Kira-Kira

Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: "Kira-Kira" is a story about a Japanese-American girl, Katie, and her relationship with Lynnie, her sister. While the read was good, and and it's a book I recommend, I felt like the book wasn't quite good enough to be the Newbery Medal winner.

I'm going to focus on the flaws here because other readers have done a good job of the positive points. So even though this sounds like an overly negative review, I agree with my four star rating.

The storyline and ending is set up pretty early in the novel. You know that Katie and her sister are close, and that something happens to her sister. The rest of the novel then sets up their relationship and the various events that change it. To me, the book would have been stronger if the author had not foreshadowed the eventual emotional climax of the book on the first page.

There is another odd part where the author foreshadows certain things at the end of chapter one, "We got sent to bed without supper because my parents said hitting someone was the worst thing you could do. Stealing was second, and lying was third. Before I was twelve, I would have committed all three of those crimes." You get the feeling that those three items will be the thrust of the storyline of the novel. And while all three do HAPPEN, they feel merely like sidenotes... events that happen but don't really mean anything. For the stealings... sure, she gets in trouble... but it doesn't seem like her perspective changed because of it. She didn't even ever get found out about punching someone or lying... no lesson learned, no change of character. If it wasn't for the foreshadow, it wouldn't matter. But because of the foreshadowing (which also happens to be the quote on the back cover) it seemed to me that the author casually made that promise to the reader, then half way through the novel realized that she needed to follow up on that and threw them in half heartedly.

In fact, almost every single case of foreshadowing ends up in disappointment. Katie is told that school will be tough because she is Japanese in a time where that sort of thing is mistrusted. And while it is later off-handedly mentioned that most people didn't talk to her, we don't really see the effects of this on her. It's like it doesn't matter... when in reality something like that would be devistating to a child.

Foreshadowing problems aside, Kadohata's writing just feels a bit flat to me. She failed to completely wrap me up in the novel. There was a couple of interesting quirks that made me smile, but they were rare. What really saved the book, really, was the way the author textures Katie and Lynnie's relationship. Relationships and characters drive books for me more than plots.

Definately a book I recommend you read... but definately not award-worthy, either.

Rating:
Summary: I LOVED THIS BOOK
Review: After reading Kira-Kira,I had found my new favourite author. Kadohata had touched both myself and a good friend of mine. My friend was in tears at the end of the book. I could understand why she wept for I too felt touched by Kadohata's book. Kadohata filled chapter every with such strong emotions and used such colourful vocabulary. Kadohata is surly one of the most amazing authors of all time.

Rating:
Summary: Depressing, no where near as kid friendly as Despereaux
Review: Another children's book for adults. It's well written, but slow moving. It's told in an older voice looking back on the time when she was a child. How many depressing themes can a writer fit into one small book? Moving, racism, poor working conditions, terminal illness, death. If you have to read a Newbery book, pick up Shiloh by Phyllis Naylor or Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.

Rating:
Summary: Formulaic
Review: Here's the formula: 1 part politically correct message (instead of racism against blacks in the south or racism against Japanese in the west, here we get an entirely new approach -- racism against Japanese in the south) plus 1 part disease of the month (lymphoma) plus 1 part non-western ethnicity = Newbery award. Let me quote a recent article by the Director of Research at the National Endowment for the Arts lamenting the decline of reading, especially among boys: "Both boys and girls are unlikely to choose books based on an 'issues' approach, and children are not interested in reading about ways to reform society." Why hasn't the Newbery committee figured this out? This year's award should have gone to Sea of Trolls, by Nancy Farmer, a book that neither boys nor girls can put down. Wake up, Newbery committee, or you will find yourself deemed irrelevant by readers out here.

Rating:
Summary: Thank you, Newbery committee...
Review: I don't know that I would have picked up this novel. In fact, I remember seeing it in the children's section of the local bookstore back when it first came out. I'm not always convinced the Newbery Medal lands on the very best books, but there's no doubt this time. Kira-Kira is a gem. Glittering. Perfectly pieced together. When Cynthia Kadohata writes another one, I won't pass it by.

Rating:
Summary: NEWBERY DISAPPOINTMENT
Review: Im very disappointed with the Newbery decision this year. I read this book to analyse the literary merits of the novel as "most distinguished American literature for children" and Im sorry to say that this book don't qualify with the criteria. Yeah, its true that this book is socially significant; the prose is well-edited, polished, lyrical BUT kids will not read the book. An award for children's literature must be judged by kids and young-at-hearts themselves. We must end the cycle of giving a prestigious medal to "books-begging-for-an-award". The topic of racial discrimination, poverty, and death are not exactly original. This book offers nothing new to the young readers. It does not push the envelope or raise the bar of the literary form. I suspect, many writers of kid's novel these days only follow the winning formula: lyrical writing, first person account, exotic setting, sentimentality. I hope that Newbery winners next year will truly surprise and will continue to delight millions of readers not just in the US but also worldwide.

Rating:
Summary: Dulled glittering
Review: In many ways, the Newbery Award is my favorite kind of award out there. Some people prefer the Oscars. Others enjoy the Emmys. And even a few sad souls look forward to the National Book Awards. But the Newberys are different in a single undeniable way. Where other awards tell you ahead of time who the top nominations for the prize are, until the Newbery Award is announced anybody could win. Anyone who's written an American children's book, that is. Sometimes this yields fabulous winners that truly deserve their awards, like "Holes" by Louis Sacher (enjoyed equally by kids and adults, funny, moving, serious, ridiculous, and more). Other times, it yields books like "kira-kira". Ah, my poor "kira-kira". A perfectly fine book that will now be loathed and abhorred by countless generations of schoolchildren the world over. "kira-kira" is not bad, per say. But it brilliantly fulfills every stereotype of Newbery Award winners. It is depressing (sometimes ridiculously so), more of a teen novel than a book intended for children, and just the kind of story that contains lovely prose in an exceedingly boring way. It's sad to say, but now we must officially declare the 2005 Newbery year as a bum one. Pity.

Born in 1951, Katie Takeshima loves one person more than anyone else in the world. Her older sister Lynn. Lynn and Katie are inseparable from the get-go. Unlike those older sisters that would belittle or hurt their younger adoring siblings, Lynn makes sure that Katie comes with her everywhere. Their family lives in Iowa and must make some big changes when they move to Georgia. Being Japanese-Americans living in the 1950s, their parents must face terrible jobs and long hours. Worse still, Lynn seems to be losing a lot of energy for unknown reasons. As Katie grows and watches her beloved sister slipping away she must learn how to cope with the world on her own, bravely.

You know you're in for a bumpy ride in a novel when, right from the start, the main character starts talking about her adored older sister in the past tense. You know you're in even bigger trouble when she starts reading passages out of that sister's diary. I found many similarities in this book to Adeline Yen Mah's, "Chinese Cinderella", in terms of tone and plotting. For example, about the time Mah's main character was given a sweet fluffy yellow baby chick, you knew that chick was doomed. Similarly, "kira-kira" lost me when, out of nowhere, a main character got trapped in a bear trap. I mean COME ON people. A bear trap? Books for children usually lose me when they become depressing to the point of ridiculousness. Bear traps are inherently ridiculous. So too are passages in which the main character says things like, "I wondered if anyone else in history had ever been as sad as I was at that moment".

None of this is to say that the book isn't well-written. But there's also the fact that this book really isn't your average kiddie fare. You have adults wearing pads in their underwear because their jobs don't allow them to use the bathroom, discussions of menstruation, and a rather adult tone to the entire book. Prior to this award, the New York Public Library had cataloged this book as young adult. Which, honestly, is where this belongs. To say that this is a children's book simply because the narrator is a child is patently ridiculous.

So teachers everywhere, educators worldwide, heed my plea on behalf of reluctant child readers. Do NOT make them read this book in class. Sure, some kids will discover this tale on their own and they may certainly enjoy it. But like Cassandra I can see that many more children will someday be assigned this in school and that it will turn them off of good literature for years and years to come. A great crime is committed by everyone who forces this tale on a young `un. Don't be part of the problem. If you want to hand "kira-kira" to a teen, do so. If you want to read it yourself, do so. But if you want to earn yourself a great deal of scorn and rolling of the eyes, make a kid read it. It's a fine book. Just not worth the hype.


Rating:
Summary: Is This Book Really Kira, Kira?
Review: It is obvious that Kira, Kira is a story which is meant to remind readers of the great hope and love toward life that all should possess. While Cynthia Kadohata does a wonderful job reminding us to enjoy the simple things in life and to take nothing for granted, the characters do not come across as being real at times. It seems to me that the relationships between Katie, Lynn, and Sam are too "perfect."
Kadohata does effectively depict the era and offers insight into the ethnic hardships Katie's family experienced, but
at times the story seems to drift off into nowhere. Eventually, the reader is lead on a meandering path back to the point. Kira means glittering. I have to ask, "Is this book really Kira, Kira?" Overall, it is a sweet story of a family's enduring love, but it is not a book I would have chosen for the Newbery Medal.

Rating:
Summary: So-So
Review: This book didn't really stand out in any major way. I've read far more interesting books. Sure, it had a nice ending. It's important to note, though, the difference between the recommended ages (11-14) and the Accelerated Reader level of 4.7. Language and a couple of mentions of sex and dating might not be what the 4.7 level child needs to read. So, while it might be an interesting story, it's important to note the appropriateness.

Rating:
Summary: !WOW!
Review: WOW! this book was one of the best books i have ever read! Read it and i am sure you will love it! It is about a girl whose best friend is her sister but then her sister gets really sick.