“Love is a most costly commodity.
The more you are willing to pay, the more valuable the price.”
THE STORY | Johnny Lingo, or Tama as he was called as a child, was orphaned as a baby. He was passed from household to household when families tired of him. Blamed for a wide variety of curses that befell the community, he soon found himself living at the least desirable home on the small South Seas island. It was there he came to know Mahana and her father who blamed his daughter for his wife’s death in childbirth. Fellow islanders have come to see Mahana through her father’s eyes – as troublesome and undesirable. However, Tama and Mahana, the two outcasts, form a strong bond. When Tama finds the wherewithal to leave the island on a canoe he has built, he promises one day to return.
Eight years later, Johnny Lingo has the means to return for Mahana. He has learned a lot about life and is determined to win Mahana’s heart. But he has devised a plan that enables him to also make a long-overdue point with those who for so many years treated both him and Mahana with such malice. Johnny’s point? That real beauty comes from within. Most importantly however, Johnny has found a way to honor Mahana and, in fact, to honor love itself. Adapted from a short story written by Patricia McGerr in the 1960’s, Johnny Lingo’s message about love and self-image has been translated into dozens of languages and continues to resonate with millions of people the world over.
“an ENCHANTING story”
— Kathy Cano-Marillo, ARIZONA REPUBLIC
