Beautifully written, poignant, and touching. So glad I read it. ( )

Interesting and often moving but this is another verse novel that seems better suited to prose than verse. ( )

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 sparse verse tells a powerful story. ( )

I haven't heard very much about this novel, until I won it off Random Buzzers. I was excited to see that it was written in verse and that the book was filled with beautiful illustrations. It was a very quick read, and it was different from anything else i've ever read.

This Story was about a girl named Kana Goldberg, who after the suicide of a schoolmate is sent to her relatives in Japan. Kana feels guilty about Ruth's suicide due too some things that were said by her friends to Ruth, and spends her summer contemplating what influence her and her friends had on Ruth's suicide. She is starting to feel at home in her native Japan after much hesitance about wanting to go away for the summer at all. She's starting to feel at home until news from back home sends her into a spiral all over again.

This story was fast-paced, and i really enjoyed it. It was beautifully written, and hopefully recieves much more praises in the near future. It not only had very thought-provoking issues, but also had very beautifully written poetry, that made you not want to put the book down! ( )

Easy to read because of the poetic nature of the text. This tragic coming of age story is reminescent of Hess's Out of the Dust in the style of writing and the serious nature of the book. Although she touches on the suicide of the main character's friend the author's provision of the embracing extended Japanese family in an orchard of Japan brings healing and growth. Very highly recommended for teen book discussion and bibliotherapy. ( )