Book Awards Reading Challenge

Katie Takeshima is growing up in the 1950's, a time where the Japanese are not exactly smiled at in public and where it is very difficult for her parents to gain good employment. When her uncle gets her parents jobs in a chicken hatchery in Georgia, they move from Iowa to completely new state, foreign to all of them. Katie grows even closer to her older sister Lynn, who just happens to be her best friend in the entire world. Unfortunately, Lynn slowly becomes very sick, causing her to pull away from Katie, and resulting in their parents working incredibly long hours in order to pay for Lynn's medical bills. As both girls continuously talk about their future dreams, the reader knows that none of the dreams can possibly come true for Lynn and subsequently will not come true for Katie, as she takes over the role of caregiver for the family, as Lynn's health declines.

Depressing and somber from the beginning, the novel just did not seem Newbery worthy to me. Unfortunately it did not even seem Honor Medal worthy. The reader did get to catch glimpses of life as a Japanese-American in the 1950's, as well as of a close-knit sibling relationship. I just think the book would have had a better chance at being likable if it hadn't started out with a dark feeling at the beginning, giving the reader upfront insight that tragedy was going to strike