Beyond Me

This is the second novel-in-verse from the prize-winning author of Somewhere Among (based on bicultural life in a multi-generational home in Japan) who raised two children in Tokyo and experienced the 2011 earthquake and its aftershocks. In a time of American fires, floods, and hurricanes—not to mention a pandemic still in full swing—this extremely appealing text with spacious pages, time notations, and cultural richness abounding will make sense to so many displaced children everywhere. When life is full of disaster, how do we live? Eleven-year-old Maya guides us through her topsy-turvy days. I admit to having been mesmerized by Somewhere Among, which transported me into a child’s mind, feeling everything as poem, putting pieces together, attempting to make sense and beauty. In real life, Donwerth-Chikamatsu has been gardening more lately, as so many of us have, and her main character, worrying about radiation, will remind us of ourselves as well—basically worrying more about everything. The spirit of Beyond Me is nevertheless powerfully positive. “I wish we had enough sunflower seeds to give them.” Don’t miss this loving journey.