A PLACE TO BELONG

Narrator Jennifer Ikeda perfectly captures the confusion of a girl displaced by war and hardship. For years, the only home Japanese-American Hanako has known is an internment camp. When she and her family are released at the end of WWII, they decide to renounce their American citizenship and return to her father's birthplace near Hiroshima, where they face uncertainty about what the future holds. Ikeda takes great care to pronounce the Japanese vocabulary distinctly and correctly without disturbing the flow of the story. She creates memorable voices for Hana; her little brother, Akira; and the people they interact with in their new, war-torn home. Listeners will be especially charmed by Hana's grandparents, the delightfully idiosyncratic Jiichan and Baachan. N.M. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2019]