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sc104906's review
4.0
Kai is a senior, who loves playing soccer and lives in Japan. He lives with his Japanese mother and grandparents, his American father abandoned the family several years ago to go live in New York. Kai has had no contact with his father since he left. A terrible earthquake and tsunami hit Japan and Kai loses everything. Kai's only living relative is his father and he is given the chance to go to America and heal with the survivors of the 9/11 attacks ten years earlier. Kai must decide whether or not he wants to reach out to his father and how he will live in this new world.
piperhudsburn's review
2.0
I really appreciated this book....but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. The voice was off, but I did enjoy the novel's countless empathic moments. It was passionate and powerful, just not for me.
travelbypagesph's review
4.0
I don’t know what to say. This book.. The story.. It’s heartbreaking. But beautifully written. The entire time I was reading the book, I was waiting for the twist. Hoping his mother would show up in the end. But no. Her dead body wasn’t even found. Is it possible for this book to have a second part? Where they find his mother and Ryu and his grandmother safe somewhere. *sigh* still good. Fast-paced.
jmeighan's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
bookphile_belle's review
5.0
I came across this book by accident. I couldn't sleep in the middle of the night and I opened my library app and started browsing the staff picks category. I needed a book for the alphabet reading challenge I was doing, so I scrolled through to see what I could find. This book caught my eye, because it fit an unfilled category in two reading challenges I was doing. I opened the summary to see what it was about and found that it was written in verse. I just recently read my first book in verse (Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo) and I loved it. It felt meant to be. I just had to give it a try, and I am glad I did. I loved it. I devoured it. Read more than half of it before going back to bed and finished it in the same day! This is the story of a boy named Kai who lives through the tsunami that occurred in Japan after a very large earthquake. This is his story of loss, perseverance, strength, and of finding a way to move on after something so awful. 6 months after this awful event, he gets the opportunity to go to New York to meet some survivors of 9/11, 10 years later. This journey to meet survivors of a tragedy so different from his own helps him find perspective and the strength to heal. One quote in this book really struck me "Losing your parents is the same everywhere." I stopped to wonder if it is true. Kai lost his mom in the tsunami. The hosts that he goes to see in New York lost theirs in 9/11. These events were so vastly different, but the result in a way was the same, each child lost a parent (or both). The loss was devastating and tremendous and earth shattering for these kids and in their loss they were able to help each other, even though the tragedies they experienced had only that one thing in common - each lost a parent. This book was so powerful and I am so grateful that I stumbled upon it in the middle of a sleepless night. I think it is one that will stay with me for a long time.
taratara44's review
3.0
I enjoyed this one, I liked learning about earthquake and tsunami, I liked the soccer aspect, and I loved reading about the Japanese traditions. It was also cool reading the author's note about all the inspiration
anamikasunil123's review
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
buuboobaby's review
4.0
4 stars
Moving story of a boy who survived the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011. The account of his fear during the quake and flight from the deadly ocean surge is suspenseful and very scary. I can't imagine experiencing it myself. His worries about the fate of his family is also very emotional. Kai has lost everything, and his helplessness and hopelessness resonate through the author's use of free verse. How can he go on, knowing that his mother, grandmother, and grandfather have all died? Everything he loved and took for granted is gone. His family, his friends, his school, even his soccer ball - gone. With nothing left to anchor him, Kai drifts from one day to the next, wondering why he bothers. He's thrown a lifeline and invited to New York to meet with survivors of 9/11 who have also lost parents to tragedy. From their shared grief, he finds the strength to go on. He can also, finally, put into perspective his anger at the father who abandoned him years before.
I found Kai's struggle to find himself and to find a purpose in his new life after the quake both gripping and bittersweet.
Moving story of a boy who survived the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011. The account of his fear during the quake and flight from the deadly ocean surge is suspenseful and very scary. I can't imagine experiencing it myself. His worries about the fate of his family is also very emotional. Kai has lost everything, and his helplessness and hopelessness resonate through the author's use of free verse. How can he go on, knowing that his mother, grandmother, and grandfather have all died? Everything he loved and took for granted is gone. His family, his friends, his school, even his soccer ball - gone. With nothing left to anchor him, Kai drifts from one day to the next, wondering why he bothers. He's thrown a lifeline and invited to New York to meet with survivors of 9/11 who have also lost parents to tragedy. From their shared grief, he finds the strength to go on. He can also, finally, put into perspective his anger at the father who abandoned him years before.
I found Kai's struggle to find himself and to find a purpose in his new life after the quake both gripping and bittersweet.