The Lucky 7 Lessons They Don’t Teach You at Princeton, Yale, and Harvard

The Lucky 7 Lessons by Melvin Masuda
The Lucky 7 Lessons They Don’t Teach You at Princeton, Yale, and Harvard by Melvin Masuda

Softcover, 24 pp
Release Date: September 2021

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In earning degrees from three prestigious Ivy League universities, Mel Masuda learned valuable lessons that went far beyond the curriculum—from ethics to dealing with intolerance to the value of his working-class roots.

“You learn pretty quickly that the intellectual life of Princeton, Yale, and Harvard is different from the real world,” Masuda observes. In The Lucky 7 Lessons They Don’t Teach You at Princeton, Yale, and Harvard, Masuda lays out his top seven takeaways from his life of higher education.

This book is a customized version of the Print on Demand Package.

The Lucky 7 Lessons is available via online booksellers in print and e-book formats.

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Ori the Whale

Ori the Whale by Gwen and Harry Mirijanian
Softcover, 32 pp
Release Date: September 2023
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It’s Ori the Whale’s first time making the long journey from chilly Alaska to the warmer waters of the Hawaiian Islands, and Mother Whale has so many things to show him! For twenty-five years, Mother Whale has been making this roundtrip journey, and in Ori the Whale: Mother Whale’s Favorite Things to See on Maui, she shares with her calf Ori all of her favorite things to see when she comes to Maui each winter.

Just like Mother Whale, authors Gwen and Harry Mirijanian have visited Maui annually for the past twenty-five years. “Sitting on the beach one day,” Harry recalls, “we thought about all the people who come to Maui to see the whales. And then we thought about what the whales who return each year were seeing and thinking,” which led to the couple’s idea to create a children’s book to share everything they treasure about Maui. “We enjoy whale watching with a close friend who was a humpback whale researcher, and year after year, we would see the same whale, usually with a calf.” This mother whale guiding her offspring inspired the storyline for Ori the Whale. Vivid illustrations by Darren Sanchez bring the people, places and activities of Maui alive.

The 32-page softcover, full-color book is a custom-quote project illustrated with original artwork and provided as complete layouts in digital format by the client.

Ori the Whale is available via our online store.

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What the World Needs Now

What the World Needs Now by Joyce Iwashita
Softcover, 48 pp
Release Date: May 2022
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How can you contribute to make the world a better place? That’s the question educator Joyce Iwashita asks in her new book, What the World Needs Now: A Guide for Helping Kids Make Good Choices. Simple actions and positive choices are rendered in vivid digital illustrations by Kelson Gallano, a senior at Ka‘ū High School on the island of Hawai‘i.

A retired school teacher and principal, and a graduate of Ka‘ū High herself, Iwashita found herself wondering during the pandemic, How could I help children, if I were still a school principal? “A global pandemic impacts everyone,” she notes, “but it presents especially great challenges for children and their families. Teaching students that they can make choices that will improve or enhance their lives—or someone else’s—helps bring out their best.” With that in mind, she wrote What the World Needs Now to spread the message that “Everyone can contribute to making things right in their schools, in their communities, and throughout the world.” 

When it came time to bring her lessons to life with artwork, Iwashita turned to her alma mater for a recommendation to a student illustrator. “I completed the writing in 2020, and in May of 2021 I was connected with Kelson,” Iwashita recalls. “He and I started communicating via Zoom and exchanged ideas and reviewed drafts in monthly conferences with his teacher and his parents.” Adds Gallano, “It was a great learning expererience for me and brought me out of my comfort zone—I taught myself to use the Procreate app on the iPad and used Mrs. Iwashita’s storyline paired with illustrations of what we as students go through every day. I’m thankful that she trusted and believed in me.” Gallano’s cover depicts the flowers spread across the hillside of Pu‘u Makanau, where the early Hawaiian navigators of Ka‘ū observed the stars—the “twinkling eyes” in the mountain’s name. The flowers, he explains, represent all the children of Ka‘ū.

The 48-page softcover, full-color book is a custom-quote project illustrated with original artwork provided in digital format by the client.

What the World Needs Now is available via our online store and at local bookstores and online retailers.

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Ha‘aha‘a

Ha‘aha‘a by Thao “Kale‘a” Le, PhD, MPH
Hardcover, 32 pp
Release Date: September 2023
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Beautiful, sweet, stunning Mango is praised by everyone. Compared to the leaves, the tree branches, the other mangoes, Mango is just…better…isn’t it so? When confronted with the sacrifices of those around them, Mango learns a valuable lesson in humility.

Written by Thao “Kale‘a” Le, PhD, MPH, a professor in the Human Development and Family Studies program in the Family Consumer Sciences Department at the University of Hawai‘i Mānoa, Ha‘aha‘a is a creative narrative for encouraging humble appreciation of one’s own gifts and the contributions of others. Ha‘aha‘a is one of the components of ALOHA, as espoused by the teachings of Native Hawaiian poet and philosopher Aunty Pīlahi Pākī, otherwise known as the “Aloha Spirit Law,” HRS [§5-7.5].

Covers Hawaii Content & Performance Standards Database III Content Area: Health
Standard 1: Core Concepts – Understand concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention (Mental and Emotional Health); Standard 3: Self-Management – Practice Health: Enhancing behaviors and reduce health risks (Mental and Emotional Health, Factors Influencing Health Across Topic Areas); Standard 5: Interpersonal Communication – Use interpersonal communication skills to enhance health

This is the third book in Dr. Le’s series designed to teach children about ALOHA and mindfulness. 

The 32-page hardcover, full-color book is a custom-quote project illustrated with original artwork provided in digital format by the client.

Ha‘aha‘a is available via our online store and has been distributed through the author’s efforts via partnerships with educational organizations.

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Hooligan Hearts

Hooligan Hearts: A Memoir by John G. Walters

Softcover, 304 pp
Release Date: August 2022

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Author John G. Walters (“Waltah Boy”) grew up on sugar plantations on the Big Island of Hawai‘i, including plantations in Hilo and Pāpa‘ikou. But the place closest to his heart is his last home on the Big Island—the town of Pāhala. In Hooligan Hearts, Walters chronicles these barefoot days, Island nights and his boyhood adventures, coming of age in yesterday’s Hawai‘i

Hooligan Hearts is Walters’s tribute to his brother, Ron, and the way of life they enjoyed as boys: “I wrote these vignettes to preserve and share memories I treasure. It’s my hope that whoever comes into my family or reads these stories after I’m gone will enjoy them, and I will be able to share a little bit about the place, time, and way we lived—especially since that way of life has vanished along with Hawai‘i’s sugar plantations.”

This book is a customized version of the Print on Demand Package.

Hooligan Hearts is available via online booksellers in print and e-book formats.

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Fifty-Three Tuesdays

Fifty-Three Tuesdays by G.K. Nakata

Softcover, 664 pp
Release Date: June 2022

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In Fifty-Three Tuesdays, G.K. Nakata spins a slow-burning, passionate story of star-crossed lovers who could—just maybe—prove that love conquers all.

Nakata has written all his life-mostly legal briefs and financial analyses. He delved into fiction after stumbling into a Honolulu, Hawai’i hostess bar and, he says, the adventures just started rolling off my pen. A cabinet member in a previous city administration, Nakata has been involved in more than twenty political campaigns at both the city and state levels. How did a veteran of the political wars end up writing a love story? I walked into the bar one day, made a few friends, drank a few beers, sang some songs, and watched everyday people having everyday interactions-then asked, what if?

This book is a customized version of the Print on Demand Package.

Fifty-Three Tuesdays is available via online booksellers in print and e-book formats.

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From the Desk of the Attorney General

From the Desk of the Attorney General: A Memoir by David M. Louie
Softcover, 184 pp
Release Date: October 2021
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David M. Louie had been a civil trial lawyer in private practice for thirty-two years when he was named Hawai‘i’s attorney general by Governor Neil Abercrombie in 2010. What followed was an eye-opening education in the nature of government—how it works and how the sausage of government policy is made. His historic koa wood desk in Hawai‘i’s state capitol gave Louie a frontrow seat for viewing—and shaping—the inner workings of government. In this incisive, behind-the-scenes memoir, the country’s first Chinese American state attorney general recalls the landmark cases of his time in office—environmental issues, Native Hawaiian rights, Internet safety, same sex marriage, human trafficking and even the unlikely concert hoax known as the “Wonder Blunder.”

From the Desk of the Attorney General is Louie’s chronicle of his experiences as a public servant—the challenges faced, the insights gained, the lessons learned. His behind-the-scenes account of the way things really get done—how issues are addressed and decisions made, how goals are achieved and power wielded—provides an inside look at the role of the top lawyer in state government, the decision maker who operates at the intersection of law, politics and government.

This book is a customized version of the Professional Package, with increased print run, in hardcover with dustjacket.

From the Desk of the Attorney General is available via our online store and at local bookstores

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Helene Yoshie…My Wife, Our Life: A Memoir

Helene Yoshie by George Hayakawa

Helene Yoshie…My Wife, Our Life
by George Hayakawa

Softcover, 160 pp
Release Date: September 2019
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What began as a tribute to his late wife, Helene, developed into a chronicle of George Hayakawa’s life with her, and a family history recorded for posterity. Helene Yoshie is a tribute to its namesake, as well as Hayakawa’s way of honoring her patience, strength and compassion. It was through Helene’s help that Hayakawa reconnected with his familial roots in Japan. As the last of his family’s line, this chronicle of the Hayakawa history is also his way of carrying on their legacy.

This type of book can be created with the ‘Ohana Package or Professional Package. Helene Yoshie was published using our Professional Package + Distribution Services add-on.

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Beyond the Lines

Beyond the Lines by Rusty Komori

Beyond the Lines: Creating a Leadership Culture to Achieve Extraordinary Results
by Rusty Komori

Softcover, 112 pp
Release Date: December 2017
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Beyond the Lines offers a game plan for any leader to help an organization achieve and sustain success. In direct, simple terms, author Rusty Komori lays out a path for achievement and excellence in leadership, drawing from notable examples in sports history, as well as his own experience during more than two decades as a successful, championship-winning tennis coach.

Rusty Komori is a motivational speaker, leadership consultant, and tennis professional based in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. From 1994 through 2015, he was the head tennis coach at Punahou School, where his boys’ varsity teams won an unprecedented 22 consecutive state championships, a national record in all sports that still stands. His books are a component of his speaking engagements, providing lasting lessons and a reminder of Komori’s consulting services.

This book is a customized version of the Professional Package, with increased print run.

Beyond the Lines is available via our online store, local bookstores and via online booksellers.

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You Know You’re Chinese When…


You Know You’re Chinese When…
by Stephen Choy, Ph.D., illustrated by Canossa Choy

Softcover, 48 pp
Release Date: December 2018
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You Know You’re Chinese When… offers a happy, humorous celebration of Chinese-American culture. With the help of his family, author Stephen Choy assembled a compendium of the customs, traditions, foods and quirky habits of everyday life, illustrated by his wife, Canossa. For those who grew up as he did, this lighthearted collection will recall the familiar tastes, sounds and objects of a lifetime.

“Time was when I disliked being so immersed in the practices that singled our family out—annual visits to the cemetery, eating with chopsticks, shopping in Chinatown. I just wanted to be ‘American!’” Choy recalls. “I suppose that was more in my self-conscious teen years. Well, here I am now in my 70s with a wife from Macau, many years a member of the Kung Sheong Doo Society, and very happily identifying as Chinese American.”

A clinical psychologist by trade—and still practicing full-time today—Choy is a trained observer of human behavior. “Sharing what is uniquely different about us with one another enriches our melting pot as a whole,” he says. “Attending college in Milwaukee and living in New York for ten years broadened my view of what being Chinese in America is all about. I’m not trying to define the whole Chinese-American experience. My book is meant to educate and entertain through the lens of my personal experience.”

This type of book is a customized project based on the Photo Legacy Package. Illustrations by his wife were provided by the author, as was a design concept for the book interior, created by his daughter. Our Legacy Isle team used this template and refined it for a commercial audience. In addition, our team advised the author on structuring the book and adding elements to give it more reader appeal.

You Know You’re Chinese When… is available via our online store, local bookstores and via online booksellers.

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