Kira-Kira

Kira-KiraA Japanese American family struggles to build a new life in the Deep South of Georgia in this luminous novel, winner of the Newbery Medal. kira kira (kee' ra kee' ra): glittering; shining Glittering. That's how Katie Takeshima's sister, Lynn, makes everything seem. The sky is kira kira because its color is deep but see through at the same time. The sea is kira kira for the same reason. And so are people's eyes. When Katie and her family move from a

A Japanese-American family struggles to build a new life in the Deep South of Georgia in this luminous novel, winner of the Newbery Medal.

kira-kira (kee' ra kee' ra): glittering; shining
Glittering. That's how Katie Takeshima's sister, Lynn, makes everything seem. The sky is kira-kira because its color is deep but see-through at the same time. The sea is kira-kira for the same reason. And so are people's eyes. When Katie and her family move from a Japanese community in Iowa to the Deep South of Georgia, it's Lynn who explains to her why people stop them on the street to stare. And it's Lynn who, with her special way of viewing the world, teaches Katie to look beyond tomorrow. But when Lynn becomes desperately ill, and the whole family begins to fall apart, it is up to Katie to find a way to remind them all that there is always something glittering -- kira-kira -- in the future.
Luminous in its persistence of love and hope, Kira-Kira is Cynthia Kadohata's stunning debut in middle-grade fiction.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published: 02/01/2004
ISBN: 9780689856396
Pages: 244
Weight: 0.59lbs
Size: 7.74h x 5.36w x 0.95d
Award: Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award - Nominee
Award: Colorado Blue Spruce Award - Nominee
Award: Nene Award - Recommended
Award: Nene Award - Recommended
Award: Nene Award - Recommended
Award: Newbery Medal - Winner
Award: Young Reader's Choice Award - Nominee

Review Citations: Kirkus Review - Children 12/15/2003 pg. 1451
Kliatt 01/01/2004 pg. 8
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 01/01/2004 pg. 195
Booklist 01/01/2004 pg. 858
Publishers Weekly 02/09/2004 pg. 81
Horn Book Magazine 03/01/2004 pg. 183
School Library Journal 03/01/2004 pg. 214
BookPage 04/01/2004 pg. 27
Booklist 05/15/2004 pg. 1630
Voice of Youth Advocates 08/01/2004 pg. 218
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2004 pg. 396 - Superior,Well Above Average
Multicultural Review 12/01/2004 pg. 93
Booklist Editors Choice/Adult 01/15/2005 pg. 772
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2004 pg. 396 - Superior,Well Above Average
ALA Notable Children's Books 02/15/2005 pg. 1022
Booklist Ed Choice Youth 01/01/2005 pg. 772
School Library Journal 04/01/2005 pg. 56

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 74071 / Kira-Kira
Reading Level: 4.7 / Interest Level: Middle Grade / Point Value: 7