New Novel Tells True Story Behind Disney Movie "Moana"

"Wide as the Win": The Story of a Boy, a Girl, Their Island, and How They Saved It

“Wide as the Wind” (Open Books Press, Print ISBN: 978-1-941799-38-3, eBook ISBN: 978-1-941799-39-0, publication date, Oct. 1, 2016) is the first novel to deal with the stunning, tragic history of Easter Island.

The new Disney movie "Moana" shows an ecological crisis on the fictional island of Motunui, caused by Polynesian gods. Edward Stanton's novel shows the real cause of environmental imbalance on Pacific Islands: people, not gods.

A stirring book of adventure and a prophetic tale for our times, “Wide as the Wind” tells of Polynesian passages across the Pacific Ocean in canoes with no metal parts or instruments, journeys that the National Geographic has called the greatest feat in human prehistory, as bold as modern space voyages.

“Wide as the Wind” is quest fiction that will enthrall readers young and old. When Vaitéa is ravaged by war, hunger and destruction, it falls upon Miru, the 15-year-old son of a tribal warrior, to sail to a distant island to find the seeds and shoots of trees that could reforest his homeland. If he decides to undertake the voyage, he must leave behind Kenetéa, a young woman from an enemy tribe with whom he has fallen deeply in love. And if Miru and his crew survive the storms, sharks and marauding ships that await them on a journey over uncharted ocean, an even greater mission would lie ahead. They must show their people that devotion to the earth and sea can be as strong as war and hatred.

John Flenley and Paul Bahn, authors of “The Enigmas of Easter Island,” say about “Wide as the Wind”: “The novel speaks to a fundamental truth: our need to protect the planet’s environment.”

Leatha Kendrick, author of “Almanac of the Invisible,” comments: “’Wide as the Wind’ transports us to an island world both outside time and urgently relevant to us in the 21st century.”

Poet and environmentalist Juan Carlos Galeano says, "’Wide as the Wind’ is a lyrically crafted novel of love and adventure as well as a cautionary tale for the survival of the earth and our human species. It now forms part of what has been called 'the environmental imagination.'"

Edward Stanton is the author of eleven books, some of which have been translated and published in Spanish, Arabic and Chinese. “Road of Stars to Santiago,” the story of his 500-mile walk on the ancient pilgrimage route to Compostela, was called one of the two best books on the subject by The New York Times. Pulitzer Prize-winning writer James Michener said, “Edward Stanton recounts his adventures with stylish conviction.” Stanton has also published fiction, poems, translations and essays in magazines, journals and newspapers in countries throughout the world. He has been a professor of literature at universities in the U.S., Europe and South America. The Fulbright Commission and the National Endowment for the Humanities have awarded him grants for travel, research and writing.

Open Books Press is an independent press that publishes quality fiction, nonfiction and poetry.

Open Book Press
Pen & Publish, Inc.
4735 S. SR 446
Bloomington, IN 47401

info@openbookspress.com
(812) 837-9226

This release was published on openPR.