Helpful Score: 5
2003 Newbery Award winner by Cynthia Kadahata. Disturbing book for younger students--thoughtful portrayal for those ready to read at this level.
Helpful Score: 2
This is a very well written, Newberry Award winning book. Be prepared to know that it is a sad story.
Helpful Score: 1
This book is a wonderfully written story of life for an immigrant Japanese family in the 1950s/60s. The tight bond between the two sisters is a central theme of the book. It is a wonderful book that I, as a parent, enjoyed reading.
For the age range recommended, there were a few things that I, as a parent, would want to know: there are some basic swear words/phrases used in it. A handful at most through the whole book. Also, there are references to a vague description of french kissing and reference to the noises involved in making babies (when the little brother is born). These are all within context of the story, however every parent knows what is or isn't ok for their child.
For the age range recommended, there were a few things that I, as a parent, would want to know: there are some basic swear words/phrases used in it. A handful at most through the whole book. Also, there are references to a vague description of french kissing and reference to the noises involved in making babies (when the little brother is born). These are all within context of the story, however every parent knows what is or isn't ok for their child.
There is a deep love between two sisters which is woven throughout the entire book with elegance elegance and sensitivity. Beautiful and deserving of a Newbery Medal.
Kira-kira is Japanese for shining; glittering. Kira-kira is the way Lynn Takeshima sees the world and she is determined her little sister Katie sees the world that way too. Before the end of the young adult novel of the same name by Cynthia Kadohata, the reader sees the world as kira-kira, as well.
Set in the late 1950s and early 1960s, "Kira-Kira" is the story of a Japanese family that lives in the Midwest. When their mother and father's Oriental grocery store goes out of business, the family moves to Georgia so the parents can work in a chicken factory. It is in Georgia that their little brother Sammy is born, Lynn gets a friend other than Katie and Katie learns what it means to grow up.
Though this book is about a Japanese family, the author does a wonderful job of letting the reader see that some human emotions and experiences are the same no matter what ethnicity one is. The lives of Japanese families are also more easily understood by those who may never have had the opportunity to know a family like the Takeshimas.
Read more of this review:
http://www.examiner.com/review/reading-the-newbery-medal-books-kira-kira-by-cynthia-kadohata
Set in the late 1950s and early 1960s, "Kira-Kira" is the story of a Japanese family that lives in the Midwest. When their mother and father's Oriental grocery store goes out of business, the family moves to Georgia so the parents can work in a chicken factory. It is in Georgia that their little brother Sammy is born, Lynn gets a friend other than Katie and Katie learns what it means to grow up.
Though this book is about a Japanese family, the author does a wonderful job of letting the reader see that some human emotions and experiences are the same no matter what ethnicity one is. The lives of Japanese families are also more easily understood by those who may never have had the opportunity to know a family like the Takeshimas.
Read more of this review:
http://www.examiner.com/review/reading-the-newbery-medal-books-kira-kira-by-cynthia-kadohata
