View source for Growing Up with Aloha

:''This article is about the [[BeForever]] version. For the 2019 version, see [[Nanea: The Spirit of Aloha]].''
{{infobox book
| name        = ''Growing Up With Aloha: A Nanea Classic Volume 1'' 
| image       = GrowingUpWithAloha.jpg
| imagewidth  = 300px
| caption     = The cover of ''Growing Up With Aloha''
| published   = 2017
| author      = [[Kirby Larson]]
| illustrator = [[Juliana Kolesova]]
| isbn        = 1683370228
| next        = ''[[Hula for the Home Front]]''
| setting  = November 1st, 1941 - January 30th, 1942
}}

'''''Growing Up With Aloha''': A Nanea Classic Volume 1'' is the [[Central Series|first volume]] of [[List of Nanea's Books#BeForever Volumes|Nanea's series]]. It was included with [[Nanea Mitchell (doll)|the Nanea doll]] when purchased and could be purchased separately until the release of ''[[Nanea: The Spirit of Aloha]]''.

==Characters==

===Introduced===

* [[Nanea Mitchell]]
* [[May Mitchell]]
* [[Richard Mitchell]]
* [[Mary Lou Mitchell]]
* [[David Mitchell]]
* [[Lily Suda]]
* [[Donna Hill]]
* [[Tutu Kane]]
* [[Tutu]]
* [[Minor Characters in Nanea's Series#Miss Smith|Miss Smith]]
* [[Minor Characters in Nanea's Series#Rose Momi|Rose Momi]]
* [[Minor Characters in Nanea's Series#Betty Suda|Betty Suda]]
* [[Minor Characters in Nanea's Series#Fumio Suda|Fumio Suda]]
* [[Minor Characters in Nanea's Series#Tommy Suda|Tommy Suda]]
* [[Minor Characters in Nanea's Series#Gene Suda|Gene Suda]]
* [[Minor Characters in Nanea's Series#Mrs. Lin|Mrs. Lin]]
* [[Minor Characters in Nanea's Series#Iris|Iris]]
* [[Minor Characters in Nanea's Series#Ronald Paul|Ronald Paul]]
* [[Minor Characters in Nanea's Series#Mrs. Hill|Mrs. Hill]]
* [[Minor Characters in Nanea's Series#Bernice|Bernice]]
* [[Minor Characters in Nanea's Series#Alani|Alani]]

===Only in ''Growing Up With Aloha''===

* [[Minor Characters in Nanea's Series#Gwenfread Allen|Gwenfread Allen]]
* [[Minor Characters in Nanea's Series#Patricia|Patricia]]
* [[Minor Characters in Nanea's Series#Lewis|Lewis]]
* [[Minor Characters in Nanea's Series#Debby|Debby]]

==Chapter by Chapter Summary==

===Chapter One: Not the Baby of the Family===
Nanea and her sister Mary Lou wake up on November 1, 1941. Nanea won't let Mary Lou brush her hair, and instead gets ready for hula class. She asks why she can't help Mary Lou at Pono's market, and Mary Lou responds that Tutu spoils her for being the baby of the family. The two of them dance to "Cattanooga Choo-Choo" on the radio, and her brother David comes in, bringing them down to Breakfast. Nanea says Good Morning to Papa, who works as a welder at Pearl Harbor, and asks her Mom why she can't work at Pono's market. Her family tells her to enjoy being a kid and not having responsibilities, but Nanea wants to be seen as grown-up. Papa tells her that he wasn't allowed to drive his Grandpop's tractor until he was thirteen, and Mom says she had to learn the times tables before she could run the cash register. Papa asks her and her two friends- who she calls her Kittens- to catch fish for them, but Nanea would rather actually help. 

Mary Lou and Nanea arrive at Tutu's hula class, followed by Nanea's dog Mele, who likes to come to practice. Nanea's group plays ''hapa haole'' songs, that combine English words and Hawaiian melodies, which is popular with tourists, while Mary Lou's class dance to songs with Hawaiian words, and Mary Lou has her own solo dance. Nanea's class is learning a dance to perform at the USO Christmas Show.

After class, Nanea and Mary Lou eat Mom's guava bread on the front porch, waiting for David to arrive and give Mary Lou and Tutu a ride to the market. Nanea watches them leave, and Nanea walks home, daydreaming about helping with the Market. She meets up with her other two Kittens, Lily Suda and Donna Hill. Lily was Nanea's oldest friend, as their families lived together, and Donna met them in the first grade after moving to Hawaii from San Francisco. 

Donna brings them a newspaper that her father gave her, and they skim through articles about the war to find a Honolulu Helping Hands Contest, with a new Schwinn bike as its prize. To enter, they would have to do four certain things by December fifteenth. The tasks are to Do a good deed for a stranger, Show appreciation for your family, Make a difference in the community and Turn trouble into triumph. While Lily and Donna think the contest seems too hard, Nanea thinks that if she wins, she won't be treated as a baby anymore.

===Chapter Two: Kokua===
Nanea sits in class, listening to her teacher, Miss Smith, talk about Queen Liliuokalani, who was forced to give up her throne in 1893. When class ends, Miss Smith has Nanea write tomorrow's date on the chalkboard- November 12, 1941. Nanea loves class and hopes to be a teacher someday. The Three Kittens then leave school, dashing to Nanea's neighbor, Auntie Rose. Rose teaches the three girls to make leis, and tells them stories about her childhood. Lily's Dad, Uncle Fudge, then gives them a ride to the pier for Boat Day. The Pier is decorated with flowers and leis. The water is also decorated with leis, due to a Hawaiian tradition that says that if you throw a lei into the ocean as you leave, and it returns to the shore, you are destined to return. 

The Kittens see a tourist mother with two children, who are disappointed because they don't have time to buy leis before their boat leaves. Nanea runs up and gives them the one she made, and the Kittens follow her example. The boat leaves with a band playing one of Liliuokalani's songs, "Aloha 'Oe", and Lily says that their gift to the tourists could count as a completion of the first task for the Contest.

Nanea decides to help Auntie Rose by spraying red dirt in her yard to settle the dust. Unfortunately, this results in her and Mele tracking mud on the porch and into Auntie Rose's house. Nanea rushes home before Auntie Rose can see her, and tells Papa what happened. Papa tells her that she should fix her mistake, and Nanea decides to return and mop up the mess. 

===Chapter Three: Turkey Day===
Nanea goes to Lily's house on Thanksgiving to rehearse a hula with her friends, to show appreciation for her family. When Lily and Donna have trouble with it, Nanea dances for them and tells them the story represented by the motions. She leaves then, to help her Mom and Tutu with the food; however, Mary Lou still insists that she's being spoiled due to her young age. Nanea then goes outside to get flowers for the table, and and asks Tutu Kane to tell her a story. Nanea later draws her Papa's childhood turkey into a book, telling the story of how he got the pet, and gives it to Papa for Thanksgiving.

Donna and Lily arrive with their families, and the Kittens begin their hula dance for everyone. However, when they're about to finish, Mele steals and eats the turkey, due to Nanea forgetting to feed her. While everyone is quick to get over the mistake, Nanea hates the fact that she messed up.

The kids are cleaning up the kitchen, and pause to listen to the adults' conversation in the other room. They are worried that the negotiations with the Japanese aren't going well, but Mom and Aunt Betty are sure that Japan wouldn't want to go to war with America. Nanea is worried, but shrugs it off, thinking that it's probably just useless worries.

===Chapter Four: A Sky Full of Planes===
On December 6, 1941, the Three Kittens are hanging out on the beach. Nanea goes to get her purse from Mary Lou and her sister's friend Iris so the Kittens can get Shave Ice. They get their usual orders: Lemon for Lily, Orange for Donna and Strawberry for Nanea. Nanea tells the others that she's been so busy she hasn't had time to work on the Contest, and she still has to make a difference in the community and turn trouble into triumph. Lily suggests making a meal for her family to make up for the Thanksgiving fiasco, as a way of completing the last prompt. 

The next morning, Nanea trades a basket of plumeria for a batch of Auntie Rose's malasadas, and sets up the table for everybody. She goes outside to cut some flowers to decorate the table, but is startled by a loud noise. She looks up and sees Japanese planes flying overhead, and starts screaming. David runs outside and drags Nanea back into the house, and she describes to her worried family what she'd seen. They turn on the radio, to hear that all Army personnel are called to duty, though there isn't an explanation given to why. Papa leaves to help, and once he's gone, the radio announcer finally reports that enemy airplanes have attacked.

===Chapter Five: The Real McCoy===
Mary Lou finally wakes up, and Nanea informs her that they're under attack. Once Mom tells her that Nanea's right, Mary Lou says that she thought the negotiations with the Japanese had been going well. David also leaves to report to his Boy Scout post, traveling on his bike because cars have been requested to stay off the roads. 

As soon as he's gone, the announcer says that Pearl Harbor has been attacked, and the enemy planes are also aiming for attacking airfields on Oahu. Nanea worries for her Papa and brother, while Mom calls Tutu and Tutu Kane, and sirens start to sound on the street. Mary Lou leaves to fill the bathtubs and buckets with water in case the Japanese cut off their water supply, and the announcer once again says not to go outside.

Auntie Rose arrives at the house, saying that there are bullet holes in her walls, and Mom tells her that something crashed through Tutu's neighbor's roof. Nanea asks to leave to see Lily, but Mom refuses to let her leave the house and goes to make coffee. 

Two hours pass, and Tutu and Tutu Kane arrive at the house. Tutu Kane explains that the roads were completely packed, and talks about all the damage that they've heard has happened, including that Nanea's school is on fire. Nanea collapses and starts to cry, and the radio stations all shut off.

===Chapter Six: Missing===
Mom asks Nanea to take her grandparents' bags to her room to distract her, and once she's there, she realizes that she can't find Mele. She searches the house and finds nothing, so rushes out into her front yard, despite her Mom's protests. However, she stops when she hears Lily screaming. She sees two men in suits leading Uncle Fudge away into a black car, with Lily rushing after them and begging them to let him go. Mom holds Nanea back until the men drive away, and then they run to the Sudas' house with Tutu and Auntie Rose. 

Aunt Betty and Lily are both crying, while Tutu distracts Lily's little brother, Tommy. Her older brother, Gene, finally explains that the FBI took Uncle Fudge for being Japanese. Mom and Aunt Betty leave to call a lawyer, and Nanea and Lily both cry together. They then walk Auntie Rose home before going back to the house, and Tutu and Mom comfort Nanea about the loss of Mele. 

Nanea's family sets up for the Blackout, which means that they have to block out all the lights and cover the windows, so there will be no lights for any returning enemy planes. Mom tells her not to worry, as the planes probably won't return, but Nanea is still very worried.  

===Chapter Seven: War===
Nanea wakes up on the couch with a start, hearing a thump against the door and panicking. Mary Lou comforts her, telling her that it's just a paper, and they go to the kitchen to see if Mele came back home. Tutu, Tutu Kane and Mom are in the kitchen, and inform her that nobody has seen Mele, and Papa and David are still gone. Nanea sees the newspaper, which declares that they're at war with Japan. Nanea sees her Mom packing food in a hamper, and asks if they're going to a picnic, wondering why they would do that. Mom explains that the food is for Uncle Fudge, who is still being held at the immigration station. 

Nanea goes outside to look for Mele with the promise that she'll stay close, and she walks around the block. She sees her neighbor, Mrs. Lin, who asks about Uncle Fudge, and informs Nanea that other Japanese citizens have been taken in, due to a rumor that Japanese workers helped guide the planes. 

The Sudas, Mom and Nanea leave for the immigration station, and Nanea sees that Lily has a letter for her Dad in case the kids aren't allowed to see him. Nanea stares out the window to see all the damage that happened to the island. They reach the immigration station, and Mom pretends to be Uncle Fudge's sister in order to be allowed to see him. The Guard examines the food they brought and then lets them in. Lily and Tommy run to their Dad, and Uncle Fudge tells them that Mom's lawyer came and thinks he can get him out; he believes that he'd been taken due to his name being similar to a man on the FBI watch list, though Gene is insistent that it's because they're Japanese. 

The group is forced to leave after a short time, and on the drive home, Nanea spots the remains of her school, which is burned and has a hole through the roof. The Library is also damaged from the water from the fire hoses. They drive away quickly, but Nanea feels that everything has changed.

===Chapter Eight: Lost and Found===
On the third night of her grandparents staying with them, Nanea decides to sleep in David's room instead of on the couch. She wakes up to see that he's returned, and she asks why he was gone so long. He says that he's been delivering bottles of blood from the Red Cross to the operating rooms for transfusions for the injured men. David then falls asleep, and Nanea leaves so he can get some rest.

In the morning, Nanea asks him to help her look for Mele, but he has to report back to the hospital. Once he leaves, Mom just says that she's grateful he's too young to be a soldier. The Three Kittens go out to search for her together, but don't find any sign of her. Nanea returns to her house, where she overhears Tutu and Mrs. Lin gossiping about the possibility of another attack, and finds Mary Lou comforting a crying Iris, who is sad because her brother enlisted in the army. 

The older girls leave to make cookies for the soldiers, and Tutu explains to Nanea that the Japanese were attacking America's battleships and planes so they couldn't fight back. She also explains that they're now under martial law, meaning that the military is now in charge of everything. The parks and movie theaters were closed, and a curfew was going to be forced- nine o'clock for most civilians, but eight o'clock for those of Japanese descent. The schools would also be closed for another month. Tutu tells Nanea that she could try and complete the Helping Hands Contest, which has a new deadline, but Nanea doesn't care that much about it anymore.

===Chapter Nine: Kitten Trouble===
Tutu and Tutu Kane go to check on their market, David returns to the hospital, and Mary Lou goes to serve food at the high school, which has turned into an evacuation center for people who are now homeless. Mom and Nanea leave to send a telegram to Papa's parents, and then to go look for Mele. 

At the post office, Nanea and Mom have to wait in a very long line, behind everybody else who wants to send mail to their families. Nanea goes to sit under a tree to get some shade, and sees a sign for a lost cat. She wonders if she could make lost dog signs to find Mele. Mom sends out the telegram, and Nanea and Donna head over to Lily's house to make Lost Dog posters. Though Lily is crying when they arrive, she agrees to help. 

Donna notices that Lily's radio is gone, and Lily says that they had to turn it in to the police, as well as their camera, because they're Japanese. She also adds that someone had written a slur on Gene's windshield, and that she misses her Dad. While Nanea and Donna try to relate, because their Dads are the shipyard, Lily storms off, saying that their Dads weren't taken away. 

Mom and Auntie Rose are making sandwiches for the aid workers when Nanea arrives home, and she agrees to help. Auntie Rose calls the police to let them know that they have food, and soon tired men arrive at their house for food. Nanea asks them if they've seen her father, but they haven't. She also gives the workers some of the posters of Mele.

===Chapter Ten: In the Dark===
Mom, Mary Lou and Nanea set up the house for a Blackout, which marks the fifth night that Papa has been gone. Nanea makes a portable lantern, but she can only use it in the closet, where it can't be seen. She reads ''Mr. Popper's Penguins'', but doesn't feel distracted enough. Tutu Kane starts playing "Hawaii Aloha" on the ukulele, and she leaves to join the others in the living room. 

Once she arrives, Tutu Kane plays "Mai Poina 'Oe Ia'u: Forget Me Not" and sings along. Nanea recognizes it as a love song, and asks if a love song can be about a place, and says that she misses how everything was before the attack. She finally admits to her family that everything that she loved before seems like it doesn't matter, and she just wants Papa to come home. She also tells about the incident with Lily that day, and says she's afraid that Lily won't want to be her friend anymore. Mom says that Nanea should think of something to help Lily with, and to keep being her friend.

===Chapter Eleven: Hellos and Good-byes===
Nanea writes a letter to Grandmom and Grandpop, explaining what's been happening. She hears a car in the driveway, and looks up to see that Papa has come up. She runs to him, and he hugs the family before going to get cleaned up. While he's eating, she tells him about Mele, and he tells her a story about his old dog, Rusty, who ran away for three months, and then came back one day as if nothing was wrong. 

The next morning, Mom and Tutu talk about how Papa got a ticket for driving with his headlights on, as he hasn't had time to paint them over. Tutu also says that she has to spend a few days at the store to do inventory, and Nanea volunteers to help. Nanea then goes to the garage and paints over Papa's headlights for him. Papa arrives and tells her that he knows she wanted to help, but she did it wrong. He goes and gets paint remover and the two of them clean the paint off, and then Papa shows Nanea how to correctly paint the lights. 

They go back into the house, where Mom is packing Papa a lunch to take to the harbor. Nanea is upset at the idea of him leaving again, but Papa tells her that he'll only be gone a few more days.

===Chapter Twelve: Starfish===
The next day- December 17, 1941- Nanea helps her grandparents with the inventory. Tutu Kane says that once they have the inventory report turned in, they can re-open the Market. Tutu packs some groceries for the Sudas while Nanea hangs a poster of Mele in the front window. Tutu then gives Nanea a bag of candy for her hard work, and she asks Tutu Kane if anything will ever return to normal. Tutu Kane says that their island is like a starfish; they may have lost an arm, but it will grow back. 

Mary Lou and her friends are in the living room, knitting for the soldiers. David is about to leave to return to the hotel, which doesn't get many tourists anymore but might be taken over by the Navy; Mom is also going to leave to go to the Red Cross. Iris has Nanea wind the skeins into balls for them, but Nanea gets bored and goes upstairs to her room. Nanea picks up a photo of her and Lily on Uncle Fudge's boat, and remembers how she'd tried to call Lily every day, but she hadn't answered. She also remembers when Uncle Fudge let them eat cookies, and she decides to make oatmeal cookies for Lily and Uncle Fudge. 

===Chapter Thirteen: Puka===
While Mary Lou helps bake the cookies, Nanea calls Aunt Betty and tells her that she's coming over. She starts to go over to the house with the cookies, but she hears a dog barking from the Bradleys' house. She goes to the yard, and and finds a fresh hole dug in the ground, as a start to an air raid shelter. She sees Mele down at the bottom of the hole, who has been trapped at the bottom. Nanea finds a ladder in the Bradleys' yard and slides down into the hole, grabbing her dog and carrying her out. She gives a couple of the cookies to her dog, and then takes her home.

Mary Lou feeds the dog and Nanea bathes her, and then she calls an excited Donna to tell her the news. She then calls Lily, but Lily is very cold to her for being two hours late, and doesn't even listen to her explanation before hanging up on her. Auntie Rose suggests that she talk to Lily, and Nanea decides to bring Mele over. Lily is sweeping the porch when they arrive and is happy to see Mele, and Nanea explains why she was late and gives her the cookies. The two of them apologize to each other, and Donna runs up, bringing plum seeds for Lily. 

===Chapter Fourteen: Deck the Halls===
Even on Christmas Eve, the island still seems depressing, especially since none of the Christmas decorations were delivered. Nanea has spent the last week making homemade gifts for her family and wrapping them. She wanders into the kitchen, where Mom, Mary Lou and Tutu are making cookies for the soldiers in the hospital. Nanea decides she should improve her family's morale, and goes outside to find a Christmas Tree for them. She only manages to find a palm branch, and adds red fingernail polish to thumbtacks to decorate it. David and Mary Lou arrive to help, and they make tiny paper leis to string the branch with; David also makes a paper star to stick on top. Everyone congratulates Nanea on the idea. During the blackout that night, the family sings Christmas carols in the dark with their ukuleles. 

Nanea wakes up Mary Lou on Christmas, and they go downstairs to open their gifts. Nanea has made all the women drawstring pouches with personalized designs, and also got the boys handmade books. She got Papa a book about them going fishing, and he promises to take her fishing on January Sixteenth, when he has off. David also gets a book of everything he loves doing, with a monkey in each scene, and Tutu Kane's book is about the days he spent with Nanea. Nanea also gets a school dress from Mom, a barrette from Mary Lou, an apron with the Market's logo from Tutu and Tutu Kane, a Nancy Drew book- ''The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk''- from David, and a "Remember Pearl Harbor" pin from Papa. 

The doorbell rings, and Papa opens the door to find Uncle Fudge and the Sudas. They all come in, and Fudge explains that most of the men arrested were community leaders and not people who could have helped the Japanese attacks, and Nanea's Mom's lawyer had managed to convince the government to let him go. Fudge also says that many men were sent to an internment camp on Sand Island, and the room goes quiet until Tutu tells them that they'll reclaim their neighbors someday. 

===Chapter Fifteen: Doggone It===
Nanea and Mary Lou are getting ready for the USO Hula Performance. Nanea finds it sad that they couldn't do their Christmas Dance, while Mary Lou thinks it's odd that they have to do their dance at two in the afternoon so that nobody misses curfew. Nanea also has to deal with Mele, who keeps trying to sneak away with her, and she thinks that her dog is scared by the fireworks and loud noises. Auntie Rose volunteers to watch the dog while they're gone.

At the USO Hall, Nanea asks Tutu for help with the rising moon movement. Afterwards, Nanea gathers the dancers and Tutu introduces the hula. The youngest dancers perform first, and then Nanea's group goes on. Mary Lou tells her that they danced wonderfully.

After the dance, Nanea helps serve refreshments, and suddenly Mele bursts into the room. Auntie Rose runs in afterwards, and says that Mele had been scared by the firecrackers and ran to find Nanea. A soldier gives Auntie Rose a seat, and Nanea realized that she'd spilled punch on his uniform. He shrugs it off and asks if he can pet her dog, and says that his name is Ronald Paul, but the soldiers call him Tennessee, and that Mele reminds him of his dog, Blue. More soldiers come closer to see Mele, and she ends up becoming popular.

===Chapter Sixteen: Absolutely Essential===
One week after the USO show, the Three Kittens gather at Nanea's house, but Donna seems upset. Donna finally tells them that nonessential civilians- people who don't have jobs and aren't helping the war effort- are being forced to leave Hawaii, so her and her Mom will have to move. Nanea and Lily are horrified, though they eventually decide that it's probably just a rumor, and nothing to worry about. 

The Kittens go outside and find Auntie Rose making camouflage netting, as she can't sell leis to tourists, who aren't allowed to come. Nanea decides that the should help, so that if the rumor is true, Donna will be doing something essential. The girls are allowed to stir the dye, and then they start to weave strips into netting. Nanea accidentally makes a too-small strip, but Auntie Rose tells her that no piece is too small, which Nanea takes as a metaphor for how important Donna is. 

===Chapter Seventeen: Anything for a Friend===
The Mitchell Family leave the house to get fingerprinted for identification cards, which Nanea thinks will be cool. However, David mentions that ID cards are only required in the territories and not on the mainland, which confuses Mary Lou. While waiting in line, Mom mentions that she and Mrs. Lin are organizing a first-aid class for mothers in the neighborhood, but they won't have any child care. Nanea volunteers the Kittens and some other girls from her class for the job, but she's disappointed to discover that the class date is the day she was planning to go fishing with Papa. However, she decides to sacrifice her day with Papa to help, and the family reaches the front of the line and gets fingerprinted. 

After a week, Nanea realizes that she can't carry her card everywhere without a purse or wallet. She doesn't want to wear it as a necklace, either, in case it falls off, and ID Bracelets aren't in the budget. She decides to make her own fabric pouch, like the ones she made for Christmas. She also decides to use a craft project to entertain the children at her Mom's class, and gets a pattern for stuffed animals. The other girls volunteering also agree to bring enough supplies.

===Chapter Eighteen: Nanea in Charge===
The girls- Nanea, Donna, Lily, Makana, Judy, Patricia, Alani, Bernice, Linda and Debby- all gather at the High School Cafeteria, where the first-aid class will be taught. Unfortunately, the children are not good at listening to instructions and fail at making any stuffed animals. 

Patricia notices Nanea's pouch and says that that might be a better project, and Nanea agrees, taking charge of the group and finally getting the childrens' attention. After the children leave, the girls make pouches for themselves, and Mom congratulates Nanea on how helpful she was. Mom realizes that the deadline for the Helping Hands contest has passed, but Nanea doesn't care anymore, as she's found more ways to be helpful than she had before.

===Chapter Nineteen: Dipping Her Paddle===
Mom shows the children letters from Grandmom and Grandpop. David says that three of his friends already signed up to be soldiers, and he wishes he could as well. He leaves for work, and Donna arrives to walk with Nanea to Lily's. Mom insists that Nanea take a gas mask, as the new rule is that they have to have one at all times. Both girls struggle with holding the heavy things on the way over.

The girls who had babysat with the Kittens are in Lily's living room, too, as they're all planning to plan activities to help with the war effort. Donna suggests doing a scrap drive, and Nanea mentions that the newspaper has been reporting a need for blood, and they should donate bottles; she got the idea from remembering David's report from right after the attack, of how he kept delivering bottles and the hospital still needed more. The girls are excited for this idea, since they'll be the first group to do it.

The next morning, Nanea gets up early and goes to the meeting corner for the group, with two bottles from her Mom. The Kittens go from door to door for bottles, and most people are surprised at how original their request is. They end up bringing back four full wagons by Lunch, and David arrives and is surprised at their helpfulness. They load the bottles into David's car and go to the Red Cross building. Three ladies arrive and are amazed by the delivery, saying that it's an answered prayer. 

===Chapter Twenty: Talking Story===
The Kittens have a picnic planned at Waikiki Beach to celebrate the Bottle Drive. Mrs. Hill drops the Kittens off near the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, and the girls race to the beach, with Mary Lou and Iris behind them. They have to avoid the barbed wire stretched across the beach in order to get to the water. At the end of the day, they order "Kitten Shave Ice", with all three of their favorite flavors at once. Donna asks them to swear they won't forget her, as she has heard her parents talking about leaving. While Nanea still refuses to believe that Donna could leave, the girls do swear together, and Donna has Mary Lou take a picture of them all on the beach. 

On Monday, Mom is called by Gwenfread Allen, a reporter, who wants to talk about the Bottle Drive, and asks to interview the girls on Thursday, January 29. Nanea runs to gather the Kittens at Donna's house, but when they arrive, Nanea and Lily see the house piled with cardboard boxes. Mrs. Hill tells them that they're being shipped out with the nonessentials, and the girls find Donna in her room, crying. She says they'll only have twenty-four hours' notice before shipping out, meaning that she might miss the interview.

Nanea comes home and tells Papa what's happening, and says that she thought she was proving that Donna was essential. Papa tells her that while she did everything right, no amount of good deeds could have kept Donna on the island once the Army decided to ship her out. He also says that he's noticed a change in her since the war began, and that she's not the baby of the family anymore. Instead of being happy, Nanea realizes now why everybody told her not to grow up, and now it's too late to go back.

Donna makes it to the interview, the call to leave not arriving yet, and the girls are photographed for the newspaper. Miss Allen asks the girls for their inspiration, and Nanea explains about David's story and how the girls wanted to help the soldiers. They've collected fifteen hundred bottles so far, and Miss Allen says that they'll be inspiring more to pitch in. Nanea is still upset, though, because Donna has to leave, and Donna offers the Kittens some gum to distract them.

===Chapter Twenty-One: Alohas at the Dock===
Nanea has prepared leis for Donna and her Mom; they got the call to leave the day before. David tells her that the war won't last forever, and that she has every right to be mad and sad. Papa drives the whole family to the beach, as well as Lily, who has a present for Donna- a popsicle-stick frame with painted island flowers around the edges, for a photo of all three of them. They drive past the school on the way to the beach, and Nanea remembers that their homeroom, Room 204, had been destroyed, along with everything in it. 

They arrive at the pier, and Lily and Donna push through the crowd to try and find Donna and her Mom. Nanea spits Donna's gum bubbles, and they run off towards her. Nanea is stunned by Donna's new, pretty outfit, and they give her their gifts. They say goodbye, and Donna and her Mom board the boat. Nanea and Lily watch as the boat sails away, and Donna throws her lei overboard. It floats back to shore.

===[[Looking Back|Inside Nanea's World]]===

==See Also==
* [[Hula for the Home Front]]: A Nanea Classic Volume 2
* [[Nanea: The Spirit of Aloha]]
* [[Nanea: Hula for the Home Front]]

==References==

{{Refs}}
[[Category:Nanea Mitchell]]
[[Category:Nanea's Collection]]
[[Category:Books]]
[[Category:Historical Books]]
[[Category:Central Series]]
[[Category:BeForever]]
[[Category:Meet Books]]
[[Category:Items Released in 2017]]
[[Category:BeForever Volumes]]

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''This page incorporates text from [https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/Growing_Up_with_Aloha the source wiki] ([https://americangirl.fandom.com/index.php?oldid=119145 exported version], [https://americangirl.fandom.com/index.php?title=Growing+Up+with+Aloha&action=history contributor history]), under [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ the original text license].''