Nanea Mitchell
Honolulu, HI – 1941
Nanea Mitchell is a proud, multiracial girl living in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1941—her mother is Hawaiian and her father is Scottish American. She treasures her Hawaiian heritage, dancing hula and studying the islands’ history alongside her beloved grandmother. As the youngest of three children, Nanea dislikes being treated like the baby of the family and longs to be seen as more grown-up. She’s a star student who dreams of becoming a teacher, and she’s ambitious and quick-thinking, forever hatching plans to reach her goals, though she can also be stubborn, impulsive, and quick to act before she thinks. Along with her best friends Lily and Donna, she forms a close trio called the Three Kittens. When the attack on Pearl Harbor upends her world, Nanea experiences the fear and upheaval firsthand—martial law, prejudice against her Japanese neighbors, and friends forced to leave the island. Through it all, she draws closer to her family and her culture, learning to set aside her own wants to help her community heal and to bring a little aloha back to her island home.
Books
Central Series
- Growing Up with Aloha: A Nanea Classic Volume 1
- Hula for the Home Front: A Nanea Classic Volume 2
Mysteries
- The Legend of the Shark Goddess
More Information
Nanea was released in 2016, during the BeForever era. Therefore, her original books have BeForever subtitles. In addition, they released a special choose-your-own-adventure book, Prints in the Sand: My Journey with Nanea.
When BeForever ended in 2019, they repackaged the stories into two new books of the same title and general story, but dropped the BeForever subtitle: The Spirit of Aloha and Hula for the Home Front. In both books, chapters have been renamed, chapters were removed or broken in slightly different places, and several transitions and descriptions have been modified.
For more details about Nanea’s books, or to see additional versions of books, please see the Official Fandom Page for Nanea’s books.
Glossary of Hawaiian words, places, and phrases
| Word/Phrase | Pronunciation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| aloha | ah-LOH-hah | hello, goodbye, love, compassion |
| huli | WHO-lee | a turning movement in hula |
| kaholo | ka-HOH-low | a side-to-side movement in hula |
| Keiki | KAY-kee | child |
| kokua | KOH-KOO-ah | assistance, a good deed, to help |
| Leahi | lay-AH-hee | Diamond Head Crater; the Hawaiian name means “brow of the tuna” |
| lei | LAY | a wreath of flowers, feathers, or shells worn around the neck or head |
| mahina | mah-HEE-nah | moon |
| mele | MEH-leh | song |
| mu’umu’u | MOO-ooh MOO-ooh | a long, loose-fitting dress without a train, usually made from brightly colored or patterned fabric |
| niu | KNEE-ooh | coconut |
| ‘ohana | oh-HAH-nah | family |
| poi | POY | a starchy pudding made from pounded taro root; a poi dog is a mixed breed dog, named for a now-extinct breed that was fed poi |
| puka | POO-kah | hole; puka shells have holes in the center |
| taro | TAIR-oh | a tropical plan with a starchy, edible root |
| tutu | TOO-too | grandparent, usually grandmother |
| tutu kane | TOO-too KAH-nay | grandfather |