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A review by daumari
Growing Up with Aloha: A Nanea Classic Volume 1 by Kirby Larson
3.0
Continuing my reads of historical American Girls that showed up after I aged out of the target demographic! The newest of the historical line girls, Nanea's story is a different take on WWII than Molly McIntire's, a Hawaiian girl living in Honolulu when the Pearl Harbor attack happens.
Given how I felt about my last middle grade WWII historical fiction from Kirby Larson ([b:The Fences Between Us|8848996|The Fences Between Us|Kirby Larson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328838161l/8848996._SX50_.jpg|11103189]), I was peeking between my fingers hoping this wouldn't be as disrespectful a take. Luckily, AG consulted with an advisory board to make sure Nanea's world felt true to life, and Nanea's far more sympathetic to the plights of her friends than Piper Davis was (I did wonder if Piper's brother was going to cameo, but no).
Nanea is tired of being treated like a baby as the youngest, and wants to be responsible and help her friends and family. When war comes home, she faces opportunities to help all while her world gets tightened under martial law. Some of the dialog felt younger than 9, but I'm two decades past that point so take a chunk of salt with my judgement there.
It looks like starting in 2015, historical line books got condensed into two volumes instead of six, and with illustrations removed- perhaps to appeal to more of a middle grade audience? I couldn't discern split points if this were to be one, and maybe this gives authors more flexibility to flesh out a story in >80 pages. I do feel like illustrations are a classic part of American Girl, though, especially putting faces to the names of friends and family (and earlier this year they announced that illustrations are being added to these in reissues). I don't recall previous books being as on-the-nose describing some of the outfits and things which are surely available for purchase in a catalog...! I also think this could've been a great #ownvoices opportunity, but fine I guess Kirby can keep writing books about youths in WWII because this wasn't terrible.
Given how I felt about my last middle grade WWII historical fiction from Kirby Larson ([b:The Fences Between Us|8848996|The Fences Between Us|Kirby Larson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328838161l/8848996._SX50_.jpg|11103189]), I was peeking between my fingers hoping this wouldn't be as disrespectful a take. Luckily, AG consulted with an advisory board to make sure Nanea's world felt true to life, and Nanea's far more sympathetic to the plights of her friends than Piper Davis was (I did wonder if Piper's brother was going to cameo, but no).
Nanea is tired of being treated like a baby as the youngest, and wants to be responsible and help her friends and family. When war comes home, she faces opportunities to help all while her world gets tightened under martial law. Some of the dialog felt younger than 9, but I'm two decades past that point so take a chunk of salt with my judgement there.
It looks like starting in 2015, historical line books got condensed into two volumes instead of six, and with illustrations removed- perhaps to appeal to more of a middle grade audience? I couldn't discern split points if this were to be one, and maybe this gives authors more flexibility to flesh out a story in >80 pages. I do feel like illustrations are a classic part of American Girl, though, especially putting faces to the names of friends and family (and earlier this year they announced that illustrations are being added to these in reissues). I don't recall previous books being as on-the-nose describing some of the outfits and things which are surely available for purchase in a catalog...! I also think this could've been a great #ownvoices opportunity, but fine I guess Kirby can keep writing books about youths in WWII because this wasn't terrible.