Kira-Kira

This is a stand-alone novel and really it doesn't need a sequel. This time the story is realistic fiction and takes place in Iowa.

I found this in my English teacher's classroom a while ago and wanted to read it. Then just last week, I had the courage to get it from the library.

Here's the cover.

Katie Takeshima is an average girl. Her life consists of only three special people, those being her mom, her dad and her sister Lynn.

She has a special attachment to Lynn. They use only one word which is their definition for everything. Kira-kira, which means glittering in Japanese. They say that the ocean is kira-kira, the sky is kira-kira, even people's eyes are kira-kira. Their mother thinks they are overusing the word, but to Katie, that is the only reality she knows.

Their parents owned an oriental grocery store in Iowa. When the shop runs out of business, their Uncle Katsuhisa offers them a job at the hatchery he works for. This means a large move to Georgia until they find another house.

The new move means hardships for everyone. When Lynn goes to school and makes new friends, she stops playing with Katie because it looks "uncool" to play with your little sister. Katie doesn't do well in school even though she's trying her hardest and wishes that she were more like Lynn. While that is going on, she is struggling to hold onto the fragments of her broken reality.

When Lynn falls sick, Katie becomes worried for her. While Lynn's condition is getting worse, she begins to whine more and become unkind to Katie. Ultimately, Katie has to remember that the world and even people's lives and the memories you share with them are also kira-kira.

My thoughts-

This story was just plain amazing. I have never had a younger or older sister, so I can't relate that well to either Katie or Lynn. but I do know the feeling of trying to find new friends in an area where no one knows who you are or even what your name is. I thought that their love for each other was really well played and I could somewhat understand how Lynn wanted to be independent and how Katie wanted to still cling to her.

The story really plays out the aspect of looking and behaving differently from everyone else and how that is looked down upon. In example, when Katie remarks how people would stop them on the street to take a good look at them as if they were aliens.

In general, this was a interesting book and it really made me take a second look at the world.