Rating: 
Summary: Name me Nobody
Review: Ashton ...
1/6/02
Period 6 I recently read a book titled Name me Nobody. Emi-Lou Kaya feels as if she's a nobody. Her mother abandoned her at the age of 3, and she doesn't have a clue as to who her father is or might be. The popular Japanese girls at school call Emi-Lou: Emi-fat, and Emi-oink. Because Emi-Lou is overweight she is very self-conscious. She doesn't consider herself smart enough to be a nerd, but not quite unpopular enough to be a zero (she falls somewhere in between). The only people she can count on are her grandmother and her best friend, Von. Emi-Lou starts to worry about losing Von, when Von starts spending too much time with Babes, a girl from their Hawaiian Softball team. People at school start to call von a 'Butchie' (lesbian) and when Emi-Lou hears the rumor she becomes desperate to get Von back as her best friend.
I loved this book. Although it started off really slow in the beginning, from middle to end it was great. I liked it because this novel explores sexuality, racism, and the troubled times one might go through in establishing their own identity. I also loved the fact that Von always carried a place in her heart for Emi-Lou. She went so far as to shoplift diet pills to help Emi-Lou lose weight and feel better about herself.
My favorite part of this book was the ending. This was when Von discovers her true self, no matter how heart breaking it was to her family and close friends (especially her father). Eventually Emi-Lou gets over the situation and removes the wall she has built between Von and herself. Von never meant to hurt their friendship. Everyone learns to accept Von for the way she is. I recommend this book to kids who enjoy reading books with lots of drama! (Preferably for children 12 and over.)
Rating:
Summary: Name Me Nobody
Review: Ashton Hinds
1/6/02
Period 6 I recently read a book titled Name me Nobody. Emi-Lou Kaya feels as if she's a nobody. Her mother abandoned her at the age of 3, and she doesn't have a clue as to who her father is or might be. The popular Japanese girls at school call Emi-Lou: Emi-fat, and Emi-oink. Because Emi-Lou is overweight she is very self-conscious. She doesn't consider herself smart enough to be a nerd, but not quite unpopular enough to be a zero (she falls somewhere in between). The only people she can count on are her grandmother and her best friend, Von. Emi-Lou starts to worry about losing Von, when Von starts spending too much time with Babes, a girl from their Hawaiian Softball team. People at school start to call von a "Butchie" (lesbian) and when Emi-Lou hears the rumor she becomes desperate to get Von back as her best friend.
I loved this book. Although it started off really slow in the beginning, from middle to end it was great. I liked it because this novel explores sexuality, racism, and the troubled times one might go through in establishing their own identity. I also loved the fact that Von always carried a place in her heart for Emi-Lou. She went so far as to shoplift diet pills to help Emi-Lou lose weight and feel better about herself.
My favorite part of this book was the ending. This was when Von discovers her true self, no matter how heart breaking it was to her family and close friends (especially her father). Eventually Emi-Lou gets over the situation and removes the wall she has built between Von and herself. Von never meant to hurt their friendship. Everyone learns to accept Von for the way she is. I recommend this book to kids who enjoy reading books with lots of drama! (Preferably for children 12 and over.)
Rating:
Summary: Call This Book Something! (and I don't mean give it a name)
Review: At first, I was dreading that I would have a difficult time finsihing "Name Me Nobody" since the pidgin English greatly slowed my reading and I had to backtrack several times to clarify that I had read everything correctly. However, once I made it through a couple of chapters, I was able to adapt to the word flow and the book became much easier to read. Luckily, I didn't have any problem with the Japanese vocabulary since I'm studying Japanese, but a glossary in the back would definitely help those who are unfamiliar with the language. With all that said, I feel the pidgin English and Japanese are essential to "Name Me Nobody" because they help to give the characters an authentic voice. So what else can I say? I really enjoyed this book. While under the surface, "Name Me Nobody" is your standard coming of age story, Yamanaka puts a twist on it and creates a books with an addictive story and memorable characters. ALL of the characters have flaws which, for me, makes them much more beleivable. For example, when the reader is first introduced to Emmy-lou, she is an overweight, self-conscious mess. She blames every rejection she encounters on her weight problem. After her best friend, Yvonne or "Von", helps her to lose the weight, however, Emmy-lou is STILL a self-conscious mess and she still puts the blame on everything/everybody but herself. While this allows for the reader to not always be fond of Emmy-lou, this portrayal strikes me as being very realistic. Yamanaka allows for the reader to witness Emmy-lou as she learns to come to terms with and to accept herself. Aside from the great character development, the plot of "Name Me Nobody" is very engrossing. It kept me guessing as to what was in store next for Emmy-lou and I stayed up until 4 a.m. finishing this book. The lack of sleep was well worth it though, even if I was exhausted at work the follow day :) In conclusion, I highly recommend Lois-Ann Yamanaka's book "Name Me Nobody" and I will definitely be reading more of her books in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Name Me Nobody....
Review: I can't say that I enjoyed the beginning very well. It startedoff slowly for me, because, I'm not too interested in sports. Anywords that deal with SPORTS, I just get VERY tired with it. But, I read on, and from the middle to the end, I aboslutely loved it. It made me cry to think of how the characters treated Emi-Lou. It's sad, but it's such a touching book. I suggest reading it for a young teen that is interested in drama.
Rating: 
Summary: Complications marred what might have been a good book.
Review: I liked the story in "Name Me Nobody". Everyone knows the tales about girls who lose their best friends when their friend finds a boyfriend. "Name Me Nobody" puts a twist on the old familiar theme: Emi-Lou lost her best friend Von to Von's GIRLFRIEND. This is original and I like originality. Five points for that. However, the book was very hard to follow. The huge cast of characters, many of them going by several names, frustrated me and I didn't know what was going on half the time. For instance, there's Genevieve and Viva. They're the same person. I think. But I'm not sure. I think the author could have tried harder to make the book clear and easy to follow. Minus one point for that. Another thing that annoyed me was the language. The pidgin English did add to the authenticity of the story, which is set in Hawaii. But many times the characters inserted Japanese words into their speech and I could only guess as to what the Japanese meant. This would not have been a problem had their been a glossary enclosed, like in John Marsden's books where everyone speaks Aussie. But "Name Me Nobody" had no glossary, so the language just kept me guessing. Minus one point for hard to understand. It was a good book, but these flaws annoyed me and I'm not inclined to buy it, or even check it out from the library again.
Rating:
Summary: Name Me Nobody
Review: I think that this book was good and bad. It had some innappropriate events, but all in all it was a good book. This book portrays friendship a bit differently than normal ones, but it was a novel that was obviously meant for enjoyment and pleasure rather than truth.
Rating:
Summary: Mixed Review
Review: I think that this book was good and bad. It had some innappropriate events, but all in all it was a good book. This book portrays friendship a bit differently than normal ones, but it was a novel that was obviously meant for enjoyment and pleasure rather than truth.
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing, for young AND old!
Review: I've so far read most of Yamanaka's work and liked it all! The subject material is hard and sometimes painfully honest but well worth the read. At 26, I think this book can be appreciated by all ages, and really isnt a "young adult" book. It is much like her other novels, only a little less harsh in the subject matter. (In her other books the author often depicts some explicit and painful to read scenes involving the characters or animals that may not be the best images for children)Yamanaka has a knack for describing the peoples of Hawaii with a unique feel in all her books. This book, like Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers etc., can be appreciated by audiences of any age who want to have a good, cant-put-it-down type of experience. I recommend it for anyone who likes this interest group!
Rating:
Summary: Teenagers in Hilo
Review: Lois Ann always captures the true color of Hawai'i in her books. You are transported into the side of Hawai'i that is away from the big hotels and tourist spots. This is a great coming of age book for young girls and especially those who may have some questions as to thier sexual orientation. Von, Emi lou's older best friend, breaks away as she gets a new friend and lover who is her own age. This compounds the weight issue that Emi Lou already has and how she feels about herself. She doesn't understand being left out of Von's life after they've been so close. Lois Ann writes with a tender touch underlying the in your face and often hard hitting style she is a master of. Her style fits the life of young adults as they can use a hard exterior to mask their fears. Adults can gain alot from this book about what's going on with there teenagers.
Rating:
Summary: A Tale of an Adolescent's Troubles
Review: Name Me Nobody by Lois-Ann Yamanaka was one of the few books I couldn't put down. Being through the adolescent trauma of weight problems, school, and boys, I knew exactly where Emi-lou was coming from. As a child Emi-lou, dubbed Louie by her best friend Von, was abandoned by her mother and left to be taken care of by her grandmother. Emi-lou must put up with many hardships, mostly about her being over-weight. It seems as though whenever she does something wrong, her weight is blamed. Everything begins to change once she and Von go to play for the Hilo Astros, a woman's softball team. Emi-lou begins to realize the meaning of family, friendship, and love. She also finds that bonds between two people that truly care about each other can be torn but not completely broken.
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