♥️
Four years ago today. 🖤 Four years ago today. 🖤
Very early in the process, but we are so excited a Very early in the process, but we are so excited about the possibility of sharing DRAGONFRUIT with a wider audience. There are some incredible writers, producers, and actors working on this project, many of them Pacific islanders. (Holy cow and Hafa Adai!) Cross your fingers for us! I can’t wait to see what comes next. 🌺🐉🌺
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