While I Was Away

by Waka T. Brown | Nonfiction |
ISBN: 006301713X Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingJ4Shawwing of finding my place, Somewhere -- Controlled Releases on 12/23/2021
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4 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingJ4Shawwing from finding my place, Somewhere -- Controlled Releases on Thursday, December 23, 2021
About the Book:
When twelve-year-old Waka’s parents suspect she can’t understand basic Japanese, they make the drastic decision to send her to Tokyo to live for several months with her strict grandmother. Forced to say goodbye to her friends and what would have been her summer vacation, Waka is plucked from her straight-A-student life in rural Kansas and flown across the globe, where she faces the culture shock of a lifetime.

In Japan, Waka struggles with reading and writing in kanji, doesn’t quite mesh with her complicated and distant Obaasama, and gets made fun of by the students in her Japanese public-school classes. Even though this is the country her parents came from, Waka has never felt more like an outsider.

If she’s always been the “smart Japanese girl” in America but is now the “dumb foreigner” in Japan, where is home? And who will Waka be when she finds it?

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My Review:
Read in January 2022

When twelve-year-old Waka’s parents suspect she can’t understand basic Japanese, they send her from her home in America to Japan, to spend several months living with her Grandmother and attend school in Tokyo.
This memoir was such a great read in that it was a rare insight into cultural difference. I found this a unique and insightful read, and there were many heart warming as well as heart wrenching parts to what played out. This felt like sitting down with the author over some tea and hearing her childhood story.


Journal Entry 2 by wingJ4Shawwing at Boise, Idaho USA on Monday, May 23, 2022

Released 1 yr ago (5/23/2022 UTC) at Boise, Idaho USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Released in the Around the World Bookbox.

Journal Entry 3 by Aberpeter at Kirkland, Washington USA on Thursday, May 26, 2022
Selected from the Around the World Bookbox.

Journal Entry 4 by Aberpeter at Renton, Washington USA on Friday, June 16, 2023
What a great gem of a book. Waka writes of her 5 month experience in Japan when she was 12 years old. Her parents thought she needed to spend time in Japan to connect with her Japanese heritage and Waka did not want to go. She took away far more than just Japanese culture. She learned what it meant to be a friend, she learned what it meant to struggle, and she discovered she had resilience to work though difficulties and took life lessons away from them.

While this is a middle school novel, the message and the story are engaging, no matter the age of the reader.

Journal Entry 5 by Aberpeter at Raleigh, North Carolina USA on Friday, June 16, 2023

Released 9 mos ago (6/17/2023 UTC) at Raleigh, North Carolina USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Giving to dabercro

Journal Entry 6 by dabercro at Clinton, Utah USA on Saturday, June 17, 2023
Thanks Aberpeter

Journal Entry 7 by dabercro at Clinton, Utah USA on Saturday, August 26, 2023
This was an enjoyable book about Waka's five months in Japan. Although she was dreading the trip and the time she would be living with her "mean" grandmother, she came to know and love her grandmother .

Journal Entry 8 by dabercro at Cruise ship in Carnival Legend, -- Ports, Waterways & Ships -- Canada on Saturday, August 26, 2023

Released 6 mos ago (8/26/2023 UTC) at Cruise ship in Carnival Legend, -- Ports, Waterways & Ships -- Canada

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Left on a shelf in the library.

Journal Entry 9 by wingAnonymousFinderwing at Carnival Legend, -- Ports, Waterways & Ships -- Canada on Wednesday, September 20, 2023
I thought the book started a little slow but got much better as I got into it. The ending left me hanging and wanting more closure

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