Keala Kendall
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kealakendall.bsky.social
Keala Kendall
@kealakendall.bsky.social
1.3K followers 180 following 12 posts
ʻŌiwi NYT & USA TODAY Bestselling Author. 📚: HOW FAR I'LL GO, NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND ('26), + THAT WHICH FEEDS US (05/26). Cofounder of Pacific Islanders in Publishing. 日本語. Kay-ah-luh.
https://bio.site/kealakendall
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kealakendall.bsky.social
Keala Kendall @kealakendall.bsky.social · Sep 11
I can’t believe I’m a USA Today Bestseller and that Moana’s Twisted Tale has put the series back on the New York Times bestseller list! Thank you to everyone who bought and supported HOW FAR I’LL GO, I’m so grateful. We made it! 🥹💕
New York Times bestsellers list for Children’s & Young Adult Series showing A TWISTED TALE at #10 USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Booklist for September 10, 2025, showing HOW FAR I’LL GO #130
kealakendall.bsky.social
Plan your getaway. The classic beach read is getting a Hawaiian gothic twist.

Iʻm excited to share the cover for THAT WHICH FEEDS US, my YA supernatural thriller, out May 26. A huge thank you to Frances Wren, Liz Dresner, Kelly Austin, + @ajwhiteauthor.bsky.social for blurbing. Pre-order 🔗 in bio!
A book cover reveal post, reading: "Even paradise has its ghosts" on a mock postcard with a persimmon stamp in the corner. The postcard has been torn in half, and in the middle of the split paper is the book THAT WHICH FEEDS US by Keala Kendall. The cover shows a mixed Hawaiian girl sitting on the floor of a room with peeling green wallpaper. Branches of persimmon fruit, both rotten and ripe, surround her while some branches pierce her skin. A blurb from bestselling author, Andrew Joseph White, reads: "Astounding" in the top corner of the book. At the bottom of the graphic, on the torn half of the postcard, reads: Book your trip May 26 Thereʻs a text box on a white postcard backdrop image that has postage fixed to the top of the frame like a letterhead. The text reads: “This astounding book is both a finger pointed directly at the rotting heart of colonial greed and a truly heart-pounding mystery.” — Andrew Joseph White, New York Times bestselling author of Compound Fracture For the world’s wealthiest, Kōpaʻa Island Resort is more than a destination. It’s the ultimate escape. With no cell service or Wi-Fi, the Hawaiian island is a coveted wellness retreat renowned for its persimmon orchard and promises of rejuvenation. But their dream vacation is Lehua’s nightmare. When her twin sister, Ohia, goes missing, Lehua follows her trail to Kōpaʻa to find her. Instead, Lehua is cut off from civilization—and help—after the island’s boat leaves without her, stranding her with the resort’s lavish guests and enigmatic staff. As Lehua investigates Ohia’s disappearance, she discovers her missing sister isn’t the island’s only mystery. Kōpaʻa’s rich exterior and sweet persimmons hide its dark plantation past. And Lehua can’t ignore the dreams haunting her each night—nor the warning telling her to leave the island at once. To uncover what happened to Ohia, Lehua will have to unearth the island’s bloody history and face the horrors that lurk within its sugarcane fields—or risk being consumed by them.
October 29, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Reposted by Keala Kendall
othersidespec.bsky.social
Pick up an OTHERSIDE subscription AND snag a query letter crit from Keala Kendall, the bestselling author of How Far I’ll Go, No One Gets Left Behind, and That Which Feeds Us! Huge thanks to @kealakendall.bsky.social for donating her time and expertise!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/hyb...
A blurry purple background with white text. It reads "Query letter critique by KEALA KENDALL, author of HOW FAR I'LL GO (2025) and NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND (2026) in Disney's A Twisted Tale series!" Keala is pictured smiling at the camera on the left.
October 25, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by Keala Kendall
emilybondatx.bsky.social
If you're still looking for a books section that consistently features author interviews, publishing news and....BOOKS....

sign up for the HuffPost Books newsletter - which is helmed by Tessa Flores and co-captained by me.

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September 15, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Keala Kendall
mattnegrin.bsky.social
A few months ago I pitched @lisatozzi.bsky.social a story about the revival of an ancient Hawaiian board game. She said just go and write it. Before the story was published today she was laid off — so thank you to Lisa for making this happen and everyone involved in the story except Mark Zuckerberg
They Tried to Snuff Out Hawaii's Native Board Game. Meet the Man Keeping It Alive
Kōnane was once a national pastime, played by peasants and rulers alike. Now John Kaʻohelauliʻi has made it his mission to bring it back.
www.rollingstone.com
September 20, 2025 at 8:21 PM
kealakendall.bsky.social
I can’t believe I’m a USA Today Bestseller and that Moana’s Twisted Tale has put the series back on the New York Times bestseller list! Thank you to everyone who bought and supported HOW FAR I’LL GO, I’m so grateful. We made it! 🥹💕
New York Times bestsellers list for Children’s & Young Adult Series showing A TWISTED TALE at #10 USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Booklist for September 10, 2025, showing HOW FAR I’LL GO #130
September 11, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Reposted by Keala Kendall
kate2389.bsky.social
Got my copy today, and had to take obligatory new book pic and new book with the other books in the series pic.
September 3, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Reposted by Keala Kendall
pwkidsbookshelf.bsky.social
Announcing new deals for @kealakendall.bsky.social @Sitcomics.bsky.social @janegumball.bsky.social + more buff.ly/4ET3Mxp
Rights Report: Week of July 14, 2025
New deals for Keala Kendall, Priscilla Oliveras, Sarah Guillory, and others.
www.publishersweekly.com
July 15, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Reposted by Keala Kendall
marchsoloway.bsky.social
AHHHH! The news is finally here!

I am thrilled to share that @kealakendall.bsky.social 's captivating debut gothic YA, THAT WHICH FEEDS US, has found the perfect home @randomhousekids.bsky.social with the brilliant @tiffliao.bsky.social editing.

Congratulations, Keala!
Tiffany Liao at Random House Children's has acquired, in a five-house auction, That Which Feeds Us, a Hawaiian gothic young adult novel by debut hapa Native Hawaiian author, Keala Kendall, pitched as Mexican Gothic meets She is a Haunting, following a teen girl whose search for her missing twin leads her to an ultra-exclusive remote island resort where she uncovers the sinister side of paradise with horrors both real and supernatural. Publication is scheduled for summer 2026; Jennifer March Soloway of Andrea Brown Literary Agency negotiated the significant deal for North American rights.
July 15, 2025 at 8:59 PM
kealakendall.bsky.social
🌀 COVER REVEAL 🌀
ICYMI! I revealed the cover for Moana’s story in the Twisted Tales series, HOW FAR I’LL GO (releasing Sept 2nd). A huge thank you to Disney Books for creating such a great cover and to Kelly Austin, a Kanaka Maoli designer at PRH, for putting together this beautiful graphic for me.
This image shows the book cover for HOW FAR I'LL GO: A Twisted Tale by Keala Kendall. The cover depicts Moana, wearing a flower crown, turned toward her left, casting her face mysteriously in shadow as a sunrise illuminates blue waves and two faraway mountain ranges in the distance behind her. Below the title are waves and beneath the waves is a village of grass huts (fale) shrouded in darkness and verdant trees. The Heart of Te Fiti glows at the very bottom of the cover. "What if Moana broke the Heart of Te Fiti?" is printed near the top of the cover, beneath Disney and The New York Times Best-Selling Series.
February 26, 2025 at 6:43 PM
kealakendall.bsky.social
Coming overseas Fall 2026
Lilo & Stitch was the 1st time I saw a family that looked like mine onscreen 🥰, so I can't believe I now get to write a twist about them and their vile, foul, flawed—and also cute and fluffy 😉—alien Stitch. Mahalo to @marchsoloway.bsky.social, Heather, and our Disney team!
A screenshot, showing a Publishers Marketplace deal report is attached, saying: "Keala Kendall's NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND, pitched as a twist on Disney's Lilo & Stitch, for the Twisted Tales series, to Heather Knowles at Disney-Hyperion, for publication in fall 2026, by Jennifer March Soloway at Andrea Brown Literary Agency (world)."
December 12, 2024 at 9:37 PM
Reposted by Keala Kendall
heinrichmanuia.bsky.social
Ending my vague era with this: ✨I’m getting published!✨

So pumped to announce that my book SALT WATER BLOOD will be published with Simon & Schuster (US) + Allen & Unwin (ANZ) in 2026!

Endless gratitude to my agent @marintakikawa.bsky.social & my editor Sarah Barley 💖

#booksky #writingcommunity
Snapshot of a deal report on a sea background. Text on a white square: Category: Young Adult Fiction SALT WATER BLOOD by Manuia HEINRICH. Imprint: Sarah Barley Books, Allen & Unwin We Need Diverse Books mentee and Pacific Islanders in Publishing cofounder Manuia Heinrich's SALT WATER BLOOD, a speculative thriller set on an alternate Polynesian island following a girl who hears the sea's prophetic thoughts and has to race against time to clear her brother's name before he's blamed for his girlfriend's disappearance-and eventual murder-set against the backdrop of mounting tension around France's nuclear testing on the people of Ma'ohi Nui (French Polynesia), pitched as FIREKEEPER'S DAUGHTER meets MOANA, to Sarah Barley at Sarah Barley Books, in a significant deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in 2026, by Marin Takikawa at Friedrich Agency (NA). Rights also to Anna McFarlane at Allen & Unwin (ANZ), at auction, by Anna Carmichael at Abner Stein, on behalf of Marin Takikawa.
December 5, 2024 at 7:56 PM
Reposted by Keala Kendall
heinrichmanuia.bsky.social
Hi 👋 I put together a starter pack to spotlight Pacific Islander authors for anyone wanting to discover and uplift PI literature.

Say hi & follow along to celebrate PI! And if you're a Pacific Islander book creator, reach out to be included :)

go.bsky.app/HFSy2tG
#books #authors #pasifika
November 22, 2024 at 8:46 AM
kealakendall.bsky.social
The team and I are thrilled to finally announce the launch of Pacific Islanders in Publishing, a website database to promote Pacific Islanders in the publishing industry.

pacificislanderbooks.org
From Publishers Marketplace’s Daily Rundown: Pacific Islander writers Kealani Netane, Keala Kendall, and Manuia Heinrich have launched Pacific Islanders in Publishing, a website database to promote Pacific Islanders in the publishing industry. They write that, "In addition to featuring Pacific Islander authors, illustrators, and publishing professionals, the website database includes resources for young creatives looking to break into publishing, recent Pacific Islander book releases, book influencers, independent presses, and bookstores."
November 19, 2024 at 9:22 PM
kealakendall.bsky.social
Thanks to Scholastic, I’m going home for the first time in 10 years to talk about #BooksforMaui, continuing relief efforts, and Pacific Islander stories. Please join us at the Ala Moana Barnes and Noble on 9/16 at 2:00pm for a special panel discussion & book signing. Thank you!
November 19, 2024 at 9:22 PM