While I Was Away

While I Was Away
Waka T Brown
Our Price:
NZ$ 16.99
Paperback
h194 x 130mm - 336pg
3 Mar 2022 US
International import eta 7-19 days
9780063017122
Out Of Stock
Currently no stock in-store, stock is sourced to your order
The Farewell meets Erin Entrada Kelly' s Blackbird Fly in this empowering middle grade memoir from debut author Waka T. Brown, who takes readers on a journey to 1980s Japan, where she was sent as a child to reconnect to her family' s roots. When twelve-year-old Waka' s parents suspect she can' t understand the basic Japanese they speak to her, they make a drastic decision to send her to Tokyo to live for several months with her strict grandmother. Forced to say goodbye to her friends and what would have been her summer vacation, Waka is plucked from her straight-A-student life in rural Kansas and flown across the globe, where she faces the culture shock of a lifetime. In Japan, Waka struggles with reading and writing in kanji, doesn' t quite mesh with her complicated and distant Obaasama, and gets made fun of by the students in her Japanese public-school classes. Even though this is the country her parents came from, Waka has never felt more like an outsider. If she' s always been the "smart Japanese girl" in America but is now the "dumb foreigner" in Japan, where is home. . . and who will Waka be when she finds it
"Conversational and accessible. An emotional, contemplative tale of risking and growing. " -- Kirkus Reviews "[An] engaging memoir. " -- Bulletin of the Center for Children' s Books "Brown' s debut explores having one foot in two cultures in an age-appropriate memoir. 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. " -- Publishers Weekly "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. This memoir artfully depicts Brown' s experience as a child who feels pulled between two cultures. A welcome addition to any middle grade collection. " -- School Library Journal
Waka T. Brown was the first American born in her family. She is a Stanford graduate with a Master' s in Secondary Education. With her background, she' s worked to further U. S. -Japan relations, promoting cultural exchange and awareness. She' s currently an instructor at the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE), authoring curriculum on several international topics, and winning the Association for Asian Studies' national Franklin Buchanan Prize. She' s also been awarded the U. S. -Japan Foundation and EngageAsia' s national 2019 Elgin Heinz Outstanding Teacher award for her groundbreaking endeavors in teaching about U. S. -Japan relations to high school students in Japan. While I Was Away is her memoir, and also her debut. She lives with her family in Portland, Oregon.
Status: Active
ISBN-13: 9780063017122
Published: 3 Mar 2022
Published In: United States
Imprint: Quill Tree Books
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Format: Paperback
Height: 194mm
Width: 130mm
Weight: 218g
Pages: 336

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