Portland Public Library

A place to belong, Cynthia Kadohata ; illustrated by Julia Kuo

eng

illustrations

no index present

Ages 10-14690L, lexileSentence length: 2 (easy), Word frequency: 1 (very easy), Lexile

fiction

A place to belong

1056736228

Cynthia Kadohata ; illustrated by Julia Kuo

Accelerated Reader, MG, 4.6, 11.0.

World War II has ended, and while America has won, twelve-year-old Hanako feels lost. To her, the world - and her world - seems irrevocably broken: America, the only home she's ever known, imprisoned then rejected her and her family - and thousands of other innocent Americans - because of their Japanese heritage, because Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Japan - the country they've been forced to move, to, the country they hope will be the family's saving grace, where they were supposed to start new and better lives - is in shambles because America dropped bombs of their own; one on Hiroshima unlike any other in history. And Hanako's grandparents live in a small village just outside the ravaged city. The country is starving, black markets run rampant, and countless orphans beg for food on the streets, but how can hanako help them when there is not even enough food for her own brother? Hanako feels she could crack under the pressure, but just because something is broken doesn't mean it can't be fixed. Cracks can make room for gold, her grandfather explains when he tells her abou the tradition of kintsukuroi - fixing broken objects with gold lacquer, making them stronger and more beautiful than ever. As she struggles to adjust to find her place in a new world, Hanako will find that gold can come in many forms, and family may be hers. --, From dust jacket

juvenile