As little Manu watches, his older brothers prepare for a great journey to find a new island, far away under a distant star. Manu hides in the canoe, and when he is discovered, it"s too late to turn back. "Make yourself useful," his brothers tell him. But what possible use can gentle Manu be when a great storm hits? It is commonly thought that Hawaii was settled by people from the Marquesas Islands who traveled more than 2,000 miles in double-hulled canoes, relying on the stars, clouds, ocean currents, and seabirds to find their way. This tale highlights the glories of these seafaring people as well as the love and cooperation that allowed them to undertake such incredible voyages. The year 1998 marks the hundredth anniversary of the annexation by the United States of the Hawaiian Islands, a sad time for the Polynesian natives, for they lost both their land and their sovereignty.