From: Jeanatkins_at_aol.com <Jeanatkins>
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 11:45:07 EST

The summaries I read of Kira-Kira didn't make me want to grab the novel, so, after reading and loving it, I hesitate to write my own. It's not a book packed with jokes, but there's humor in it, the sort you find in wise, overlooked children who can't help finding the view from below grownup's heads amusing. This girl messes up in school and can't be bothered to care too much at first. She tries to figure out politics mostly by listening and watching, so the reader can do that, too, without an author's pointing finger getting in the way. In this book the sight of a girl eating barbecue changes things more than a campaign. The whole kira-kira thing, the glistening in the darkness, feels totally earned by the end, not sappy. The mom's quiet change of heart, the father briefly and dramatically flipping out, a decent book report, all were as wrenching as the colored Kleenex drifting from a roof.
     Jeannine Atkins
     www.Jeannineatkins.com
Received on Thu 17 Feb 2005 10:45:07 AM CST