Up From the Sea

Reviewed by: Paula Johnson - Long Island Community Library, Long Island, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 5, 2017

Review

This is the emotional story of a young boy surviving the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The author tells the story through narrative verse which captures the terror of the events themselves as well as the grief which follows their aftermath. The terse verse may well make the story more accessible to reluctant readers of historical/realistic fiction. The main character, Kai, loses his entire Japanese family and many friends to the tsunami. His story is complicated by the fact that he is biracial and was abandoned years before by his American father. The author interweaves an opportunity for a despondent Kai to travel to New York to meet with survivors of the 9/11 attack and the hope that Kai may reconnect with his long lost father. The story ultimately is one of hope as Kai learns to live through his grief, finds new purpose to his life through soccer and the effort to rebuild his community. The author herself, lived through the earthquake and helped with the recovery and rebuilding efforts. Her close connection to the events brings an emotional and authentic perspective to the story.

Overall Book Score: very good