The Best Bad Thing (Aladdin Historical Fiction) [Paperback]

Yoshiko Uchida (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 1993 | Age Level: 10 and up | Series: Aladdin Historical Fiction

At first dismayed at having to spend the last month of her summer vacation helping out in the household of recently widowed Mrs. Hata, Rinko discovers there are pleasant surprises for her, but then bad things start to happen. Sequel to A Jar of Dreams

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 132 pages
• Publisher: Aladdin (October 31, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689717458
• ISBN-13: 978-0689717451
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #755,952 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #47 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Issues > Multiculturalism
  • #89 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Multiculturalism
  • #93 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Multicultural Stories > Asian & Asian American

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nothing is as bad as it first seems, December 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Best Bad Thing (Aladdin Historical Fiction) (Paperback)

I was intrigued by this story for 2 reasons: 1) it details life in Oakland California during the depression period, when there were still farms in the hills. 2) it was made into a famous Japanese (NHK) television drama despite the fact that the story concentrates more on the "lost summer" of the protaganist Rinko, rather than her Japanese ancestry.

For those who saw the Japanese drama (it was later subtitled and broadcasted in California on PBS and Channel 26), I recommend you read the book as there are some differences in the story. For young readers, I encourage the reading of this book as it describes a time in America when the joys of life were more simple and not marred by gang violence and drugs.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book, May 15, 2003

By 

Kiersten (Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best Bad Thing (Best Bad Thing Mkm Cloth) (Hardcover)

If you like realistic stories and something which you can compare to yourself, you would love the Best Bad Thing. Once you read a chapter you will not want to stop. Why I loved this book is because I could relate to it. This book has some very funny humor in it.
Now it is hard to sum up the story without giving it away, but I can give you a brief review.
This story is about a girl named Rinko who is going to have to go to Mrs. Hata's for the summer. Why will she have to go? Because Mr. Hata has died (Mrs. Hata's husband). Everybody thinks that Mrs. Hata is crazy. Rinko does not want to go, she thinks it is bad, but then something makes this one of the best summers ever.
One last thing. In this story there are many suprises. So if you would like to read a great, humorous, realistic, and suprising story, you should read: The Best Bad Thing.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Japanese immigrants in America, April 8, 2005

By 

Sergio K. "KOHI" (Sao Paulo - SP, Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best Bad Thing (Aladdin Historical Fiction) (Paperback)

It's a typical story about the Japanese immigration in the American Continent, in the first decades of 20th century. At that time, many Japanese dreamed to work in America, with intention to "make fortune" there and return to Japan. This didn't happen only in the United States or Canada. Many Japanese families had immigrated for other Latin-American countries, all with the same dream.

The story happens in the 30's and shows basically how the Japanese lived in the new country, and the problems that they had faced, such as cultural differences, language, discrimination etc. Rinko is a 'Nipo-American' girl who lives in the city, and has to pass the summer vacations helping her cousins and her aunt, Mrs. Hata, in a small-cucumber-farm. It would have to be a boring vacation for Rinko but, in the end, she will learn important things about japanese culture and about her origins... EXCELLENT BOOK!!!