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Allen Say illustrates his books with rich, yet spare, watercolors that work lovingly and effortlessly with his clean prose style. His paintings are highly representational, even photographic at times, and their perspective and precision are more sometimes more suggestive of oils than watercolors. In this book, Say departs from this realistic tendency at times when he captures beautifully the developing artistic sensibility of a young girl. I don't want to say how he does it, or tell you more about the story than this, because its unfolding is part of the joy here.
For any artistic child, this is a gift of validation for his or her creative interest. And this takes children who appreciate art into the inner world of those who create it. I can't say enough about this fabulous book.
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Lucky is the author who can extend his message through his own poignant illustrations. This story of a man whose kayak is swept over a falls into an underground river is told as if in a dream. Is he climbing out of a kiva? Encountering two children, he walks with them in the desert toward lights which are those of an internment camp.
This surreal story tells about a people deserted by the country to whom they had given their allegiance. We remember the injustices during World War II and wonder what scars from today's prejudices and judgments are foretold.
How I would like to hear a group of young readers discuss what this story means to them. I hope parents and teachers do not try to escape facing these issues with children. To me there is a plea for understanding and Peace, and there is Hope. I will read it again and again.
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At the same time, I know what the reviewer means when she says there are a number of places in the story where events are scary or off-putting to many readers. The author isn't trying to write a shocker or a gross-out book, but he tries hard to be honest about his youthful life, and along with the delightful experiences he had in developing his artistic talents, there were some disturbing events that left him confused and hurt at the time. People who know his wonderful children's picture books might not be prepared for this one, in which not everything is "sweetness and light." So the lone "two-star" reviewer has done an important favor in cautioning you what to expect.
Nonetheless, young people looking for books that reflect some of the hard realities of life -- or who at least can read about them without being too discouraged -- can gain a lot from reading this powerfully account of the good and the bad in the life of a very unusual boy who grew into a very unusual man.
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Having lived in Japan for most of my adult life, I was quite shocked when my daughter brought this book home from school. She was born in Tokyo and we were living there until recently. Pretty pictures do not compensate for a story that misrepresents Japanese culture and glorifies a narrow-minded girl.
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There you have it, all the elements of a good story. Issues of Black men's sexism, white women's racism, Black females reluctance to join a "women's movement" and the crass homophobia of the Black church are just waiting to be explored. Yet none of these issues come together in a story which has so much potential but is technically flawed. How is this?
1. Shockley gives a detailed explanation of the issues as if the reader doesn't or can't understand what is going on.
2. All of the characters are overly stereotyped to the point of being unbelievable.
3. She has very poor transitions. A character could be a gay hater in one paragraph and on the next page a converted person with no explanation of why.
4. Shockley deals with so many issues that the main plot gets lost and the story ends abruptly.
Shockley could have done much better. This story deserves a much better telling. I truly wanted to give this story at least a 4 star but after reading it I couldn't justify giving it those stars. As a collectors item of Black lesbian fiction this book will be an asset in your library but nothing more.
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One problem was that the library wanted it back. The other problem was that it was out of print.
You won't know just how happy I was to find that Under the Cherry Blossom Tree had been re-printed until you read this book for yourself.