Kira -Kira by Masha Westerveen

Book Title: Kira-Kira
Author's Name: Cynthia Kadohata
Number of Pages:244
Genre of Novel: Fiction
Prize Won: Winner of the Newbery Medal

Katie the main character was born Iowa, 1951. She lived with her parents, and her beloved sister Lynn. When Katie was a young girl, she and her whole family moved to Georgia. The reason was because the family was poor, and they could not afford their own house. They moved to an old apartment, where the father and mother could work. If it hadn't been for her sister Lynn, Katie would have seen life as boring.
Kira-Kira in Japanese means 'glittering.' Lynn taught Katie to see everything as glittering. The sky was Kira-Kira, the corn was Kira-Kira, and Katie believed that Lynn's eyes were Kira-Kira themselves. As time drew on, Katie had to go to school. She dreaded going there, but seeing that Lynn went there to, she accepted the fact. She never managed to get A's like Lynn did, but she thought she didn't badly. Katie could not envy her sister. Lynn was just too nice. She was the one who told Katie one day, why people ignored them, and why her parents had a difficulty with finding a job. It was because they were different, they had dark skin, and they were Japanese. Katie was a bit too young to understand that, however it didn't take her long to realise she didn't have any friends. Because Lynn was so beautiful, it wasn't long before she made some friends. Katie saw that white people were much different. The girl Lynn was friends with was too obsessed with boys. Lynn didn't have time for Katie any more and she was being influenced by the other girl. But the worst was yet to come. Lynn got sick, and not only did Katie miss her, but she was dying of boredom. As Lynn got even more sick, it was Katie's turn to show everything to her that was Kira-Kira. Katie was the one who had to make sure that the family felt all right, that they didn't get too exhausted, and that everyone was happy. I won't ruin the ending for everyone, but all I can say is that Katie learned that no matter what happened, the world still can be Kira-Kira.
I would recommend this book to anyone, even adults. This book however is quite easy to read. It was written fro 12-14 year old children, however I believe that everyone has the right to read whatever book they want.