She’s spent summers in California for as long as she can remember, but this year she and her mother are staying with her grandparents in Japan as they await the arrival of Ema’s baby sibling.
(Apr.In this beautiful and haunting debut novel in verse, called “a tender piece on connectedness” in a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, a Japanese-American girl struggles with the loneliness of being caught between two worlds when the tragedy of 9/11 strikes an ocean away.Įleven-year-old Ema has always been of two worlds-her father’s Japanese heritage and her mother’s life in America. The novel is set over the course of several months in 2001, and while the 9/11 connection feels a bit tenuous, it provides a moving outside perspective on the tragedy and helps shape a universal message of "peace among nations/ peace among peoples/ peace in the heart." Ages 9%E2%80%9312. Debut novelist Donwerth-Chikamatsu makes good use of the verse novel format to emphasize that "binational/ bicultural/ bilingual/ biracial" Ema is still learning English while revealing an intimate portrait of her daily struggles in an unfamiliar place. As fifth grade begins, sensitive Ema has difficulties at school, including a bully, but her main concern is the health of her mother's baby.
Meanwhile, her American mother clashes with Obaasan frequently Ema has trouble getting to know her stern grandmother, too, though she connects with kindhearted Jiichan. Ema misses her home and friends, as well as visiting her maternal grandparents in California in the summer. Ema's life is in flux: her pregnant mother needs rest, so they've left Ema's father in Tokyo while they stay with her grandparents, Obaasan and Jiichan, in the country.
0 kommentar(er)
