While I Was Away

Brown's debut explores an experience of having one foot in two cultures in an age-appropriate memoir. When she was 12, Brown's Japanese-born parents decided to send her to live with her grandmother--Obaasama--in Tokyo for five months. Brown, the first in her family to be born in America, is upset by the prospect of leaving her Kansas friends behind--and attending Japanese school--for more than an entire summer. Once in Japan, however, Brown slowly begins to find her footing, including shared interests--Twix candy bars--with her brusque grandmother. Obaasama, widowed young, maintains the same hard exterior that she employed in raising her own nine children, and Brown learns that Obaasama's own abusive father--who once burned Obaasama with a branding iron--informed her grandmother's toughcaretaking style. The text is peppered with Japanese words as well as hiragana, katakana, and kanji, for which Brown explains alphabet and character differences. This personal story offers readers a glimpse at Japanese and American cultural differences while stressing that what makes things different is also what makes them unique. Ages 14-up. Agent: Penny Moore and Erin Files, Aevitas Creative Management. (Jan.)■

Gr 6 Up--Fearing that she no longer understands Japanese or is connected with her culture, 12-year-old Brown's parents send her to live with her grandmother in Tokyo for five months the summer after sixth grade. Uprooted from 1980s Kansas, Brown feels like a typical American middle schooler, and she does not look forward to attending school in Japan or living with her grandmother, who she views as a stern and serious woman. The narrative follows Brown during her time in Japan as she struggles to befriend her classmates, develop her Japanese language skills, and connect with her grandmother in a country she views as her parents' home rather than her own. The text includes an introduction and an author's note, which explain some aspects of Japanese pronunciation to readers and provides additional contextual information about the time period. Fans of Erin Entrada Kelly and Jasmine Warga will enjoy Brown's honest exploration of differences between American and Japanese culture and her sometimes bumpy journey to fit in with her classmates and her family. VERDICT This memoir artfully depicts Brown's experience as a child who feels pulled between two cultures. A welcome addition to any middle grade collection.--Madison Bishop, Forbes Lib., Northampton, MA