Chris McKinney

The Red-Headed Hawaiian Chris McKinney

In this compelling, reflective, and sometimes humorous memoir, the son of a dark-skinned, tough-as-nails Hawaiian father and a frantic, no-nonsense Hawaiian mother is born with red hair. Rudolph Puana grows up in hardscrabble Kahaluu, Oahu, the only pale, red-headed Hawaiian in an impoverished, brown-skinned, working-class town. Despite early hardships, Rudy begins to learn that being different is sometimes good. After years of earning bad grades and making worse decisions, Rudolph decides, out-of-the-blue, that he wants to become a doctor. From that day on, he endures twelve hour study sessions, feelings of inadequacy, and faces his worst fearthe possibility of having to leave Hawaii, the place he loves most, so that he an achieve his ultimate goal. The Red-headed Hawaiian is about the hard work and sacrifices that have to be made in order to achieve one's dreams. It's a story that shows toughness is not about how hard one can hit, but that true grit exists only when one is willing t