BOOKS

YA Fiction
How do you know if you’re responsible? After a bullied classmate commits suicide, Kana Goldberg is sent to her family’s home in Japan for the summer. Kana wasn’t the bully, not exactly, but she didn’t do anything to stop what happened, either. As Kana begins to process the pain and guilt she feels, news from home sends her world spinning out of orbit all over again. Delacorte/Random House, February 2011. “A fast-paced page-turner that explores the rippling effects of suicide.” –Kirkus Reviews 2012 APALA Asian/Pacific Award for Literature
Tomo (meaning “friend” in Japanese) is an anthology of young adult short fiction in prose, verse and graphic art set in or related to Japan. This collection for readers age 12 and up features thirty-six stories—including ten in translation and two graphic narratives—contributed by authors and artists from around the world, all of whom share a connection to Japan. Tales of friendship, mystery, love, ghosts, magic, sci-fi and history will take readers to Japan past and present and to Japanese communities abroad. Proceeds from the sales will go to organizations that assist teens affected by the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. Stone Bridge Press, March, 2012.
Children's
Bicultural Nanami goes seaweed gathering with her Japanese and American grandmothers. While translating for the two women she comes to understand they were at war when they were her age. "A heartwarming example of how being from different cultures, countries, and races and speaking another language are not really barriers to appreciation and acceptance..." --Multicultural Review
Adult Fiction
"A wonderfully insightful novel about a young woman living within two cultures. Thompson adeptly explores the lasting bonds of friendship and the courage needed to face the past in order to embrace the future."—Gail Tsukiyama, author of Women of the Silk and The Samurai’s Garden
Short Stories, Poems, Articles, Essays
Where to find short stories, poems, articles and essays by Holly Thompson

Quick Links

Andrea Brown Literary Agency
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A Note from Holly Thompson

Welcome to my website and my intercultural world.

I grew up in New England but have been living in Japan for many years. My books often reflect the crossing of cultures amid my family, among my students, and within the communities in which I find myself immersed.

My YA verse novel Orchards was recently awarded the 2012 APALA Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature and is a 2012 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults pick. The main character of Orchards, Kana, is a Japanese and Jewish/American girl sent from her home in New York to spend the summer with relatives in Japan after the suicide of a classmate. I hope you'll join Kana as she is immersed in the tiny village of Kohama, working in the mikan orchards and trying to make sense of what happened. See the Orchards section of this site for a great book trailer. And be sure to visit the Interviews section of this site for lots of background on Orchards.

Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction--An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories, the collection of 36 Japan-related stories that I have edited and written the foreword to (see below), will be published by Stone Bridge Press in March 2012. Read background about this project and interviews with contributors on the Tomo blog. Proceeds from the sales of Tomo will support teens in the areas of Tohoku, Japan, affected by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

On my HATBOOKS blog you can read about volunteer work in tsunami-hit Tohoku, mikan oranges and wakame seaweed, day-to-day Japan life, writing, and travel. And you can follow me on Twitter @hatbooks.

May you have many wonderful cross cultural journeys.

All the best,

Holly Thompson

Orchards

Orchards Facebook Page

Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction--An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories to be published by Stone Bridge Press in March 2012. Proceeds will benefit teens in the earthquake- and tsunami-affected areas of Tohoku, Japan.