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Harmony Becker

Himawari House Kindle Edition

by Harmony Becker (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Winner of the 2023 Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Fiction Literature
Winner of the 2022 Kirkus Prize for Young Readers' Literature
A 2021 Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year
A 2021 School Library Best Books of the Year

A young adult graphic novel about three foreign exchange students and the pleasures, and difficulties, of adjusting to living in Japan.

Living in a new country is no walk in the park—Nao, Hyejung, and Tina can all attest to that. The three of them became fast friends through living together in the Himawari House in Tokyo and attending the same Japanese cram school. Nao came to Japan to reconnect with her Japanese heritage, while Hyejung and Tina came to find freedom and their own paths. Though each of them has her own motivations and challenges, they all deal with language barriers, being a fish out of water, self discovery, love, and family.

Print length

384 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

Not Enabled
Publisher

First Second
Publication date

November 9, 2021
Reading age

14 - 18 years
File size

354298 KB
Page Flip

Not Enabled
Word Wise

Not Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Not Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"There is humor and charm in the intersection of languages and understandings. Harmony Becker's story resonates with humanity and deep wisdom. Himawari House is a tantalizing peek into the future of our global society." ― George Takei, author of New York Times-bestseller They Called Us Enemy

"Becker’s art is intricate and rich at times, quick and playful at others. The story will tug at your heartstrings and make you laugh. All told, “Himawari House” will comfort young readers who are imagining their lives ahead and trigger nostalgic joy in older readers looking back." ―New York Times

"This emotionally and culturally rich YA story that puts the author's range of talents on full display...adventures rendered with a masterful hand and an impressive ear for dialogue." ―Washington Post

"This work exemplifies what the graphic novel format can achieve. An unforgettable story of personal growth in an exquisitely rendered setting." ―Kirkus, starred review

"This lighthearted yet serious-minded journey of discovery will delight, educate, and challenge teens interested in language and cultural exploration." ―School Library Journal, starred review

"[Becker] makes her stupendous solo debut in what will prove to one of the best graphic titles of the year....Audiences can expect absolute delight." ―Booklist, starred review

"...An immersive graphic novel that explores cross-cultural identity and the power of language to separate and to unite." ―The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

"In this stunningly layered graphic novel debut, Becker crafts a warmly actualized world in which the multiplicities of diasporic Asian identity are examined and held close." ―Publisher's Weekly, starred review

"Both hilarious and tender situations abound as this insightful graphic novel explores, among other topics, how language can either separate or bring people together." ―Horn Book, starred review

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

About the Author

Harmony Becker was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is the illustrator of George Takei's graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy. She currently lives in Mexico City. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09JMVZHXH
Publisher ‏ : ‎ First Second (November 9, 2021)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 9, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 354298 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Not enabled
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 384 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #895,017 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
68 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

68 global ratings

5 star		76%
4 star		16%
3 star		4%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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A Reader, A writer

Young adult reading - place of language in identity negotiations

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 23, 2022

Verified Purchase

Too expensive to make it required purchase but quick and generative reading amongst first year university students. (Highly cosmopolitan and competitive demographic.)

Helpful

Kan Lume

a singaporean who read himawari house

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 29, 2022

Verified Purchase

Thanks Harmony, for an amazing journey with these friends. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Awesome job lah! I was moved and laughed with them.

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Amazon Customer

beautiful heartfelt story and artwork

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 27, 2022

Verified Purchase

Amazing story and well written characters who feel like real people you've gotten to know by the end of the book. Very heartfelt and emotional, I loved it so much!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 18, 2021

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I loved every moment. There is so much heart and soul in this wonderful book. Please, please give it a read!

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Cecelia

Sensitive, funny, and sweet ode to cultural & linguistic confusion, friendship, and finding oneself

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 25, 2022

I heard lovely things about Harmony Becker’s young adult graphic novel Himawari House all last year, and that lead me to put it on my Christmas wishlist. If you’re wondering, yes, my wishlist each year is mostly comprised of books (with some music & baking implements sprinkled in here and there). My sister and I spent the holiday together, and she gifted me my very own copy – which has been waiting patiently for the end of the school year, and more time and headspace to read. I read it last week and absolutely loved it.

Nao was born in Japan, but moved to America as a young child and lost most of her Japanese language skills. For a gap year between high school and college she moves to Japan to take language lessons and reconnect with her extended family and culture. In Himawari House, her home base for the year, she’ll connect with housemates Hyejung and Tina (from Korea and Singapore, respectively), and Japanese brothers Shinsan and Masaki. The girls bond immediately over shared food, Japanese language school, and exchange student experiences. Following the occupants of Himawari House as they experience various coming of age moments is both bittersweet and a vivid reminder (or reflection, depending on the age of the reader) of the trials of surviving your late teenage years and early twenties. Becker’s text lovingly explores the depths of each character and their emotions, and combined with manga-style illustrations, has created a standout graphic novel.

I know others have said this in reviews, but Himawari House authentically captures what it is like to study abroad, and the range of experiences you might have as someone who doesn’t know the primary language of the place you are living in. That true-to-life feeling of confusion, excitement, only catching half of a conversation, and muddling through while your brain is working overdrive hit my memories and heart hard. It also made me an instant fan of the inhabitants of Himawari House and author-artist Becker.

Favorite bits: elderly neighbor Baachan, who is lonely now that her husband has passed away, and makes the young crew of Himawari House a delicious dinner. And I loved Nao’s time with her family and flashbacks to her childhood, and the funny little side illustrations (not true panels) that show characters’ emotions – freaking out over something a girl or boy said, internal thoughts, etc. I also enjoyed the musing on food, the moments of introspection followed by group activities and fellow-feeling, the expressions of the characters – basically, I liked it all a whole lot!!

As mentioned above, Becker's style has a distinct manga flavor, and the backmatter of the book indicates that her black and white art was all completed digitally in Clip Studio Paint. I was impressed by the variety of textures that contribute to the scenes – the linework is excellent, and it makes small details in the setting, and facial expressions especially, pop. In addition, the lettering is done in whatever language is spoken on-page, and translated below in English if the character understands. This means that sometimes there are whole parts of conversations that the character, and thus the reader, just don’t get. Decisions and pieces like these feel the most representative of a real life language learning situation.

In all, Himawari House is a note-perfect rendering of what studying abroad/leaving the nest/entering adulthood feels like. It’s a sensitive, funny, and sweet ode to cultural and linguistic confusion, friendship, and finding oneself.

Recommended for: fans of Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me, contemporary graphic novel readers, and anyone who likes quiet fiction that speaks to the heart.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Sara

Buy This Now!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 10, 2021

I loved this book! I shed a couple tears and was not expecting that at all. I read it in about 2 hours and didn’t want it to stop. This really reminded me of living in an apartment with strangers when I got an internship in a different state. Now I want to go study abroad.

This graphic novel was extremely heartwarming while it also tackled deep issues that the characters were facing. While each of the characters was facing a different problem, Becker did an amazing job at creating a bond between the characters which led to a great representation of friendship.

I wanna talk about one of the main character’s big problems in the book, she is bilingual but because she grew up in America she doesn’t know a lot of Japanese. While I don’t know how this must feel as I do not speak anything but English, I was able to get a feel for how it must be because of the images and dialogue. When the character was listening to another character speak and she didn’t know what they were saying in Japanese, the words would become fuzzy in the picture or gaps in the words. This was a great way to show that our character didn’t know what was happening while also showing me, the reader, what the struggle is like. As the story goes on and the main character learns more Japanese we see less and less of this fuzziness which shows she’s beginning to understand more, I thought it was a great concept to include. If you don’t know Japanese or Korean (as Korean is also spoken in this book) don’t worry, you won’t miss anything. Everything that our characters understand has subtitles. If there are no subtitles and you’re confused well congratulations because the character also has no clue what is being said. Like I said, a great concept.

I found the illustrations really enjoyable. They are in black and white so if you’re only a fan of color this might not be the one for you. While the story deals with deep issues there is also a lot of humor in it and this is depicted in the illustrations and dialogue. Some of the illustrations reminded me of anime when the characters make super weird faces… I don’t know how else to describe it so I hope that makes sense.

As I said before, there are a lot of deeper topics talked about throughout the book as each character is fighting their own battles. One thing I wish had been different was having separate books for each of the characters or even a longer book. Since all the characters were going through something and we were seeing all of their stories unfold, sometimes the stories were done quickly and we didn’t get to see it unfold in a lot of detail or it got jumbled with another character’s story and became confusing. I just wish more time had been spent on all characters because I did like them all but felt like some didn’t get as much time. The pacing just felt off at times.

Should you read this book? Absolutely. This is a great graphic novel that depicts issues of feeling like you don’t belong, the pressure of fitting a mold, unrequited feelings, failure, but also strong female relationships. Honestly, it was so good. It didn’t end how I thought it would and I might just cry about it…again. Pick this up immediately, thanks!

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Zoegirls

Beautifully told and illustrated

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 17, 2022

I'd been eyeing this book for a while now and finally pulled the trigger on making the purchase--and I'm so, so glad I did! Himawari House is a warm and gorgeously told story that explores the transience of cultural identity, friendship in unlikely places, family, and first love. The author manages to capture the questions that arise when one is pulled between two worlds, and the answer she lands on for how to bridge the gap greatly resonates. Not to mention, the art is just lovely. Please buy this book!

Helpful

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Jen

Wonderful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 7, 2022

Verified Purchase

A beautiful story magically told. It is by turns moving, heart warming - and warm and funny too. Just extraordinary.

ぽん吉

青春時代の心の揺れを思い出させる多文化共生青春譚

Reviewed in Japan 🇯🇵 on July 19, 2022

Verified Purchase

ナオは二つのルーツを持つ少女。幼い頃にアメリカに渡り、常にアウトサイダーと感じながら育ちました。高校を卒業し、自分のアイデンティティを確認するために、大学入学を延期して、日本のひまわりハウスというシェアハウスで暮らすことにしました。そこで、自由を求めて家出して日本にやって来た出身国の異なる2人の女性（ティナ：シンガポール人、へジョン：韓国人）と、真一・正樹の兄弟とでの共同生活が始まります。
彼らが戸惑い、悩み、迷い、泣き、笑いながら成長していく姿が、4ヶ国語（米語・日本語・シングリッシュ・韓国語）混在で、情感豊かに描き出されています。
個々のエピソードはリアリティーが高く、絵も優しい線で丁寧に描かれていて、好感が持てます。
Diasporic Identity Crisisに悩む人もそうでない人も、総ての若者と元若者にお勧めします。

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