KIRA- KIRA (glittering) A Novel by CYNTHIA KADOHATA - one of my favourite novel n the 1950s, Katie and her family live in Iowa, where her parent own a unique Asian supermarket. When the familys store goes out of business, the family moves to an apartment in Georgia where Katies parents work at a hatchery with other Japanese families. Throughout the novel, Katies best friend is her older sister Lynn, who Katie looks up to as the most intelligent person she knows, citing Lynns ability to beat their Uncle Katsuhisa, a self-proclaimed chess grand master, at his own game as an example. Katie holds close to her heart the word Japanese phrase kira-kira, which Lynn taught her and they use to describe things that sparkle in their lives. When Katie enters school, she has difficulty being the only Japanese-American in her class. Her grades are solid average Cs, in comparison to Lynns consistent As. Lynn becomes friends with a popular girl, Amber, whom Katie dislikes immensely, and starts becoming interested in boys, often dropping Katie to go hang out with people her age. Katie eventually becomes friends with a girl named Silly Kilgore, whom she meets while waiting in the car at her mothers job. Sillys mother backs having a union at the plant to fight for higher wages and better working conditions, though Katies mother opposes it. Meanwhile, Lynn becomes ill with lymphoma and becomes even sicker when Amber dumps her as a friend. The family moves into a house of Lynns choice to help her recover, which appears to work. However, Lynn relapses from distress when her younger brother Sammy is caught in a metal animal trap on the vast property owned by Mr. Lyndon, the owner of the hatchery. Lynns condition continues to deteriorate and she becomes blank and irritable. Katies parents eventually tell her about Lynns illness and Katie realizes that Lynn is dying. Katie falls asleep after talking to her sister about taking care of the family and getting better grades. She is woken by her father after she watches the Japanese new year sunrise to be told that Lynn has died. Katie realizes why Lynn had taught her the word kira-kira; she wanted to remind her to always look at the world as a shining place and to never lose hope though there might be harsh hurdles in life. Katie keeps Lynns belongings on her desk as an altar. The family feels that Lynns spirit will stay around as long as they have her belongings around, though Katie thinks that Lynns spirit will only stay around 49 days after she dies from an old story her uncle told her. The same day Lynn dies, Katies usually calm and restrained father breaks into an angry rage after seeing Sammy struggle with his limp. He takes Katie and goes and wrecks Mr. Lyndons car, an act which shocks her. Later on, he goes to Mr. Lyndon and owns up to what he did, resulting in him getting fired. Katie is appalled that her father is now unemployed, but he tells her that there is another hatchery opening up in Missouri, where he will probably work next, even though it will be a longer drive. Katie is left with Lynns diary, and upon reading it, she realizes that Lynn knew she was going to die and that Lynn has written a will dated four days before her death. Soon after, Katies mother attends a pro-union meeting at the Kilgore house. One of the things that the union wanted to achieve was having a three-day grief leave for families handling adversities. Though Katies mother knows its a little late for their family, if she voted for the union, it wouldnt be too late for the next family suffering grief. Katie try to fulfilled one of Lynns dreams. To score well for her exams. To cheer everyone up, Katies family decides to take a vacation. Katie recommends California because that is where Lynn would have wanted to go; California is where the sea she loved is and it is where Lynn wanted to live when she got older. The family arrives, and while Katie walks on the beach, she can hear Lynns voice in the waves: Kira-kira, kira-kira.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 17:17:53 +0000