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WHERE TO BUY

1. Buy locally

We invite you to support your local book store if you are lucky enough to have one. If Polynesian Nights is not on their shelves, a store can order it easily and often have it for you in just a few days.

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2. Or purchase online worldwide

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Polynesian Nights

A Colorable Graphic Memoir

Based on Dancing in Their Light
by Debbie Chinn
with illustrations by Ginna BB Gordon

Polynesian Nights is the second in a series of colorable graphic memoirs created by Debbie Chinn and artist & designer Ginna BB Gordon.

Both this volume and its predecessor, Year of the Dragon (2024), were inspired by and derived from Debbie’s first book, Dancing in Their Light: A Daughter’s Unfinished Memoir (2022).

Following the success of Year of the Dragon, this new volume invites readers into the dazzling mid-century world of Polynesian dance, music, and design.

Part interactive art book, part cultural exploration, Polynesian Nights celebrates the nightclub era that shaped Debbie’s childhood while honoring the depth of Polynesian traditions. With richly detailed illustrations by Ginna, historical notes, and space for your own creative play, it offers both joyful escape and a thoughtful look at the “Polynesian Pop” phenomenon that swept America in the 1960s and ’70s.

Whether used for relaxation, art therapy, or as a portal into cultural discovery, Polynesian Nights is an invitation to color, imagine, and step into a world where memory and artistry come alive.

E komo i ka Moana — step into the spirit of Polynesia!

The proud daughter of Chinese immigrants, Debbie Chinn was born and raised on Long Island, New York. While other children participated in sleep-overs, summer camps, and sports activities, Debbie's childhood was spent at The House of Mah Jong, her family's Chinese restaurant where she entered the workforce at the age of three. Her first job was selling cigarettes. By the age of six, her responsibilities expanded and she spent time on a bar stool inserting umbrellas into cherries and pineapple slices for an assortment of exotic drinks.

The family business grew in popularity and fame, and Mah Jong evolved into a Polynesian nightclub, a ubiquitous dining experiences in the 60s and 70s. As a teenager, Debbie became a regular in the show, performing at night while attending middle and high school by day.

In their quest to assimilate in the United States, her parents abided by the value of strong work ethics, fanatical hospitality, the importance of building and maintaining relationships, supporting organizations who do good work in our communities, and always taking care of others — a family ethos that is known today as philanthropy.

Inspired by her Mah Jong upbringing, Debbie established a distinguished 30 year career as an arts activist, non-profit consultant, and CEO — leading some of the country's most renowned cultural institutions and their programs. She has long championed equity and inclusion, and she has an insatiable appetite for forging bridges via the arts, humanities, and cultural heritage.

Debbie currently serves on a variety of non-profit boards providing advice on governance, finance, fundraising, marketing, strategic planning, artistic programming, and board/staff relations.

She lives in Northern California with her two cats, Kona and Leilani, surrounded by her collection of 100+ bottles of wine.