Published on November 9, 2021, by First Second Books, it was the recipient of a Kirkus Prize in the 'Young Readers' Literature' category, receiving praise for its art and creative use of speech balloons, which was.

Dialogue balloons have characters speaking accented English with their pronunciations written out phonetically in an endnote, Becker says, “Our accents are not a point of shame but a point of pride, because after all, what is an accent but proof of the ability to speak more than one language?” Hilarious and tender situations abound as this insightful graphic novel explores, among other topics, how language can either separate or bring people together.įrom the January/February 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine. View deals for Jay and Lans Himawari house, including fully refundable rates with free cancellation. Himawari House focuses on Nao, the daughter of a Japanese immigrant, who goes there to learn more about its culture and language. 9/19) smartly uses speech balloons to re-create the feeling of being a language learner, showing, for example, only Japanese characters when Nao can’t understand a word of rapid-fire Japanese but providing both Japanese characters and English translation when she does understand, with blurry lines standing in for the words she isn’t getting. Becker (illustrator of Takei’s They Called Us Enemy, rev. Frequent use of manga art styles adds depth and detail to the story of Nao’s roller-coaster year. Himawari House is a tantalizing peek into the future of our global society.' - George Takei, author of New York Times-bestseller They Called Us Enemy. Nao’s housemates include two other non-natives, Korean Hyejung and Chinese Singaporean Tina they tell Nao they simply want to experience life abroad but both hide complicated backstories, revealed in sections related from their points of view.

“Only half” Japanese and lacking language fluency, she struggles to fit in. In this expertly crafted graphic novel, recent high school grad Nao, born in Japan and raised in the American Midwest, spends a gap year in Tokyo.

Himawari house book 2