Selected by Sue Cowing. Published by the University of Hawaii Press in association with the Honolulu Academy of Arts, 1996. Hardcover, 150 pages with 75 color and 18 b/w illus. ISBN 0-8248-1649-8

The title of this very special volume comes from the very origin of the islands: "Just as flowing lava turns the ocean to steam and keeps on burning - fire in the sea - the best poems we hear or read take surprising, even "impossible," turns that change the way we see the world afterward." The poems for this anthology were chosen with young readers (over ten) in mind. Those not written in English have been translated from their original Asian, Pacific and European languages. The collection is unique in its inclusion of a significant body of contemporary poetry from Pacific islands, notably Fiji, Hawaii, New Zealand and Samoa.

All of the illustrations paired with the poems are artworks in the permanent collection of the Honolulu Academy of Arts, reflecting the Academy's worldwide, encyclopedic collections. This is a book which can be sampled and savored for years to come.