Kim/Kimi

Born to a Caucasian mother and a Japanese American father, Kim feels out of place in her mid-western hometown. Even though she is half Japanese, she does not know anything about the culture because her father died before she was born. Her widowed mother remarries and although Kim likes her stepfather, she continually wonders what her real father was like. Disowned for marrying her mother, Kim has never met her paternal grandparents and the only thing she knows about them is that they lived in California. When her mother and stepfather travel to Chicago during Spring Break, Kim decides she is ready to put into action the plan she and her younger brother have developed. The two have saved enough money to fly Kim to Sacramento in an show more attempt to find her father's family. Trying to keep the trip a secret, however, does not work and before Kim knows it, their caretaker for the week, Mrs. Mueller, intercedes and arranges for Kim to stay with a Japanese American family. Her week in California not only allows her to search for her relatives, but gives her insight into her heritage. Author Irwin builds a solid, believable character in Kim, who succeeds in her quest, yet discovers that life's outcomes are not always simple. Irwin does a good job in introducing the reader to the internment camps created during World War II to hold Japanese families - an event in U.S. history that should be remembered. show less