Margaret Pearlman

Two young kids growing up in the rodeo cowboy life form a foundation with each other and family. He becomes a Champion Rodeo cowboy and special forces soldier but is crushed by war and personal loss. She must watch him struggle. He must draw on faith and the "cowboy way" to reclaim his will to live and the love of his life.

Thirteen-year-old David Kealoha dreams of escaping rural Hawaii. But when Jonah Morris, a white kid from Phoenix, Arizona moves into the neighborhood, tragedy strikes, irrevocably changing the trajectory of David’s life and those closest to him.

Using the unexplored and often tough neighborhoods of Hawai'i as a backdrop, Growing Up Local uncovers a boy’s struggle to establish his identity beyond his father’s fists and his loyalty to his friends. The tale of Stanley explores three generations of the Nagata family, and tells the universal story of the conflict between father and a son and the expectations and burdens that are passed on from generation to generation.

Two young kids growing up in the rodeo cowboy life form a foundation with each other and family. He becomes a Champion Rodeo cowboy and special forces soldier but is crushed by war and personal loss. She must watch him struggle. He must draw on faith and the "cowboy way" to reclaim his will to live and the love of his life.