Growing up with Aloha

This is the first book about Nanea's adventures.  I loved the book and can't wait to read the next one.

The story begins in the fall of 1941. Nanea is 9 years old and lives on the island of Oahu with her family. Her full name is Alice Nanea Mitchell. Nanea means delightful & pleasant. She also has a cute dog whose name is Mele. Nanea wishes she could be older and not thought of as the baby of the family.

Her sister, Mary Lou is 15 years old. Her brother, David, is 17 and works as a bellboy at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Her Papa works as a welder at Pearl Harbor fixing ships.  All the children were born in Oahu. 

Lily Suda is Nanea's oldest friend. Their families are very close spending holidays, having meals and living near to one another. Donna is another girlfriend whose family moved from San Francisco three years ago so her father could work at the Pearl Harbor shipyard. Everyone calls the girls (Nanea, Lily and Donna) the "Three Kittens".

Nanea has been going to Hula lessons since she was four years old. Nanea wants to work at Pono's Market, her grandparent's store, to show she is a big girl.

The most important part of the book is learning all about living life with Ahola.  It means hello and goodbye and so much more. Aloha is also how people treat each other with kindness. It is also an expression of love and being connected to nature.

Everything is truly wonderful in Nanea's life until the awful day on Dec 7, 1941 when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. Then everything changes and she has to grow up fast and help the war effort.

The spirit of Aloha is what the book is really about.