Kira-Kira

Kadohata, Cynthia, read by Elaina Erika Davis (2005). Kira-Kira. Listening Library. ISBN 978-0307281869.

I wanted to like this book much more than I did, not least because the audiobook narration by Elaina Erika Davis was hands-down the best of any of the audiobooks I’ve listened to this semester. Davis gets right into the head of point-of-view character Katie – her rapturous intonation of the name of the (imaginary) love of Katie’s life, one Joe-John Abondondalarama, cracks me up every time – and she seems caught up in the story as she does things like give Katie and her sister progressively stronger southern accents as they spend more time in Georgia. She even sings a lullabye in Japanese.

Unfortunately, the story doesn’t live up to Davis’ narration. It’s not a horrible story. A lyrical reflection on growing up in a loving Japanese-American family in the 1950s, it’s full of Katie’s often funny asides, her older sister Lynn’s zest for life, and a supporting cast of well-rounded characters.

But there’s no plot. Any number of things seem as if they could be the conflict around which a plot will coalesce - the family’s efforts to save enough money to buy a house, Lynn’s worsening illness – but it never happens. Katie is a passive recorder of impressions rather than an active main character. And not only that, but she doesn’t even seem to be aware which events are important. Case in point: Lynn has been rushed to the hospital and Katie’s aunt and uncle have come to stay with her. They play Scrabble to pass the time until a phone call from the hospital causes her aunt to burst into tears. Not only does Katie give more air time to her attempts to spell a word with her letters than she does to Lynn, she never wonders either aloud or internally why her aunt is crying. Of course, denial is a common reaction to a family member’s illness. But a novel in which the narrator stays in denial right up to the end seems more appropriate for a grown-ups’ book club than for middle-grade readers.

Some adults might find this book interesting for its portrayal of a time and place. I maintain that most kids want plot – which includes a protagonist who’s actively engaged in making things happen, whether the protagonist is a child or an adult. Reflective memoirs looking back on childhood and analyzing the events are the province of adult readers who think of childhood as something to analyze, rather than kids who are busy living it.

In School Library Journal, Barbara Wysocki writes, “This novel has the immediacy of an autobiographical account of love and loss and presents insightful glimpses of questionable labor practices and post-World War II discrimination against Japanese-Americans. Most important, it will be meaningful for individual listeners, useful for classroom discussions, and an asset in school and public library collections.” While I agree about the insights into discrimination and unfair labor practices, I wouldn’t highlight this book in a youth collection.

School Library Journal. Qtd. in Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Kira-Cynthia-Kadohata/dp/0307281868/ref=ed_oe_a/103-0423122-5982232?ie=UTF8&qid=1176842448&sr=1-1