Flowers from Mariko [School & Library Binding]

Rick Noguchi (Author), Michelle Reiko Kumata (Author), Deneen Jenks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 10, 2001 | Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Mariko's family has been freed from a Japanese-American internment camp, but the transition hasn't been easy. Because her father's truck has disappeared, he can't start up his gardening business, and the family must move to a trailer park. One day, Mariko's father gives her two seed envelopes. She plants the seeds and even serenades them. Mariko's father is so preoccupied he doesn't notice her garden -- until he hears her singing. At last he smiles. Flowers from Mariko tells of a family striving to re-establish their lives -- through hope, perseverance, and love.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Husband-and-wife writing team Noguchi and Jenks plus artist Kumata all make their children's book debuts with this affecting tale with an eerily timely theme. "Just because I look like the enemy doesn't mean I am," insists Mariko, a Japanese-American girl whose family was forced to live in an internment camp after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Now, three years later, as she packs up to leave the camp's barbed-wire boundaries, she watches her father tend to his tiny flower garden in the camp, and remembers accompanying him on his rounds as a gardener before their relocation. Free to go at last, Mariko's father travels to their former home to retrieve his gardening truck, yet returns without it, explaining that their landlord sold the vehicle and moved away. They must take lodging in a trailer park built "for families who didn't have anywhere else to go." The authors create strong imagery with apt metaphors (Mariko hears her worried parents whispering at night, "their words circling the dark rooms like birds without a safe place to land"). Near their trailer, Mariko plants a flower garden, which lifts the spirits of those around her. Kumata's suitably spare, mixed media pictures feature an intriguing array of fabrics and textures, yet the characters frequently appear wooden against backdrops that are uniformly bleak. Finally, Mariko's father announces that he has gathered and repaired enough gardening tools to re-launch his business concluding the story on a hopeful note. Ages 6-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Gr 1-4-This is the story of a Japanese-American girl whose family has suffered through three years of internment at a desolate "relocation center" during World War II. When her father returns to California, he finds that his truck has been sold and that their former landlord has disappeared with the proceeds. This sad event, along with the loss of most of their other possessions, means that Mariko's father cannot immediately resume his gardening business. The family settles into a bleak trailer park established for returning internees. Bit by bit, they are able to rebuild their lives. The child's father finds some discarded gardening equipment that he can fix and Mariko starts a flower garden that comes to symbolize their rebirth. An author's note provides some brief background that allows children to put the story in context. The poignancy of this family's ordeal and the tragedy of the forced removal during the war are dimmed somewhat by the flat tones of both the text and the illustrations. While the story is not unmoving, the static pictures and straightforward prose diminish the pathos inherent in these events. Eve Bunting's So Far from the Sea (Clarion, 1998) is a more affecting portrait of the consequences of Executive Order 9066 for Japanese-American families. Flowers is an additional purchase for libraries needing supplemental materials on this important episode in American history.

Rosalyn Pierini, San Luis Obispo City-County Library, CA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• School & Library Binding: 32 pages
• Publisher: Lee & Low Books; 1st edition (October 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584300329
• ISBN-13: 978-1584300328
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,413,032 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A realistic, moving portrait, January 4, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flowers from Mariko (School & Library Binding)

Rick Noguchi and Deneen Jenks' Flowers From Mariko is set in post-World War II America, when Mariko and her family are finally allowed to leave Camp. How can they return to society with no money and no business? This creates a realistic, moving portrait of the plight of displaced Japanese Americans as it follow the family's struggles and newfound hopes.