Jack heard pounding noises. He imagined Boka and Kama were building a ship.

He opened his eyes. Only he and Annie were still in the hut. A piece of cloth covered the doorway. Jack sat up and shook Annie.

“Wake up!” he said.

She opened her eyes.

“I think they’re building a ship outside,” said Jack. “Come on, let’s go.”

Annie jumped up.

“Don’t forget your lei,” she said.

They put on their flower wreaths. Jack lifted the cloth over the doorway, and they stepped out into the warm sunlight.

Boka, Kama, and their parents smiled at Jack and Annie. They were all working. But no one was building a ship.

Boka was pounding a wide strip of bark with a wooden club. Kama was using a stone to pound something that looked like a fat sweet potato. Their parents were weaving grass mats.

“What are you making?” Jack asked.

“I’m making tapa,” said Boka. “First I beat the bark of the mulberry tree into thin sheets. Then my father pastes the sheets together to make cloth for us.”

“This is the root of a taro plant,” said Kama. She pointed at the squashed white vegetable. “When you add fruit to it, you get poi.”

“Great,” said Jack. “By the way, do you ever build ships?”

“Ships?” asked Boka. “What for?”

Jack shrugged. “To sail away?” he said.

“Why would we do that?” asked Kama.

“Good question,” said Jack, smiling.

“Can I help?” Annie asked Kama.

“Sure,” said Kama. While she showed Annie how to pound the taro root, Jack slipped back into the hut. He pulled out his notebook and quickly added to his Hawaii list:

Jack heard Kama ask her parents if they could play now.

“We’ve finished our chores,” said Kama. “May we take Jack and Annie to the ocean?”

“For wave riding,” said Boka.

Jack held his breath. He half hoped their parents would say no.

“Yes, go have a good time with your friends,” said their father.

“Come on, Jack!” Annie called.

Jack put his notebook away. He pulled on his pack and joined the others outside.

“We’ll be back in a little while,” said Kama.

“Don’t forget to eat breakfast!” said her mother.

“We won’t,” said Kama.

Where will we get breakfast? wondered Jack.

He and Annie followed Kama and Boka. They passed villagers hard at work. Some carried firewood or water. Others were cutting grass or stripping bark from trees. Everyone smiled and waved.

“Hungry?” Kama asked Jack and Annie.

“Sure,” they said.

Kama and Boka went into the grove of palms near the huts. They climbed up two slanting tree trunks, using their hands and feet to push themselves up. At the top, they shook the palm leaves.

“Watch out!” Kama shouted.

Jack and Annie jumped back as big, round coconuts fell to the ground.

Kama and Boka slid down the trees. They each picked up a coconut. Then they found rocks and began to whack the hard shells. They whacked and whacked until their coconuts cracked into halves.

Kama shared hers with Annie. Boka shared his with Jack.

Jack drank the fresh, sweet milk inside the coconut. “Mmm!” he said.

“Interesting?” asked Boka.

“No. Mmm means good!” said Jack.

Everyone laughed.

Then Kama picked bananas off a banana tree and gave them to Jack and Annie. Jack peeled his and took a bite. It was the best banana he’d ever eaten.

When breakfast was over, they all headed into the flowery meadow. The sky was the bluest blue Jack had ever seen. The grass was the greenest green. The flowers and birds sparkled like jewels.

Hawaii is like a garden paradise, Jack thought.

He wanted to look up Hawaiian birds and flowers in the research book. As the others kept walking, he stopped and pulled out the book.

“Jack! Come look!” Annie shouted. She was standing at the edge of a cliff with Boka and Kama.

Jack put away the book and hurried to join the others. He looked down at a beach fifty feet below.

There were no people. Only seashells and seaweed lay on the glistening white sand. Big, foamy waves crashed against the shore.

“Wow!” said Annie.

Uh-oh, thought Jack.