Little Sister [Hardcover]

Kara Dalkey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 20, 1996

When Mitsuko’s village is attacked by outlaws and her beloved sister’s husband is murdered, she alone finds the courage to venture into the netherworld to find her sister’s wandering spirit. With the aid of a shape-shifter and other magical creatures from Japanese myths, Mitsuko journeys across a landscape transformed by legend and by her own growing sense of power to become an unwitting hero. “A readable, engagingly semiserious adventure.”-Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dalkey (Nightingale) dusts off some time-worn devices to concoct an ambitious and action-packed historical fantasy/adventure that borrows elements from Shinto beliefs, Buddhism, haiku poetry and the records of a 12th-century Japanese noble clan. Thirteen-year-old Mitsuko journeys through the realms of Japanese cosmology in a mystical, perilous search for her older sister. She tells her turbulent tale in retrospect, beginning with her privileged life as a member of the Japanese royal court. Militant warrior priests tear her world asunder: they burn the family home and murder her brother-in-law. Mitsuko's sister Amaiko, longing to be reunited with the soul of her slain husband, abandons her still-living body (now reduced to a trance-like state) for the netherworld. With the supernatural help of a Tengu, a shape-shifting demon more mischievous than evil, Mitsuko journeys to the Land of the Ancestors, the home of The Buddha Who Is Yet To Be, the cave of the Dragon King and several realms of hell (which are "innumerable as the sins of mankind"). A solid, suspenseful mix of history and mythology. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-Dalkey blends elements of Shinto and Buddhist folklore with historical facts about Japan around A.D. 1100. Mitsuko, 13, is a member of the powerful Fujiwara noble family. As her family flees the city to escape the marauding warrior-monks, her sister's beloved husband is killed and the young woman plunges into a catatonic state. Mitsuko believes that the only way to save her is to search for her soul, which must be seeking the soul of her dead husband. She runs away, taking her sister with her, and meets up with a tengu, or shape-shifting demon, who agrees to help with Mitsuko's quest. So begins a fantastical journey in which the brave girl meets many mystical figures of Japanese mythology, resulting in the eventual recovery of her sister, a reunion of her family, and the changing of Mitsuko's life forever. The author never really generates the excitement one might expect. Despite an endnote delineating cultural fact from folkloric fiction, the onslaught of unfamiliar mythical figures may frustrate less-than-patient readers. Also distracting is the rhythm of the language, which is choppy and unnatural. The ending is strangely ambiguous and seems tacked on. Even with these flaws the book will be of interest because of its unusual setting. It should appeal to readers of romantic fantasy thanks to a strong female protagonist, the engaging and humorous tengu, and the chance to discover an unfamiliar mythology.
Carrie Schadle, New York Public Library
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1st edition (September 20, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 015201392X
• ISBN-13: 978-0152013929
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,248,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Transforming! (more than meets the eye...), March 15, 2005

By 

S. B Lauderdale (Beverly, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Little Sister (Mass Market Paperback)

This slim, pretty volume crossed my counter at the library where I work several times before I checked it out. My expectations, I'll admit, were not of the highest: I looked at it and thought, "Ah. Quick and entertaining." Well. It was quick, and I was entertained, but there is a little more to "Little Sister" than meets the eye.

It's hard, at first, to say quite why. The writing, presented as a first-person narrative by Mitsuko of events she is writing about afterwards, is elementary on the surface: functional, spare and tidy. However, what seems unremarkable comes to resemble the small haiku with which it is occasionally interspersed. It is not simple but restrained, echoing the delicate sensibilities of the Heian literature with which someone like Mitsuko would be so familiar. Her humble monogatari is certainly no "Tale of Genji" - nonethless, they are indisputably kin.

The premise also seems elementary at first: young girl of elite but sheltered upbringing must dare the larger world in order to help her family and counter a terrible wrong - instant, expected conflict as Mitsuko takes risks and makes enemies. At the same time, there is conflict of a more internal, personal variety when Mitsuko makes some unexpected allies: most importantly Goranu the tengu, a shape-shifting bird demon of Japanese mythology. While an alliance of convenience slowly turns into something resembling friendship, Mitsuko begins making decisions and developing ideas that contradict her own values, those of her family, and those of the society to which she belongs.

The beauty is in the subtle and restrained manner that this is presented--Mitsuko is a consistant character and no fickle reed to bend where the wind may blow. Even at the end of the book she expresses sentiments that can startle a reader who isn't a product of her particular time and place. It is a pleasure to accompany a protagonist who changes in believable fashion: blossoming into gradual, grudging and occasionally graceful bloom.

All of this elegance might be a little dry if it weren't tempered with an abundance of humor through wicked Goranu and his antics, and Mitsuko is no slouch in the wit department herself. Both characters challenge each other to grow and change - to what extent becomes evident in the book's touching denouement, when it really hit home to me just how much I had come to care for them both, and how concerned I was for their future.

The ending, as it stands, is sketchy. On the one hand, it is jarring after all the loose ends are tidied away to have a new conflict arise so suddenly with its noisy demand for resolution. On the other hand, the very existance of a sequel compromises the delicate ambiguity of the closing paragraph - the reader can't very well choose the ending of his or her choice when Dalkey will be telling us Mitsuko's decision in the next book.

Nonetheless, I couldn't be too annoyed at the ending to "Little Sister" when I was already worrying about how to get hold of "The Heavenward Path." Not for long, though - thank goodness for libraries! The second book continues the first book's themes of maturation, transformation, and reconciliation: of destiny, of relationships and of personal philosophies. They are, as previous reviewer said, genre-benders, containing a whole lot of book in two slender volumes and even providing a kind of beginner's course on the interaction of the Buddhist and Shinto religions.

Checking "Little Sister" and "The Heavenward Path" out of the library has left me enriched. Buy them? You bet I will.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Story Full of Ancient Japanese Folklore, July 10, 2002

By 

Katie (Annapolis, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Little Sister (Hardcover)

Little Sister is rich with Japan's history and folklore. It tells the story of Mitsuko, a young thirteen year old girl who lives at Court. But when stories are heard about dangerous monks setting fire to councillors houses, Mitsuko and her family are sent into hiding by her father. Yet, while journeying on the road, they are attacked by monks, and Mustako's brother-in-law is killed. Her sister Amaiko, who was married to the dead man, was saddened so much by her husband's death that her soul traveled elsewhere, leaving her body an empty shell.

Mustako knows she must save her sister, and she runs away, leaving her mother and other sisters alone. She takes Amaiko with her, hoping to find help. She stumbles upon some tengu (Japanese shapeshifting "demons") and befriends one of them, who is named Goranu. Goranu helps her to retrieve her sister's soul, and their adventures take them to the king of the sea, a Japanese "hell" and so on until she finds her brother-in-law's ghost. She knows that unless she finds a way to let his soul rest in peace, his ghost will go on haunting and her sister will never be able to go on with her life. Yet still, what can she do? She doesn't know where her family has gone, and her only friend is a demon.

Little Sister is a wonderful tale, well-written and full of Japanese history and folklore. Good for any ages, boy or girl, whatever. Anyone would like it. If you read it and like it, go on with its sequel, The Heavenward Path.

***If you like Kara Dalkey's writing, read her Water Trilogy, which contains the three books Ascension, Reunion, and Transformation. These three books tell of the lost city of Atlantis. Read them all!!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best books EVER!!!!!, May 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Little Sister (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is not only interesting but it also gives the reader a good idea about how life was in ancient Japan. It has such a variety of genras that I would recommend this book to everyone. One of my favorite things about this book is the love that Goranu and Mitsuko have for each other. It is unlike any other! Little Sister is truly a masterpeice! This is one of my all time favorite books!!!!!