By turns devastating and uplifting, a powerful testament to the human will to survive—and thrive.
A Japanese American girl from Hawaii is stranded in 1941 Hiroshima on the eve of the U.S. entry into World War II.
Amy’s parents have sent her to Japan alone to visit her ailing great-grandmother, whom she’s never met, though she’s heard family stories of her daring exploits as a pearl diver. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Amy is distraught, unable to return home. Drawing parallels between past and present, Amy’s great-grandmother looks back to 1879, when Japan annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom, based in Okinawa. Though afraid, she “survived. And thrived”—and she emphasizes that Amy, too, must persevere, even as she’s conscripted and forced to translate U.S. radio messages into Japanese. Her understanding of identity, loss, and belonging is further strained when she learns that her family has been imprisoned by the U.S. government. As 1945 approaches, readers familiar with the atomic bombings will be anxious to learn of Amy’s fate. Smith shines a spotlight on the lesser-known history of Japanese American “strandees,” with Amy’s story mirroring aspects of figures like Iva Toguri D’Aquino and Tomoya Kawakita, both forcibly conscripted and seen as treasonous. Norrie’s gracefully composed, blue-toned illustrations heighten the emotions. Wordless scenes convey the horrors of the bombing; the titular pearl is a beautifully executed symbol of hope, survival, and life that also reflects Amy’s struggles with her identity as Japanese and American.
By turns devastating and uplifting, a powerful testament to the human will to survive—and thrive. (Graphic historical fiction. 10-18)Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9781338029437
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
Brava!
From award winner Telgemeier (Smile, 2010), a pitch-perfect graphic novel portrayal of a middle school musical, adroitly capturing the drama both on and offstage.
Seventh-grader Callie Marin is over-the-moon to be on stage crew again this year for Eucalyptus Middle School’s production of Moon over Mississippi. Callie's just getting over popular baseball jock and eighth-grader Greg, who crushed her when he left Callie to return to his girlfriend, Bonnie, the stuck-up star of the play. Callie's healing heart is quickly captured by Justin and Jesse Mendocino, the two very cute twins who are working on the play with her. Equally determined to make the best sets possible with a shoestring budget and to get one of the Mendocino boys to notice her, the immensely likable Callie will find this to be an extremely drama-filled experience indeed. The palpably engaging and whip-smart characterization ensures that the charisma and camaraderie run high among those working on the production. When Greg snubs Callie in the halls and misses her reference to Guys and Dolls, one of her friends assuredly tells her, "Don't worry, Cal. We’re the cool kids….He's the dork." With the clear, stylish art, the strongly appealing characters and just the right pinch of drama, this book will undoubtedly make readers stand up and cheer.
Brava! (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-32698-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
SEEN & HEARD
A coming-of-age story as tender and sweet as a summer evening breeze
Summer adventures begin when Bina accidentally locks herself out of her house in Larson’s newest middle-grade graphic novel.
The summer before eighth grade is a season of self-discovery for many 13-year-olds, including Bina, when her best friend heads off to soccer camp and leaves her alone to navigate a SoCal summer. Without athletic Austin around to steer the ship, Bina must pursue her own passions, such as discovering new bands and rocking out on her electric guitar. Unexpected friendships bloom, and new members are welcomed into her family. Though her sphere grows over the summer, friendship with Austin is strained when he returns, and Bina must learn to embrace the proverb to make new friends but keep the old. As her mother wisely observes, “you’re more you every day,” and by the end of summer Bina is more comfortable in her own skin and ready to rock eighth grade. Larson’s panels are superb at revealing emotional conflict, subtext, and humor within the deceptively simple third-person limited plot, allowing characters to grow and develop emotionally over only a few spreads. She also does a laudable job of depicting a diverse community for Bina to call home. Though Bina’s ethnicity is never overtly identified, her racial ambiguity lends greater universality to her story. (In the two-toned apricot, black, and white panels, Bina and her mother have the same black hair and gold skin, while her dad is white, as is Austin.)
A coming-of-age story as tender and sweet as a summer evening breeze . (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-374-30485-0
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
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