Nikki Van De Car is the author of the new young adult novel The Invisible Wild. Her other books include Practical Magic. She lives on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Q: What inspired you to write The Invisible Wild, and how did you create your character Emma?
A: The Invisible Wild is heavily inspired by my own childhood growing up here in Volcano, Hawai'i. I had my own struggles with authenticity and belonging, and while I never did encounter menehune or hide a lost boy in the forest, that sense of magical possibility was always very alive in these woods.
There's a moment in The Invisible Wild when Emma comes to visit the lost boy, Hilo, and he's put a welcome mat out alongside the road - that moment was inspired a man who was living in a makeshift tent alongside the road here in Volcano a couple of years ago. He put a welcome mat alongside the road, and I was so charmed by the incongruity; the novel really grew from that moment.
Q: How did you research the novel, and did you learn anything that especially surprised you?
A: When I was casting about for what elements of Hawaiian folklore I wanted to include, I settled on the menehune because I've never been very happy with how they are portrayed in our culture; always jolly, always with a pot belly.
So I knew I wanted to write about them, but I needed to research them, and what surprised me most was how real they were; they were included in a population census on Kaua'i in the early 1800s, and there is also a strong menehune presence on Moloka'i. This "mythical" race of beings is rooted firmly in truth.
Q: The author Keala Kendell called the book a “poignant exploration of forgiveness and making things right from an authentic Hawaiian lens.” What do you think of that description?
A: I was so touched and honored by that! First of all, with my own fears about my own authenticity, that felt extremely validating.
The central problem of the book revolves around a mainland company coming in and building a development in these forests, something that happens here all the time. And the reality is, frequently there is nothing we can do to stop it from happening, and it would be unlikely that 16-year-old Emma would be able to.
And we're all sort of a part of that, you know? Living in a capitalist society means choosing to rank job growth and tourist opportunities over what's right for the land, and that can make us all dismissive over the smaller acts of destruction we all commit from time to time, like littering or carving initials into a tree.
I wanted to explore those nuances, and approach solving the central problem through community rather than something more dramatic. I wanted to talk about how, in Hawaiian culture, forgiveness necessitates making things right; an apology isn't enough.
Q: How was the novel's title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: It was actually originally called The Skin of the Ocean, for the way you look up at the barrier between the sea and the air, and it's so clearly divided, but impossible to feel or demarcate - for me, that's what the line between magical and real is like. It's permeable, and beings like the menehune, who come from folklore but are rooted in fact, are an example of that dichotomy.
But then it was pointed out to me that this is a book that takes place almost entirely in the forests, not by the sea! So I played around for a while trying to find a title that matched what I was trying to say, and it was when I was trying to describe it to myself that I landed on The Invisible Wild.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I'm working on another book set in Hawai'i, but with a very different feel. Waterlines is a contemporary YA adventure-romance about a fiercely intelligent, autistic, nonbinary (they/them), Native Hawaiian teen who uncovers a dangerous environmental cover-up (based on the environmental disaster at Red Hill in 2021)—and accidentally falls for the charming, infuriating, popular boy who was supposed to be their nemesis.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I think that's it! Folks can always find me on Instagram @nikkivandecar, or on my website, nikkivandecar.com
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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