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(3)
YA
Illustrated by
Grady McFerrin.
Half-Japanese, half-Jewish American Kana is sent to live with distant relatives in Japan after classmate and clique-target Ruth's suicide. Learning discipline, patience, and acceptance of herself and her circumstances, Kana begins to blossom like the family's mikan (orange) groves--even after tragedy strikes again. Told in first-person verse addressed to Ruth, Kana's voice deftly progresses from morose to contemplative to hopeful.