While I Was Away
by Waka Brown
Autobiography
Biography
Nonfiction
* * * * * Stars (Great!)
Waka is sent to stay with her grandmother in Japan for several months in the 1980s so that she can be immersed in Japanese language and culture. Her mother is under the impression that she doesn’t understand Japanese and needs a language crash course and will have to attend Japanese school. It means all of Waka’s plans for the summer (with her friends at home in the States) are ruined and she feels like she’s being punished as well as exiled. It’s not all bad, though – her cousins are wonderful, and Waka makes a good friend. She and her grandmother even get along pretty well. Mostly. Until one day they don’t and there’s a major altercation that scares Waka and changes their relationship forever. Waka does commit herself to her studies, however, vowing to improve her language skills. With her determination and help from her teacher (who tutors her during their lunch break every day), Waka eventually catches up to the other students (no small feat!). Some of her classmates are very cruel and tease her relentlessly – calling her “stupid” for not knowing her kanji. And there are two groups of girls with who Waka plays who want her to choose between them and then be exclusive to that group. Waka is baffled by the idea. Why can’t everyone just be friends with everyone else? When she does choose, it doesn’t work out anyway, and Waka goes back to just being friendly with the neighbor girl, who is in another class, and doesn’t seem to have all of these hangups and restrictions. This is a really interesting look at Japanese culture and schools and social structures as well as Waka’s story of her time in Japan. Sprinkled with Japanese words and phrases. Fascinating. For grades 5+.
Reviewed by YA Librarian
