Welcome back to Rate & Review Books with NCBC!
Our April book review comes from a Next Chapter Book Club in Columbus that has been gathering on Saturday mornings since 2011.
Book or series of books: Kira-Kira
Author: Cynthia Kadohata
Please tell our readers a little about your book club.
“It’s awesome!” says Susan, member of this club since it began in 2011. For Susan, book club is a treasured activity that she and her sister Ann share each week. Ann began co-facilitating the Saturday morning group in 2013. After book club, Susan looks for the latest Royal Family news at the bookstore. Then the sisters often head out for lunch.
Nate joined the book club ten years ago. He says, “Book club is a chance to do different activities and talk to people. We talk about many subjects.” Nate knows quite a lot about animals and their habitats, and often shares interesting animal facts with the group.
Mother-daughter team Morag and Christina also joined book club in 2014. Christina says, “I like reading books. Coming here to read helps me read more books at home.”
“We learn new things,” adds Morag, and Christina nods her head. Christina’s outfit is always complete with one of her many plush characters. Sometimes, she can even match her plush doll with the book the club is reading!
As members and co-facilitators file into Barnes & Noble each week, member Ali keeps close track of who is there and who is not. Ali also joined NCBC in 2014. While she waits on others to arrive, Ali likes to stay busy with a word search.
Julian is also a member in this club. He began coming to book club in summer 2023, and the others are always glad to see him when he joins. Julian shares, “I like to socialize and meet new people. Book club is a good program for people to get out and enjoy themselves.”
Hannah has been volunteering as a co-facilitator last fall. On this day, she and co-facilitator Jillian laugh at the lively and clever illustrations in the club’s new book, The Wind in the Willows.
“It’s almost like a family,” Susan says about book club. Others in the club nod their heads and smile.
Back row, left to right: Ann, Christina; Front row: Nate, Morag, Hannah, Susan; Not pictured: Ali, Julian, Jillian
What is Kira-Kira about?
“The magic in ordinary things,” Ann says.
In the book, Katie’s older sister Lynn makes the world seem glittering, or kira-kira. When their family moves from a Japanese community in Iowa to Georgia in the 1950’s, Katie’s parents begin working very long hours at a chicken hatchery with other Japanese American families.
“We learned about Japanese language and culture and how Japanese people in America have struggled with racism,” Nate says.
Ali says, “The book is about how Katie, Lynn, Sammy and their mom and dad struggled. There were sad parts.”
Nate agrees. “Yeah, this book was kind of sad.”
This bittersweet story follows Katie and her family as they face terrible loss and find a way to go on and see kira-kira in the world. Kira-Kira is the 2005 winner of the Newbery Medal.
How easy was this book to understand?
Everyone says that the book is easy to understand. Morag adds, “We help each other.”
What did you like about the book?
“I liked seeing how the kids interacted. It was interesting to see how Katie’s responsibilities grew as Lynn got sick,” says Hannah.
“It did offer a realistic view of the world back then,” says Morag. Others agree that the book did a good job describing life in rural Georgia in the 1950’s, where Katie’s family lived and worked.
“I like the name ‘Katie’,” says Susan.
“I liked Uncle Katsuhisa. What a funny character he is,” Jillian says. Uncle Katsuhisa is a talker and prides himself on being a chess champion, even though his niece Lynn beats him at chess regularly. While there are sad parts in this story, there are also very humorous parts, especially when Uncle Katsuhisa is involved.
Were there any parts you didn’t like? If so, what were they?
Everyone quickly agrees that their least favorite part of the book is when Lynn gets sick.
If another Next Chapter Book Club was thinking about reading this book, what would you tell them?
Susan says, “Do it!”
Nate adds, “But warn them there are some sad parts.”
What book or series of books has been your favorite so far? (some of us couldn’t pick just one!)
- Ali: Little Women and Peter Pan
- Ann: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (series) and Flora and Ulysses
- Christina: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
- Jillian: Flora and Ulysses and Wonder
- Nate: Stuart Little
- Susan: The Boxcar Children (series)
Please rate this book on a scale from 1 to 5 stars.
This club gave Kira-Kira 4.25 out of 5 stars.