Saturday, February 4, 2012

100 Books in 2012: Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

Book 11: Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

This 2005 Newbery award winning book is a historical young adult fiction set in 1950's Georgia. Katie practically worships her sister Lynn, the older, more intelligent daughter of Japanese immigrants. When the family must move to the south for their parents to find work and Lynn's wonderful, popular life suddenly changes with the onset of lymphoma, Katie struggles to understand her parents' tireless hours of working at the hatchery, her poor academics and loneliness at school, and her own growing fatigue and resentment of her sickly sister.

This coming of age story finds Katie finally understanding why her sister Lynn taught her to find the kira-kira, the glittering, in all things in life, even in this harsh, sometimes cruel world.

1 comment:

Jen said...

Such a sweet/sad book.