Kira-kira is a beautiful story about spirit and strength. As Lynn's kira-kira diminishes, the reader is left with a heavy heart for Katie and her family. But the joy of owning a piece of the American dream is soon destroyed by Lynn's growing health problems. When their parents dream of owning their own home comes to fruition, the Takeshima family is very proud and they are all convinced that their lives will be forever good. They create a sense of happiness and brightness around themselves. Together they play, talk, support each other, and dream of what life will be in the future. As the kids assimilate into school life in Georgia, where the local people are less than welcoming, they remain each other's best friends. As they are working themselves into exhaustion, the children are constant and loving companions to each other. Their parents, in an effort to accomplish their dream to own their own home, move the family to Georgia so that they can work in a poultry factory. It is ironic that kira-kira becomes an important word between the girls, because their lives would not appear to be kira-kira to the outside world. When Katie is a very small child, Lynn teaches her the title word, Kira-Kira, which is the Japanese word for glittery or shiny. She is very close to her siblings, Lynn and Sammy, and their lives revolve around each other. Katie, the middle child, is the narrator of their story. This is the story of a Japanese-American family named Takeshima. The richness of the characters is what drives this story, and by the end of the book I felt as if I knew each and every one of them. It's one of those books that makes you feel like nothing you read after that will compare. Oh, do you ever wish a book could just go on? Kira-kira is such a beautiful piece of writing that the story has stayed with me since I finished it two days ago.

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata