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Original Essays | October 18, 2009

Victoria Hislop: IMG From Leprosy to Lorca — Strange Inspiration

0 comments By Victoria Hislop

My first novel, The Island, was inspired by a chance visit to a tiny island leper colony off the coast of Greece on our summer holiday. It was a... Continue »
  1. $10.49 Sale Trade Paper add to wish list

    The Return

    Victoria Hislop

Kira-Kira

by Cynthia Kadohata

Kira-Kira Cover

ISBN13: 9780689856396
ISBN10: 0689856393
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
All Product Details

Only 3 left in stock at $10.50!

Awards

Winner of the 2005 Newbery Medal
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

kira-kira (kee' ra kee' ra): glittering; shining

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, it's Lynn who explains to her why people stop them on the street to stare. And it's 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 — "kira-kira" — in the future.

Luminous in its persistence of love and hope, Kira-Kira is Cynthia Kadohata's stunning debut in middle-grade fiction.

Review:

"The vivid writing and the portrayal of a most loving and honorable father lift this above the norm....Kadohata's Katie sparkles." Kirkus Reviews

Review:

"[B]eautifully written....Girls will relate to and empathize with the appealing protagonist." School Library Journal

Review:

"[M]oving....The family's devotion to one another, and Lynn's ability to teach Katie to appreciate the 'kira-kira,' or glittering, in everyday life makes this novel shine." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

Review:

"Kadohata stays true to the child's viewpoint in plain, beautiful prose that can barely contain the passionate feelings....The quiet words will speak to readers who have lost someone they love — or fear that they could." Booklist (Starred Review)

Review:

"Kadohata has written a quiet, powerful story that lingers long after the last page is turned." BookPage
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About the Author

Cynthia Kadohata is a novelist who has also had stories published in The New Yorker, Grand Street Magazine, and Ploughshares. The New York Times called her "a luminous new voice in fiction" with the publication of her first novel, The Floating World. A Whiting Award fellow, she lives in Los Angeles, California.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 4 comments:
bookworm52, June 6, 2009 (view all comments by bookworm52)
Kira-Kira is an amazing book. This book doesn't really have a moral to it though which is fine if you just want a good book to read. I have to say that Kira-Kira may be my favorite book right about now having read it twelve times. It is possibly one of the most beautifully written stories about a young girl, her family, and the disasters that strike them. Kira-Kira is the must have book for those days when you just aren't feeling good because it'll make you feel happier then ever.
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Waylie, January 24, 2008 (view all comments by Waylie)
This book teaches a lot of kids to appreciate every single glittering moments in their life.It also teaches us that no matter what happens,we shouldn't hate the world and our life... :-)
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crowyhead, March 21, 2007 (view all comments by crowyhead)
Kira-kira means "glittering" in Japanese, and that is how Katie's older sister Lynn describes everything from stars to the way that tissue paper floats on the breeze. Kira-kira is about Katie and Lynn and their brother Sammy, who are growing up Japanese in Georgia in the 50s. Their parents struggle to make ends meet, but Lynn always looks to the future, and she teaches Katie to do the same. When Lynn becomes very ill, it's up to Katie to remember what it is to look to the future and see what is still glittering in the world.

This is kind of a classic Newberry book -- it's delicately and simply written, handles serious issues deftly, and is sort of unendingly solemn. :) Not to say that I didn't like it, just that whoa, kind of depressing.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780689856396
Author:
Kuskin, Julia
Publisher:
Atheneum Books
Author:
Kuskin, Julia
Location:
New York
Subject:
Friendship
Subject:
Classics
Subject:
Children's 9-12 - Fiction - General
Subject:
Social Situations - Death & Dying
Subject:
Children's 9-12 - Literature - Classics / Contemporary
Subject:
Family - Siblings
Subject:
Death
Subject:
Georgia
Subject:
Sisters
Subject:
Japanese Americans
Subject:
Ethnic - Asian American
Subject:
People & Places - United States - Asian American
Subject:
Social Issues - Death & Dying
Copyright:
2004
Edition Number:
1st ed.
Publication Date:
February 2004
Binding:
Hardcover
Grade Level:
Children/juvenile
Language:
English
Pages:
244
Dimensions:
774x536x95 59
Age Level:
10-14
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