Kira-Kira
Encyclopedia
Kira-Kira is a young adult novel by Cynthia Kadohata
. It won the Newbery Medal
for children's literature in 2005. The book's plot is about a Japanese-American family living in Georgia
. The main character and narrator of the story is a girl named Katie, a member of the Japanese-American family.
"Kira-kira" (きら きら in hiragana
) means sparkling, glittering, or shiny.
As the plot progresses, Katie enters school, having difficulty being the only Japanese-American in her class. Her grades are solid, average C's, in comparison to Lynn's consistent A's. Lynn becomes friends with a popular girl, Amber, whom Katie dislikes immensely, and starts becoming interested in boys, often dropping Katie to go hang out with people her age. Katie eventually becomes friends with a girl named Silly Kilgore, whom she meets while waiting in the car at her mother's job. Silly's mother backs having a union at the plant to fight for higher wages and better working conditions, though Katie's mother opposes it.
In between, Lynn becomes sick with anemia
. Amber (whom Katie thought was phony anyway) dumps her as a friend, and Lynn becomes even sicker. Her parents buy her a house that Lynn gets to choose to make her feel better. The house seems to be curing Lynnie, until their little brother Sammy gets caught in a metal animal trap on Mr. Lyndon's (owner of the hatchery) vast property during a picnic one day, distressing her.
Lynn slowly progresses to become blank and irritable. Eventually her parents told Katie that Lynn has lymphoma
. When Katie looks lymphoma up in the encyclopedia, she discovers that Lynn could die.
The year Katie is eleven, Lynn dies, alone on New Year's Day, when Katie goes outside for a break shortly after caring for her. Before Lynn's death, she and Katie had gotten into an argument. Katie fell asleep outside and her father woke her and told her Lynn had died. After her death, Katie realizes why Lynn had taught her the word kira-kira; she wanted to remind her to always look at the world as a shining place and to never lose hope though there might be harsh hurdles in life. Katie keeps Lynn's belongings on her desk as an altar. The family feels that Lynn's spirit will stay around as long as they have her belongings around. Katie thinks that Lynn's spirit will only stay around 49 days after she dies (because that's what her uncle told her).
The same day Lynn dies, Katie's usually calm and restrained father breaks into an angry rage after seeing Sammy struggle with his limp. He takes Katie and goes and wrecks Mr. Lyndon's car, an act which shocks her. Later on, he goes to Mr. Lyndon and owns up to what he did, resulting in him getting fired. Katie is appalled that her father is now unemployed, but he tells her that there is another hatchery opening up in Missouri, where he will probably work next, even though it will be a longer drive.
Katie is left with Lynn's diary, and upon reading it, she realizes that Lynn knew she was going to die (as her will is dated several days before her death). Soon after, Katie's mother attends a pro-union meeting at the Kilgore house. One of the things that the union wanted to achieve was having a three-day grief leave for families handling tragedy. Though Katie's mother knows it's a little late for their family, if she voted for the union, it wouldn't be too late for the next family suffering grief.
Later, a little bit after the holidays, Katie's parents attempt to cheer everyone up by taking them all on a wonderful, beautiful vacation. Katie recommends California because that is where Lynn would have wanted to go; California is where the sea she loved is and it is where Lynn wanted to live when she got older. The family arrives, and while Katie walks on the beach, she can hear Lynn's voice in the waves: "Kira-kira, kira-kira."
Cynthia Kadohata
Cynthia Kadohata is a Japanese American writer known for winning the 2005 Newbery Medal. Her first published short story appeared in The New Yorker in 1986....
. It won the Newbery Medal
Newbery Medal
The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association . The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. ...
for children's literature in 2005. The book's plot is about a Japanese-American family living in Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. The main character and narrator of the story is a girl named Katie, a member of the Japanese-American family.
"Kira-kira" (きら きら in hiragana
Hiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
) means sparkling, glittering, or shiny.
Plot summary
At the beginning of the story, it is the 1950s, and Lynn taught Katie the word Kira-kira and she uses it to describe everything meaning "glittering". Her older sister Lynn, and their parents are living in Iowa and own a unique Asian supermarket. When the store goes out of business, the family moves to an apartment home in Georgia where Katie's parents can work at a hatchery with other Japanese families. Lynn is Katie's best friend. Known for being remarkably intelligent, she can beat her Uncle Katsuhisa, a self-proclaimed chess grand master, at his own game.As the plot progresses, Katie enters school, having difficulty being the only Japanese-American in her class. Her grades are solid, average C's, in comparison to Lynn's consistent A's. Lynn becomes friends with a popular girl, Amber, whom Katie dislikes immensely, and starts becoming interested in boys, often dropping Katie to go hang out with people her age. Katie eventually becomes friends with a girl named Silly Kilgore, whom she meets while waiting in the car at her mother's job. Silly's mother backs having a union at the plant to fight for higher wages and better working conditions, though Katie's mother opposes it.
In between, Lynn becomes sick with anemia
Anemia
Anemia is a decrease in number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. However, it can include decreased oxygen-binding ability of each hemoglobin molecule due to deformity or lack in numerical development as in some other types of hemoglobin...
. Amber (whom Katie thought was phony anyway) dumps her as a friend, and Lynn becomes even sicker. Her parents buy her a house that Lynn gets to choose to make her feel better. The house seems to be curing Lynnie, until their little brother Sammy gets caught in a metal animal trap on Mr. Lyndon's (owner of the hatchery) vast property during a picnic one day, distressing her.
Lynn slowly progresses to become blank and irritable. Eventually her parents told Katie that Lynn has lymphoma
Lymphoma
Lymphoma is a cancer in the lymphatic cells of the immune system. Typically, lymphomas present as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. Treatment might involve chemotherapy and in some cases radiotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation, and can be curable depending on the histology, type, and stage...
. When Katie looks lymphoma up in the encyclopedia, she discovers that Lynn could die.
The year Katie is eleven, Lynn dies, alone on New Year's Day, when Katie goes outside for a break shortly after caring for her. Before Lynn's death, she and Katie had gotten into an argument. Katie fell asleep outside and her father woke her and told her Lynn had died. After her death, Katie realizes why Lynn had taught her the word kira-kira; she wanted to remind her to always look at the world as a shining place and to never lose hope though there might be harsh hurdles in life. Katie keeps Lynn's belongings on her desk as an altar. The family feels that Lynn's spirit will stay around as long as they have her belongings around. Katie thinks that Lynn's spirit will only stay around 49 days after she dies (because that's what her uncle told her).
The same day Lynn dies, Katie's usually calm and restrained father breaks into an angry rage after seeing Sammy struggle with his limp. He takes Katie and goes and wrecks Mr. Lyndon's car, an act which shocks her. Later on, he goes to Mr. Lyndon and owns up to what he did, resulting in him getting fired. Katie is appalled that her father is now unemployed, but he tells her that there is another hatchery opening up in Missouri, where he will probably work next, even though it will be a longer drive.
Katie is left with Lynn's diary, and upon reading it, she realizes that Lynn knew she was going to die (as her will is dated several days before her death). Soon after, Katie's mother attends a pro-union meeting at the Kilgore house. One of the things that the union wanted to achieve was having a three-day grief leave for families handling tragedy. Though Katie's mother knows it's a little late for their family, if she voted for the union, it wouldn't be too late for the next family suffering grief.
Later, a little bit after the holidays, Katie's parents attempt to cheer everyone up by taking them all on a wonderful, beautiful vacation. Katie recommends California because that is where Lynn would have wanted to go; California is where the sea she loved is and it is where Lynn wanted to live when she got older. The family arrives, and while Katie walks on the beach, she can hear Lynn's voice in the waves: "Kira-kira, kira-kira."