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Books Orchards, a novel in verse by Holly Thompson Orchards
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. 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. Holly Thompson’s dazzling novel in verse gives voice to the complex emotions of a girl whose anger, confusion, and regret transform into newfound compassion and a sense of purpose. Delacorte/Random House Spring 2011 The Wakame Gatherers
Shen's Books, October 2007. Bicultural Nanami goes wakame seaweed gathering with her Japanese and American grandmothers. Nanami must serve as translator for the two women, whom she comes to understand were at war when they were her age. Included after the story are an author’s note about wakame, a glossary of Japanese words used, and recipes for wakame by Nanami and each of her grandmothers. "A Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People 2009" selected by the National Council for the Social Studies in cooperation with the Children's Book Council Order The Wakame Gatherers from Amazon.com Order The Wakame Gatherers from Amazon Japan Order The Wakame Gatherers from Shen's Books Ash - A Novel
Caitlin Ober is back in Japan teaching English in remote Kagoshima, opposite the increasingly active volcano Sakurajima. Beneath ominous clouds of ash, Caitlin travels her school rounds with waning enthusiasm. After hours she swims intently, hangs with a group of windsurfers, and attempts to keep her boyfriend, Hiroshi, at bay. She concocts lies and self-deceptions to prevent a tragic childhood incident in Kyoto from intruding on her present. But, like the ash that veils the city, guilt obscures her path. Then, in an ash-coated garden, Caitlin encounters a half-Japanese teenager, Naomi, wrangling with her double identity. Naomi seems to require Caitlin’s rescue, and by degrees the two swap morsels of self-truths. Ultimately they travel to Kyoto during the summer festival of O-Bon, when the spirits of the dead revisit the living. There, amid bonfires, temple rites, and ghostly memories, Caitlin bravely begins to embrace her future. Order Ash from Amazon.com Order Ash from Amazon Japan Order Ash from Stone Bridge Press The Broken Bridge: Fiction from Expatriates in Literary Japan
Holly Thompson's story "Bloodlines" is featured in the anthology The Broken Bridge: Fiction from Expatriates in Literary Japan (Stone Bridge Press), edited by Suzanne Kamata. Order The Broken Bridge from Amazon.com Order The Broken Bridge from Amazon Japan |
