by Cynthia Kadohata
Flap Copy description:
Glittering. That's how Katie Takeshima's sister, Lynn, makes everything seem. The sky is kira-kira because its color is deep but see-through at the same time. The sea is kira-kira for the same reason. And so are people's eyes. When Katie and her family move from a Japanese community in Iowa to the Deep South of Georgia, its Lynn who explains to her why people stop them on the street to stare. And its Lynn who, with her special way of viewing the world, teaches Katie to look beyond tomorrow. But when Lynn becomes desperately ill, and the whole family begins to fall apart, it is up to Katie to find a way to remind them all that there is always something glittering - something kira-kira - in the future.
My thoughts:
This middle grade fiction is set in the late 1950's in the racially-torn Deep South of America. The relationship of Katie to her older sister Lynn, and the small Japanese community as well, weaves a story of love and loss - as well as hope and survival. Kira-Kira deals with such raw subjects as poverty, racism, and death; but leaves you feeling quite inspired at the end of it all. Ms. Kadohata won the 2005 Newbery Medal Award for this book - her first middle grade novel.
