Blu's Hanging

Rating:
Summary: A New Voice
Review: Yamanaka's character's come from a place of strained authenticity. I recommend this book because it is a new voice--distinct from other works coming out of Hawaii. However, there are moments where the book seems forced, over dramatized, which of course brought me to tears. I feel for these characters, but much like a soap opera I cannot meet them. They are too written--as poetic as Yamanaka is there are times when the language does not ring true--especially for a Japanese-American family. Blu's Hanging is magical for me because I have been raised in Hawaii only to move away and then return; it brings me hope that voices from Hawaii will be heard, noticed. Read this book not because you want to sample a piece of Hawaii, rather the story itself is so impossible to believe, so saddening that you will be haunted by the idea of Blu eating eating eating much like many Americans who are searching for something that is missing and can find no way to fill it...