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Random House Children's Books · Paperback · February 14, 2012
Winner of the APALA Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature An ALA-YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Book After a classmate commits suicide, Kana Goldberg—a half-Japanese, half-Jewish American—wonders who is responsible.
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- Who it’s for
- A summer in Japan brings family ties, cultural questions, and grief into the same frame.
- Themes
- Cultural identity and belonging, Grief and guilt, Family and village life
- Pacing
- Reflective
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For younger readers: While I Was Away, A Place to Belong, Paper Wishes
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Start with this bookAbout this book
Winner of the APALA Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature An ALA-YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Book After a classmate commits suicide, Kana Goldberg—a half-Japanese, half-Jewish American—wonders who is responsible. She and her cliquey friends said some thoughtless things to the girl. Hoping that Kana will reflect on her behavior, her parents pack her off to her mother's ancestral home in Japan for the summer.
Continue reading
There Kana spends hours under the hot sun tending to her family's mikan orange groves. Kana's mixed heritage makes it hard to fit in at first, especially under the critical eye of her traditional grandmother, who has never accepted Kana's father. But as the summer unfolds, Kana gets to know her relatives, Japan, and village culture, and she begins to process the pain and guilt she feels about the tragedy back home. Then news about a friend sends her world spinning out of orbit all over again.
Belonging and Grief
A summer in Japan brings family ties, cultural questions, and grief into the same frame.
Come here for
- A mixed-heritage teen’s search for belonging
- Family ties alongside grief and guilt
Expect
- Village life and mikan groves under the summer sun
- A reflective story balancing emotional weight with family warmth
Where it sits
| Death & Grief for Teens | 79% |
|---|---|
| Teen Suicide | 61% |
| Asian American YA | 43% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Multigenerational YA Stories
- Friendship for Teens
- Teen Suicide
- Authors
- Holly Thompson
- Publisher
- Random House Children's Books
- Published
- February 14, 2012
- Format
- Paperback
- Theme
- Cultural identity and belonging · Grief and guilt · Family and village life
- Reading lane
- Multigenerational YA Stories