New from the Daughters of Hawai'i and writer Barbara del Piano is "Emma, the Beloved Queen of Hawai'i," (hardback, $14.95) a young-adult book aimed particularly at preteen and early-teen girls.

The Daughters of Hawai'i operate the Queen Emma Summer Palace, of course, and so they have a special aloha for the queen who was born Emma Rooke. Docents from the Daughters daily tell the story of the young ali'i who became wife and all too soon widow of King Kamehameha IV, Alexander Liholiho, and the bereaved mother of their only child, Prince Albert, who died young.

The Daughters commissioned Del Piano, author of "Na Lani Kaumaka," a 2006 history of the group, to make Emma's story come alive for younger people, particularly young women. The book won a special award from the Historic Hawai'i Foundation and a Ka Palapala Po'okela Award from the Hawai'i Book Publishers Association.

Del Piano writes in a way that will appeal to her readers' tastes and sensibilities.

Illustrator Jackie Black captures the range of the queen's life, both the romance and the pain, her dignity and her empathy for her people.

Book signings: 2 p.m. March 15, Barnes & Noble Kahala; 10 a.m. April 19, Barnes & Noble Ala Moana.

Reach Wanda A. Adams at wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.