Standalone Novels
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers | 2018 | Buy |
| The Lieutenant’s Nurse | 2019 | Buy |
| Red Sky Over Hawaii | 2020 | Buy |
| Radar Girls | 2021 | Buy |
| The Codebreaker’s Secret | 2022 | Buy |
| The Uncharted Flight of Olivia West | 2024 | Buy |
| The Maui Effect | 2024 | Buy |
| The Guest in Room 120 | 2025 | Buy |
| The Shark House | 2026 | Buy |
Sara Ackerman grew up on Oahu and draws on deep family roots in the Hawaiian Islands. Her grandfather was a native of Napo’opo’o who served as a school principal, and her grandmother taught at local schools. Family stories about wartime Hawaii became the foundation for her first five novels, beginning with her debut Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers (2018).
Ackerman’s novels fall into two groups. Her first five books explore World War II in Hawaii from angles rarely covered in fiction: the home front, Pearl Harbor nursing, internment camps, the Women’s Air Raid Defense program, and naval codebreaking. Her recent work has expanded to include the 1927 Dole Air Race, a 1905 mystery at the Moana Hotel, and contemporary stories about marine biology and environmental conservation. She holds degrees in journalism, psychology, and Chinese medicine, and previously worked as a teacher and acupuncturist on Oahu’s North Shore.