Holly Thompson

When her Gram comes all the way from Maine for a visit, Nanami's Baachan suggests a trip to the seashore, where they spend the day gathering wakame - a long, curvy seaweed used in everything from Miso soup to salad. Acting as a translator for her American and Japanese grandmothers, Nanami learns a little bit about Baachan's wartime experiences, and the different ways in which seaweed is used in America.

A lovely picture-book exploration of the meeting of two cultures, The Wakame Gatherers is show more the perfect book for any young child of mixed ethnic or national heritage. It gently emphasizes areas of common experience, without trying to deny or flatten out the differences. It would have been interesting to know if Gram had any wartime memories, but the setting made the focus on Baachan quite natural. The conclusion offers real emotional satisfaction, while making it clear that communication, and the work of building mutual understanding and respect, is an ongoing process. show less

When I saw this book at the library, I knew I just had to read it. I love fiction that’s written in free verse (“Sharp Teeth” would be the best example of this that I’ve encountered so far) – it’s rare to find, but even rarer to find within the confines of YA fiction alone. “Sharp Teeth”, meet your new rival, “Orchards”.

This book deals with several issues all at once – being bicultural, bullying, suicide, and death. And I usually try to avoid books like these because show more there is rarely a new voices strong enough to attention to these issues long enough for people to notice.

But this book is very different. Thompson took a huge risk by writing this in free verse instead of traditional fiction structure. She took a double risk with creating a character based on friends and family and her own experiences in Japan – a bicultural teenage girl – when she herself is not ethnically mixed (or so it seems – correct me if I’m wrong on this one). But you know what? Because she has thorough knowledge of both cultures, these risks pay off, big time. Because she did research and has experience with her subject, it makes Kanako that more alive, that more real. She could be your neighbor or acquaintance at school, talking on Facebook about her experiences over the summer at her matrilininal ancestral home.

And at the same time, her friends could also be the kids you know down the street. The grief she experiences could be the subject of gossip you discuss in whispers with your own friends. And Thompson is not afraid to impress this on her audience. She says it best in this scene with Baachan and Kanako:

“suicide can spread
Baachan finally says
utsuru she adds
like a virus

you have to stop it
put up barriers (page 285, hardcover edition)”

The idea of suicide virii in Japan is nothing new (tons of pieces of popular culture can back this up), and I thought it was particularly skilled of Thompson to extend this idea to her audience – an American YA audience with little to no knowledge of this urban legend outside of movies like “The Ring” or anime. Thompson really helps her audience understand the idea that suicide IS a virus but moreover, it’s a virus vectored by bullying and guilt among the ignorant. This is a masterful work and only through this idea in Japanese culture, I think I can safely say, can really convey the vicious cycle of bullying and suicide within a particular group of people that know each other.

This book NEEDS to be made mandatory reading for all American middle and high schools. The bullying epidemic is out of control (though in Japan, it’s just as bad, if not worse), and we need to put up barriers, strengthen our immune systems against this vector and the result, the suicide virus.

If you want a book that doesn’t sugarcoat this subject yet brings it to the table in a fresh, new, and unforgettable way, this is the book for you. Arguably one of my top ten of 2011 so far.

(crossposted to goodreads, shelfari, and witchoftheatregoing.wordpress.com) show less

The Language Inside by Holly Thompson is a novel in verse, realistic fiction.

Emma Karas is a white girl, but she's really more Japanese than American. She has lived in Japan most of her life and loves the culture and food. When her mother is diagnosed with breast cancer, Emma's family moves outside Lowell, Massachusetts for medical treatment. Emma is devastated. Her best friend's family was hit badly by the tsunami and Emma feels she should stay and help. Upon arriving in the United States, show more Emma feels lost without the food and culture she loves. Her grandmother opens her home to the family but serves American food.

Upon the urging of her grandmother, Emma begins volunteering with a woman at a facility who cannot speak or move due to a massive stroke. Emma and Zena form a bond over poetry. Emma is really good with Zena and even helps Zena's daughter learn how to communicate with her mother. Emma meets Samnang who drives her places and volunteers with her. She also joins activities at school and begins to make friends. She still feels guilty and misses Japan, but she's beginning to find a way to belong. She's never had migraines but develops them upon living in the US. When her mother's recovery will take longer than anticipated, Emma's father has to return to work in Japan. Emma feels pulled between a life she loves and her new budding life.

The novel is quick to read because it's told in verse; it's engaging and interesting. I liked Emma because she's a do-er. She is active and cares about people and is good at just about everything. I think she could have been more concerned about her mother; she came off as a little self-centered. It's a realistic look at the vagaries of change in one's life. show less

Kana is sent to spend the summer with her mother's family in Japan after one of her classmates hangs herself. It seems the perception is that the callousness of the 8th grade girls, particularly the center of the social universe, Lisa, is one of the causes of Ruth's suicide. As she learns about life in Japan and her extended family, she also copes with the grief and ideas about her culpability in Ruth's death. As she grows stronger, she reaches out to other people in her social circle. The show more sparse verse tells a powerful story. show less