Volleyball champion delivers complex, touching story

Cut from the University of Hawaii at Manoa volleyball team as a freshman, Christopher Austin went on to play setter on the University of California at Irvine squad that won the 2012 and 2013 NCAA championships. His book, “The Way: A Hawaiian Story of Growth, Relationships, & Volleyball” (self-published, $19.33), profiles four players for a Hawaii volleyball club, Ka Ulukoa, from childhood through high school.

While its members also play for different schools, Ka Ulukoa, led by Coach Pono and chaperoned on its Junior Olympics travels by Auntie Maile, unites, nurtures and disciplines them as ohana.

Although a confusing structure leaps about in time and place, local volleyball fans will likely enjoy the lively dialogue and scenes, on and off the court, in this heartwarming book.

Applicants wanted for job honoring Stephen King

ORONO, Maine >> The University of Maine is creating the Stephen E. King Chair in Literature in honor of one of its most famous graduates.

The university is collecting applications from English professors to fill the position now. The appointment is set to begin in August and is a five-year, renewable term.

The university says the position is tenured and designed to honor the UMaine English department’s “most celebrated graduate.” The school says the position will have undergraduate education as a central focus.

King graduated from the university in 1970 with a degree in English. His first novel, “Carrie,” was published four years later, and he has been one of America’s most beloved horror and fantasy authors for four decades.