Yokohama Yankee: My Family's Five Generations as Outsiders in Japan, by Leslie Helm
Yokohama Yankee is unlike any memoir or family story I’ve ev
ery read: the elegant, skillful melding of a poignant story of the adoption of two Japanese children with the swashbuckling tales of a family that began in the 1870s when a German man married his Japanese housekeeper. Born and raised in the foreign enclave of Yokohama, Leslie Helm delves deep beneath the surface of Japan, weaving together that country’s ugly and beautiful aspects and its love-hate relations with “gaijin.” He analyzes himself and his family with an unflinching eye, producing a powerful, honest and self-reflective story that shows bitterness, family betrayal, a longing for belonging, and subtle tenderness. To say nothing of a mad samurai who committed murder and seppuku in the house of Helm’s great-grandfather!
The illustrations are magnificent and bring the history to life: not only family photographs but postcards and maps of old Yokohama, handwritten notes, wrenching wartime landscapes, and whimsical chapter headings inspired by postal stamps.
I highly recommend this book, which that will draw you in and take you on a journey to the long-ago and far-away – and bring you safely back to present-day America. Find out more at Leslie Helm's author website.
The Drowning World, by Brenda Peterson: A gripping tale of life in an imagined undersea world
Whoa! This book is a winner, sure to catch on and captivate and ensnare readers of all ages, especially young people. Brenda Peterson has created a richly imagined underwater world called “Aquantis,” complete with mer-people who can shift between one tail and two legs, mind-talking communication with dolphins and sea turtles, a Hogwarts-like training school, and even a dark underside of exploited workers in the sea gardens.
Part of the story is set in the year 2030, and the author gives us a vivid portrayal of what global warming might do to the low-lying lands of south Florida, swept by frequent hurricanes, covered with mud, and its residents, doomed to a life offshore on Eco-Arks.
But what kept me turning pages were the adventures of the main characters: sixteen-year-old Marina, assigned to explore the “SkyeWorld” as a spy-ambassador, and Lukas, a sexy young human drawn into the underwater world while trying to save turtles from an oil spill. Can’t wait for the sequel!
More information is available at Brenda Peterson's website and at amazon.com.
The Friendship Doll, by Kirby Larson (Delacorte, 2011)
This is a delicious book that made me smile many times. Miss Kanagawa, a three-foot-tall doll hand-made in Japan, came to the United States in 1927, along with 57 other dolls, as an ambassador of friendship. That much is a true story. What American children might she have met, and how might she have affected their lives? That is where Kirby Larson’s vivid imagination kicks in.
A rich, spoiled girl in New York City in 1928. A daughter of an unemployed mechanic in Chicago in the early days of the Depression. A lively reader from a fatherless family in “the holler” in backwoods Kentucky in 1937. An Okie girl whose family lost their farm in the Dust Bowl and had to look for work on the West Coast. A modern-day boy in Seattle.
At first I thought the messages about friendship, as given by this doll, might be clichéd, but Newbery Honor Winning author Kirby Larson doesn’t do clichés. Each of these children speaks with a clear, distinctive voice, using fresh metaphors and images true to their time and place. Even Miss Kanagawa has attitude. And all of these compelling mini-stories have surprise endings!
I highly recommend this book, especially for girls who think they have outgrown their love for dolls.
Kirby Larson's website is http://www.kirbylarson.com/
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Kubla Khan, The Emperor of Everything, by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Robert Byrd
I found this delightful picture book in the museum shop at the Met, outside the World of Khubilai Khan exhibit. It’s brand new, published in 2010. The story is well-researched and beautifully told, with lively language and rich detail. The illustrations are phenomenal! The map of the Mongol Empire in the end pages is charming, and you can learn a lot about the Mongols and how they lived simply by perusing the pictures on each page. The book is labeled “ages 8 up” – and it is indeed far more sophisticated than your average picture book. Highly recommended!
On Robert Byrd’s website, he says “My canvas is a stage filled with characters like an opera.” Precisely!
I have found many of Kathleen Krull’s marvelous nonfiction books already on my shelves, including Lives of the Writers and Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez. She has a website and contributes to a blog called I.N.K.: Interesting Nonfiction for Kids.
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Book of
a Thousand Days, by Shannon Hale
The beautiful language of this book evokes an appealing fantasy world, with eight realms such as Titor’s Garden, Beloved of Ris, and Song for Evela. The cover shows a beautiful young Asian woman, and many of the details are borrowed from medieval Mongolia. The main character, Dashti, grew up on the steppes, lived in a “gher” and wore a traditional outfit called a “deel.”
In this story, Dashti works as a lady’s maid for Lady Saren, and they are shut in a stone tower for seven years because Lady Saren refused to marry the man her father chose for her. It is a challenge to keep the story lively for the first 100 pages of the book, with two girls locked in a dark tower. After they escape, the story takes some surprising turns, and both girls evolve and grow.
Dashti excels in a traditional (fantasy) art of healing people by signing songs – one of many details that make this book enchanting and lovely.
Readers who enjoyed this book, a Teenreads.com “best book” and YALSA “best book for young adults,” may be fascinated to learn about real historical customs of the Mongols of medieval days, in Daughter of Xanadu.
Shannon Hale, Newbery Honor-winning author of Princess Academy, has a website with the intriguing name of squeetus.com.
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