Growing Up

When the story begins, Anita is nearly 12 years old. While many still look on her as a child, she realizes that she is growing up. She is beginning to identify with her older sister more, and she is physically changing. She is eager to appear older than she really is and when Sam moves in, she tells him that she is already twelve years old.

When one thinks of childhood, one thinks of innocence and naivety. Anita is clearly leaving her innocence and naivety behind her as the events in the book unfold. Her country is at war, and she is in the middle of all the chaos. She has to deal with her new feelings for boys, the onset of her first period, her physical changes, and her emotional changes in a time when others around her are fighting for survival.

Anita has to learn how...