| Kira-kira is a Japanese word that describes things that glitter. It is Katie Takeshima's first word taught to her by her older sister Lynn as they lie in the empty road outside their house looking at the stars. Lynn teaches Katie everything worth knowing. When their family moves from their Japanese community in Iowa to Georgia, Lynn is the one who must explain why some of the other children won't talk to them at school.
The setting is 1950s Georgia. Katie's parents are American-born Japanese, but that doesn't change attitudes toward the family. Her mom and dad work in a poultry processing plant, in conditions typical of factories in the mid-1950s. Factory workers wear thick pads beneath their uniforms because they aren't allowed to take breaks to use the bathroom. Workers suffer permanent injury from long hours of performing the same tasks. They aren't given time off for sickness or family emergencies. Attempts to organize a union lead to beatings and other repercussions. When Katie asks her mother about unions, her mother responds, "A union is when all the workers get together and fight the very people who have provided them with a job … It's wrong to fight the people who are trying to help you." Katie's mother is afraid of losing one of the few jobs available to Japanese-Americans. Through the family's struggle to raise money for a home, it is Lynn who is always providing the link between the old and the new and helping the family to understand the process of assimilation. But when she gets sick, the family begins to fall apart. It is up to Katie to take on the role of big sister and eldest daughter. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book? - thoughtful Time/era of story - 1930's-1950's Ethnic/Regional/Religion Family, loving relations Yes Special relationship with - sister Is this an adult or child's book? - Age 11-14 Ethnic/regional/gender life Yes Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - a kid Ethnicity/Nationality Main Adversary Identity: - none Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 7 () United States Yes Writing Style Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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