Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction: An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories

"A broadly appealing mix of the tragic and droll, comforting, disturbing, exotic and universal, with nary a clinker in the bunch" - Kirkus Reviews

This aptly named fiction anthology—tomo means “friend” in Japanese—is a true labor of friendship to benefit teens in Japan whose lives were upended by the violent earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. Authors from Japan and around the world have contributed works of fiction set in or related to Japan. Young adult English-language readers will be able to connect with their Japanese counterparts through stories of contemporary Japanese teens, ninja and yokai teens, folklore teens, mixed-heritage teens, and non-Japanese teens who call Japan home. Tales of friendship, mystery, love, ghosts, magic, science fiction, and history will propel readers to Japan past and present and to Japanese universes abroad.

Portions of the proceeds of Tomo will be donated to the Japanese non-profit, HOPE FOR TOMORROW, to support ongoing relief efforts for teens in Japan.

Edited and with a foreword by Holly Thompson, Tomo contributing authors include Naoko Awa, Deni Bechard, Jennifer Fumiko Cahill, Liza Dalby, Megumi Fujino, Andrew Fukuda, Alan Gratz, Katrina Toshiko Grigg-Saito, Suzanne Kamata, Sachiko Kashiwaba, Kelly Luce, Shogo Oketani and Leza Lowitz, Ryusuke Saito, Graham Salisbury, Fumio Takano, and Wendy Tokunaga, among others.

Holly Thompson is a longtime writing teacher and resident of Japan and author of the young adult verse novel Orchards, which won the 2012 Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association Award for Young Adult Literature . She serves as the regional advisor for the Tokyo chapter of the Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators.

One year after the tsunami, this benefit fiction anthology helps teens learn about Japan and contribute to long-term relief efforts.

Holly Thompson (www.hatbooks.com) is a longtime resident of Japan and author of the young adult verse novel Orchards (Delacorte/Random House, 2011), which was nominated for a 2012 YALSA/ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults award. She is also the author of the picture book The Wakame Gatherers (Shens Books, 2007) and the novel Ash (Stone Bridge Press, 2001). She is a regular contributor to the Double Take column of All Nippon Airways Wingspan magazine, and serves as Regional Advisor for the Tokyo chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She has taught creative and academic writing at Yokohama City University for many years and often gives presentations on writing craft. Visit her Hatbooks blog (http://hatbooks.blogspot.com) on writing, teaching, living and learning, mostly in Japan.