Ohana

Ohana, the Hawaiian word for family, whether by blood or by circumstance, is the tale of Dyson Nicks, a graduate student from Montana.Just weeks removed from losing his parents in a tragic car accident, Dyson Nicks decides to take himself as far away from home as he can for the holiday season.

What was supposed to be a retreat to Oahu soon turns ugly. Within minutes of arriving, he is initiated into the unseen side of Hawaii. Theft, violence, and territorialism mark the flip side of paradise, the side most people refuse to believe exists.

Through time, will, and pure dumb luck, Dyson serves to carve out his own niche within the island community. With the aid of Mahana, a local girl hiding from a past just as scarred as his own, he begins to find his way forward again.

Through the kindness and generosity of strangers, he discovers the true meaning of ohana and how it comes to define Hawaiian life.