Meet the Newest BeForever Girl Nanea Mitchell

Girls everywhere can say “Aloha!” to American Girl’s newest BeForever character, Nanea Mitchell. Nanea is a Hawaiian girl growing up on the island of Oahu in 1941. Her story explores what life was like for islanders in the weeks leading up to and the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the U.S.’s entry into World War Two. In bringing this significant period in history to life for girls today, Nanea’s story illuminates how the courage, patriotism, and aloha spirit of the Hawaiian people inspired a nation at war and shows how one girl can make a meaningful difference in the face of big change. “At its heart, our BeForever line is about building a bridge of understanding, helping girls today see the interconnectedness—the feelings, experiences, hopes, and dreams—that exists between themselves and girls from long ago,” says Katy Dickson, president of American Girl. “We hope Nanea’s powerful story of resilience, responsibility to others, and contributing for the common good—or kokua, as it’s known in Hawaii—will resonate with girls and show them they have the power within to face the obstacles that come their way.”
About the Nanea Series
This series introduces readers to 9-year- old Nanea Mitchell. Nanea loves her close-knit extended family, dancing the hula, fishing with her father, and playing with her dog, Mele. Nanea is also eager to “dip her paddle in” to be useful at home and at her grandparents’ store. When Pearl Harbor (the naval base where her father works) is attacked by Japan, the peaceful existence the Mitchells and their neighbors enjoy is replaced with martial law, and rumors of additional attacks and frequent air-raid drills have everyone on edge. Amid the chaos and uncertainty, Nanea embraces her spirit of aloha and deeply held belief in kokua—doing good deeds and giving selflessly—to do her part for the war effort and help restore peace to her beloved Hawaiian home. To help ensure the historical accuracy and cultural authenticity of Nanea’s story and products, American Girl worked closely with a five-member advisory board who provided their expertise in Hawaiian culture, language, and history to inform all aspects of Nanea’s development—including the doll, books, outfits, and accessories. To support Nanea’s inspiring message, from August 21 until the end of 2017, American Girl will be collecting donations for the American Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) program to help provide comfort and care to the members of the military, veterans, and their families. American Girl will match every dollar donation made at americangirl.com or at any American Girl store in the U.S. up to a maximum total donation of $75,000. American Girl is also giving $575,000 worth of its signature 18-inch dolls to the American Red Cross to provide a bit of cheer to children in times of crisis.Nanea Activities
To engage girls in Nanea’s world and her inspirational message, American Girl is also introducing the following activities and events:- Nanea Island Inspiration Sweepstakes: American Girl has partnered with Visit Oahu on a sweepstakes for the chance to win a fun-filled family getaway for four to Oahu, which includes round-trip travel on Hawaiian Airlines, a four-night stay at The Royal Hawaiian, tickets for four to the Aha Aina Luau Show, a visit to two attractions at Pearl Harbor, and a Nanea doll.
- Retail Events: Nanea-themed events will also be held at the American Girl stores throughout the year.
- Videos and Online Play: Behind-the- scenes videos on Nanea’s story and development, along with fun Hawaiian-themed craft and activity videos, are available on American Girl’s YouTube channel at YouTube.com/americangirl. Girls can also visit the Nanea-dedicated site for book excerpts, games and quizzes, wallpaper, and much more.
- Nanea Learning Materials: A free, downloadable teacher’s guide, which explores themes and issues covered in the Nanea book series, is available online.
I love that Nanea’s story is about the events of WWII and Pearl Harbor and how Nanea and her family concentrated on helping others!
I love the history behind her story! She is a beautiful doll 🙂
She embraces her spirit, and gives back by doing good deeds and giving selflessly
I love that she is so close to her extended family and wants to give selflessly to others.
She’s such a free spirit, like my little girls 🙂
I love the historical story behind her. That was such a major event in history.
Her family support, her dog and the inspirational bravery of this story is wonderful!
Family is important
She is my favorite girl thus far!
I love how Nanea embraces her spirit and her beliefs and that she does good deeds and gives selflessly. I especially like how she does her part to help restore peace to her beloved Hawaiian home. Just think if everyone did good deeds and gave selflessly and helped restore peace to where they live how nice our country would be.
What a cute doll!
Love this
Love that Nanea embraces Hawaiian culture. It is interesting to learn history of Pearl Harbor through her.
I love she is a free spirit who enjoys life. My daughter would love her!
Her beauty, her long brown hair and she is Hawaiian.
Her beauty and courage!
I love that family is so important to her!
I like how she gives of herself to help her family and how it takes just one person to make a difference.
My Grand Daughter would absolutely Love this Doll!
I love that she represents an important time & place in our history!
I love the time she is from and all of the historic information included.
I love the history behind the doll and the conversations this could begin with my girls.
I am very fond of Hawaii and its history. It is a favorite place to visit and this doll represents it well.
I love her spirit and perseverance!
I love her heritage and that she embraces it along with the accuracy of the history being told.
I love that she teaches about the Red Cross and the importance of helping others
After visiting Hawai‘i so often, the girls would love a doll from this state. Visiting Pearl Harbor also makes her story more meaningful to the two of them. She would be treasured!
I love her story because it reminds me of my mother’s story. My mother was a young teenager in the Philippines when they were invaded by the Japanese during WWII and she had a harrowing life during the war. She survived and was able to live a great life and but a great role model for her six children.
I like the way she reminds us of our history with the Pearl Harbor attack and that she is loyal to her family
Love how selfless she is and how much she cherishes her family! Such. Beautiful story and doll! Xoxo
Her culture
Currently teaching my daughter to honor her ancestors and this is the perfect doll for that. Plus she doesn’t have one American girl doll yet, this would be a dream come true for her. Thank you and good luck to all,.
Beautiful story and doll.
I love that my girls can have a doll that represents my home and my island.
She is so beautiful and has such a great story!
Her story is a great one of hope, love, and family. She would be a great addition to our household.
I had Molly growing up and loved learning how her life was different from mine. I would love for my daughter to have this doll!
What a great idea for an American Girl doll. I’ve always liked WW2 history, so a doll that fits into that time period is appealing. My niece would love it.
great story about her
I love this doll and her story. She is so pretty. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Love how she never lost sight of how important family is and how that’s most important. Then to also assist others.
I’m a huge history buff and being able to share my love of history with my kids is awesome. My daughter loves AG dolls and I love that through their back stories I can have incredible conversations with my girl about things that actually happened.
I love that her family is so important to her.
Thats such a cute doll!
The historical story line
I love the story for her and her courage
I love that her story is about the Pearl Harbor attack!
I love American Girl Dolls and I love how Nanea is true to her culture. I think this is a wonderful way for American girl to explore and teach our children about different cultures through play.
Besides being a beautiful doll. To me having a patriotism story and beautiful culture like Hawaiian in a doll it totally rocks. We need more toys with real meaning.
Nanea’s connection to an important event in history, her heritage, and the love she has for her family.
my daughter would love her shes adorable!
I love that it is so authentic.
I like that she likes to do good deeds and gives selflessly.
I love the influence of real historical events to her “back story”
I love that she represents Hawaii. My daughter was born there, and loves anything about Hawaii.
I love Nanea’s pride in her heritage and culture!
I love her story and she’s so cute. I love how she’s the start of much more diversity in AG’s dolls. It’s been a long time coming.
I like her love for her Ohana, and it sounds like a fascinating story.
I love her culture.. Beautiful doll.
I love the historical setting of her story!
Her family and how pretty she is
I like the Pearl Harbor backstory. My daughter has just been reading about Pearl Harbor.
My daughter loves American Girl. We have begun to read Nanea’s story and love how generous and kind she is. I am very fascinated by WWII history and look forward to reading about Pearl Harbor with my daughter. My mom’s brother was killed in WWII and I know when we read about Pearl Harbor, it will be very emotional.
The Hawaian culture
I love the time period she comes from. its always been my favorite
She is adorable and to highlight Hawaii, Pearl Harbor and World War II is even an added plus.
I love Hawaii and the Hawaiian people they are so loving and kind.
I like that nanea’s story is set during Pearl harbor and that great detail has gone into ensuring accuracy to tell the history of the time and the great heritage of this culture.
Love her spirit and all the love she has for her family !And she is so pretty !
I think she is inspirational because she grew up in a difficult time in our history. She shows courage like many did during WWII. I wish we could be more patriotic like she is.
It helps my children and grandchildren about history and different cultures
I love the culture and I love the story of World War II
i love her courage and free spirit and learning about Hawaii. It would be nice to do one on all the states to teach the history and facts about each state and the kids would remember it better.
I absolutely love that she’s a historical doll that’s related to world war 2 and I love that she’s such a free spirit!
I love the time period her story takes place. I can’t imagine what it would be like in WWII
I love how it shows how Nanea wanted to help at home and with her grandparent’s store, but how the Pearl Harbor attack changed their way of life. I think my daughter could find a way to relate to this (She is 9).
I love her culture and she is adorable! My daughter Ava would love her!
I love how Nanea focuses on helping others and the heritage and history she embodies.
I love that their is a history lesson that goes along with her!