Book Club – Blood Work and Other Stories by Donald A. Carreira Ching

Bamboo Ridge Press’ Donald A. Carreira Ching’s Blood Work and Other Stories won the 2026 Firecracker Award in Fiction. What we carry. What we inherit. What we leave behind. Seventeen stories of connection and survival in a place caught between what’s sacred and what’s sold. On the Windward side of Oʻahu, change moves quick—developers buy up neighborhoods, locals move away, and families struggle to hold on to what remains. Beneath each loss, however, lie quiet acts of resilience that refuse to be forgotten. Against a backdrop of economic hardship, housing instability, cultural transition, and environmental decline, Donald A. Carreira Ching offers readers a deeply intimate portrait of contemporary Hawai‘i. His characters live in a Hawai‘i far removed from tourist postcards, navigating sorrow, displacement, and the weight of generational trauma. Yet even in these quiet, overlooked corners, they hold fast to the connections that root them in place and community. With grace and grit, Carreira Ching renders Hawai‘i as few others have, bearing witness to what’s being lost while illuminating what endures: love, memory, and the deep connections between people and place. This collection affirms him as a vital voice in contemporary American fiction and a key contributor to the evolving canon of Hawai‘i literature. Additional copies of the novel will be available at Kahuku Public and School Library. A list of the 2026 titles is available upon request. Please attend a meeting and inquire with facilitator. Recommended for ages 18 and over. Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures to participate in a program, service, or activity should contact library staff as soon as possible. Advance requests 48 hours or more before the event are encouraged but not required.