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.
Winner of the 2005 Newbery Award.
BOOK REVIEWS
BookBrowse
This is a heartbreaking, gorgeous book written from the point of view of young Katie, who is only 10 when her 14 year old sister falls sick and dies. The prose is clear, simple and authentic and, most importantly, is clearly touching the hearts of young readers as you can see by the reader reviews posted at BookBrowse. Full Review (1017 words).
Media Reviews
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
The family's devotion to one another, and Lynn's ability to teach Katie to appreciate the kira-kira, or glittering, in everyday life makes this novel shine. Ages 11-up.
School Library Journal - Ashley Larsen
Gr 6-8. All of the characters are believable and well developed, especially Katie, who acts as a careful observer of everything that happens in her family, even though there is a lot she doesn't understand. ...Girls will relate to and empathize with the appealing protagonist.
Children's Literature - Angie Rogers
This book would be especially good for students studying the aftermath of World War II on Japanese Americans. In addition, it would be excellent reading material for any student going through the loss of a family member. Ages 11 up.
Booklist - Hazel Rochmn
Starred review. Gr. 6-12. The real story is in the small details, never self-consciously poetic but tense with family drama.....Just as heart wrenching as the sisters' story is what Katie knows of her father's struggle, whether it's his backbreaking work in the factory or his love for his family. The quiet words will speak to readers who have lost someone they love--or fear that they could.
Kirkus Reviews
Katie loves and admires her older sister, Lynn, only to lose her in this story that reads like a memoir about a Japanese-American family in the 1950s..... The vivid writing and the portrayal of a most loving and honorable father lift this above the norm. Kira-kira is Japanese for glittering, and Kadohata's Katie sparkles. Fiction. 10-14
Entertainment Weekly
Kadohata's spare, lovely images stayed in my head long after I turned the last page. And my 11-year-old was so entranced that she finished the book in a single sitting.
Los Angeles Times Book Review - Sonja Bolle
Kadohata writes beautifully and penetratingly about life on the margins of society and about the in-betweenness of immigrant life.
Boston Globe Kira-Kira is heartbreaking, brilliant, and might as easily be read by a 41-year-old as a 14-year-old ....in works of literature for the young, the tragic and the comic forever travel hand in hand. Kira-Kira raises this mix to a level of highest art.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by cami amazing but little i mean i lot sad This book is a wonderful book, so good, I just wish it was not so sad. I almost cried.
Rated of 5
by Re'Anna kira kira I think kira kira is a great book its book for you and your kids its sad and happy and like how they wrote it and there descriptions. I hope they write more great books like kira kira
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(1017 words).
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
of 5
by cami
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