HIÑARU DUNA

Waiting for her absent mother, Isha, a Garifuna girl with black skin, Afro hair, and large, deep-set eyes, visits the vast sea of San Juan Tela in Honduras every morning, a Garifuna community filled with sunshine, palm trees, mango trees, and strong winds. Isha visits the vast sea in the hope of one day seeing the return of her mother, who recently emigrated to the United States. This story takes place in a Garifuna coastal village around 1980, when in the most humble surroundings, the houses still lack electricity and still preserve the cultural traditions of previous generations, such as dance, music, cooking, and celebrations.

Isha possesses supernatural powers; she is intuitive, fearless, persistent, and protective, with a high pain threshold and an even higher moral compass. With these powers, Isha dreams of being a superhero, like Wonder Woman, a fictional television character played by a tall, blonde, blue-eyed American heroine. She dreams of being like Wonder Woman because she believes only white, blonde women can be superheroes and defeat the monsters trying to wipe out their people. Isha wants to be a heroine to protect those closest to her, like her older sister Yamileth, because Isha and her sister face monsters like hunger, family abuse, sexual abuse, and discrimination after their mother Sara immigrates to the United States, leaving them alone in their community.

Her fears of these monsters and her loneliness force Isha to take refuge in her safe place, THE SEA, that other character she creates in her imagination as a being with whom she can talk and feel less alone. Isha develops a strong bond with the Sea that gradually makes her question the importance of her identity, and it is in the Sea that Isha will find her confidant, that enormous ocean that will encourage her to fight for her personal survival and for the future of her culture and identity. It is in the sea that Isha will discover that she can become a superhero; she can become HIÑARU DUNA, the strongest WATER WOMAN.