Cynthia Kadohata's Newbery Winner "kira-Kira"

I'm gonna take a stab in the dark and say that Cynthia Kadohata's Newbery winner "Kira-Kira" is a book that you either love or a book that you loathe to the fullest. Well, I'm a thirteen-year old and I enjoyed it to the fullest. And what really bugs me is that it is ADULT reviewers who are saying this book is too depressing for children. ADULT! Have you people ever heard of Bridge to Terabithia. It was just as depressing, if not more (though, brilliant I might add). I'm not even gonna mention last year's Olive's Ocean.

After reading Kira-Kira,I had found my new favourite author. Kadohata had touched both myself and a good friend of mine. My friend was in tears at the end of the book. I could understand why she wept for I too felt touched by Kadohata's book. Kadohata filled every chapter with such strong emotions and used such colourful vocabulary. Kadohata is surely one of the most amazing

In many ways, the Newbery Award is my favorite kind of award out there. Some people prefer the Oscars. Others enjoy the Emmys. And even a few sad souls look forward to the National Book Awards. But the Newberys are different in a single undeniable way. Where other awards tell you ahead of time who the top nominations for the prize are, until the Newbery Award is announced anybody could win. Anyone who's written an American children's book, that is. Sometimes this yields fabulous winners that truly deserve their awards, like "Holes" by Louis Sacher (enjoyed equally by kids and adults, funny, moving, serious, ridiculous, and more). Other times, it yields books like "kira-kira". Ah, my poor "kira-kira". A perfectly fine book that will now be loathed and abhorred by countless generations of schoolchildren the world over. "kira-kira" is not bad, per say. But it brilliantly fulfills every stereotype of Newbery Award winners. It is depressing (sometimes ridiculously so), more of a teen novel than a book intended for children, and just the kind of story that contains lovely prose in an exceedingly boring way. It's sad to say, but now we must officially declare the 2005 Newbery year as a bum one. Pity.

Born in 1951, Katie Takeshima loves one person more than anyone else in the world. Her older sister Lynn. Lynn and Katie are inseparable from the get-go. Unlike those older sisters that would belittle or hurt their younger adoring siblings, Lynn makes sure that Katie comes with her everywhere. Their family lives in Iowa and must make some big changes when they move to Georgia. Being Japanese-Americans living in the 1950s, their parents must face terrible jobs and long hours. Worse still, Lynn seems to be losing a lot of energy for unknown reasons. As Katie grows and watches her beloved sister slipping away she must learn how to cope with the world