Title: Himawari House

Author: Harmony Becker

Publisher: First Second

Copyright Date: 2021

Reading Level: ATOS 2.8

Interest Level (Age): 15+

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Synopsis:  

Nao recently graduated highschool and there is a lot going on in her mind about her future, as well as her past. Having grown up as a Japanese-American in the United States, Nao was cut off from her Japanese heritage for the sake of social survival. But, after graduating and breaching adulthood, Nao wants to rekindle her Japanese cultural flame. So, after hitching a plane ride and arriving in the familiar yet strange country of Japan, Nao finds the destined Himawari House and befriends her new roommates: Hyejung and Tina. Over the course of a year, Nao rekindles her mother tongue, finds romance, and embraces her newfound home. Though Nao's year comes to an inevitable end, does her leaving mark the "end" of her life in Japan?

Personal Reaction:

Harmony Becker's Himawari House (2021) was an enthralling personal journey about self-acceptance in regards to cultural and familial differences. From the first moment when Nao expressed her confliction and call to Japan, I was hooked. I related to Nao's need to move passed her Japanese heritage during her youth in America, all because I too had to sequester parts of myself from social view when growing up in Northern Texas. Feeling the need to hide the parts of yourself that make you "you" is sadly a common experience that children and teenagers learn to accept in U.S. society. Even though Nao did all she could to fit in as a kid, she was still ostracized and made uncomfortable with her Japanese heritage. Nao's discomfort with the cultural divide between her and her peers made me wonder what it must be like for so many other children and teenagers to grow up in such discriminatory circumstances. This line of thought then made me reflect on what it must have been like for all the exchange students that joined my elementary school as a kid. I can't even imagine how difficult it was for Nao to assimilate to her new culture, let alone imagine the difficulty for those exchange students at my childhood school. So, it wasn't a major shock to me that Nao felt she had to cut herself off from her culture; and what also wasn't a major shock was her call to reconnect with it as she got older. 

When Nao met Tina and Hyejung, I instantly fell in love with Becker's characterizations of the two older girls. Tina and Hyejung were certainly funny in their own ways, but the important part is that the audience is shown how they are human. Tina and Hyejung are multifaceted women with deeply touching character flaws, and I loved that about them as the novel unfolded. I think it's incredibly crucial to have realistic female and male characters in young adult novels (graphic or otherwise) because the representation teaches understanding and empathy. I especially loved the inclusion of Hyejung and Tina's individual story lines within the greater literary architecture of Nao's year in Japan. I felt love for this perspective choice because the shift between Nao, Tina, and Hyejung solidifies the idea that we all share similar problems, even if we think we're the only ones who experience them. 

As Nao ingratiated herself in Japanese culture through language schooling, I felt sympathetic with her dread and anxiety when trying to understand her seemingly dead mother tongue. I, too, have struggled with the first day and/or "newbie" anxiety that comes hand in hand with learning new languages (3 times in fact.) In both my teenage and adult life, I have studied 3 languages (ASL, French, and Spanish) and during the acclimation periods for all three languages I always felt like an out-cast or a fish out of water. I worried that my accents, intonations, and subject-verb uses were all wrong, and that crippling anxiety got the better of me often. So, I completely understood how paralyzing it was for Nao when she first returned to Japan and began at the language institute. Nao's humbling D class score reminded me deeply what conversational Spanish class was like in community college (yikes, to say the least.) 

Of all the characters Becker introduced, I think that I connected with Hyejung the most because her highschool and college experience resonated with my own. Like Hyejung, I fell into the mental trap of non-stop studying for a future that wasn't mine, all because I wanted to make my parents proud enough to say that I was their daughter. I also dropped out of University (briefly) to find myself and discover what my future had planned for me, just like Hyejung. Although, the major difference between my life and Hyejung's is that Hyejung cut her parents off, while I embraced my parents and relied on them to help me find my light in the darkness. So, in a way, Hyejung's story reminded me of a future that I never had, in a good way. 

Though the relationship between Nao and Masaki (another roommate in Himawari House) doesn't take center stage in the novel, I do believe that the inclusion of this relationship is a great model for healthy romance development between young-adults. The reasoning behind this being that Masaki and Nao didn't rush their feelings, let alone their sexual experiences (i.e. kissing one another). The relationship between Nao and Masaki developed naturally over the course of the year, which I think is an incredibly important detail for young-adult novels to include. It isn't uncommon to find young-adult romances, or fiction novels with romantic elements, with severely unhealthy romantic relationships between characters under the age of 18. I disagree with the relationships portrayed in these books because it can potentially set an expectation that relationships are meant to be toxic, whether emotionally or physically. So, it was refreshing to see a positive perspective on young-adult relationships (i.e. Masaki and Nao, as well as Tina and Shinichi). 

The ending of the novel was particularly cathartic, because it drew a complete picture of what the journey to self-expression and acceptance is really like. Sometimes the journey isn't linear, like in the case of Hyejung and Tina. Nao's journey in particular didn't end, but rather changed. She may have left Japan for an unknown time, but Japan didn't leave her (speaking symbolically). Maybe Nao would forget Masaki, Hyejung, Tina, and Shinichi, then again maybe not. Despite this novel's ending, I was left wondering what would happen to Nao; and I think the novel's lack of closure is purposeful. This open-ending is representative of the real world, where life experiences aren't always easy and clear-cut. What this ending does mean is that we should enjoy the process of life as it happens, all while being ourselves to the best of our ability. And with that in mind, I like to believe Nao did this in the "end". 

Awards Won: Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature (Winner, 2023), CCBC Choices (Selected, 2022), Junior Library Guild Selections (Selection, 2022), Great Graphic Novels for Teens (Commended, 2022), Kirkus Prize for Young Readers' Literature (Winner, 2022), SLJ Best Books of the Year (Selected, 2021), Publishers Weekly Best Books (Selected, 2021). 

Award Worthiness: 

Becker's delightful slice-of-life graphic novel was an etraordinary literary delicacy for my brain due to its diverse characters, unique style, and emotionally stimulating conflicts; And for all that, I definitely believe that this novel is worthy of commendation! It takes a specific skill to address societal issues like racial discrimination, internalized racism, familial strife, sexual experiences, and self-ideation for the young-adult audience, which Becker definitely excelled at. 

Recommendation:

Harmony Becker's Himawari House (2021) is a lovely stroll through diverse, young-adult characters' lives and for that I applaud and suggest this novel to anyone over the age of 15 due to the characters interests, as well as the suggestive content (mild sexual content including censored nudity and kissing) and mildly disturbing content (racist impressions and discriminatory attitudes). Younger audiences may or may not connect with the subtext of the novel, and for that I suggest parental guidance if a younger teenager, or child above 11, is interested in the novel. Adults are suggested to read through the novel as well to garner an improved understanding of diverse, multicultural voices and the struggles of life from a young-adult perspective. 

I base my recommendation on the stellar quality of Becker's graphic novel, of course. The novel's plot bled believability due to the linear yet divergent qualities of Nao's personal journey. Each chapter in the novel marked a significant change in each girl's life, whether it be from learning a new word, a new skill, or from reconnecting with something or someone. Thus, the pacing was spectacular as the development of Nao, Tina, and Hyejung was completed at a moderate pace that allowed for the characters to flex their newfound knowledge and experiences as the year passed by. Speaking of the characters, Becker did an excellent job at personifying the diverse characters through her incorporation, and reclamation, of colorful accents and realistic motivations. Hyejung's drive to study Art, Tina's discomfort with her future, and Nao's aim to reconnect with her heritage are all motivations that aren't simple or insulting to the intended young-adult audience, but rather representative.

In regards to Becker's stylistic choices, her utilization of different fonts and italicized text to highlight levels of fluency in English was a great way to emphasize the feeling of discomfort with foreign languages. Also, rather than have side-by-side dialogue bubbles for translations, Becker chose to have all foreign languages (including English) represented in the same text bubble! This was an excellent style choice that forwards the main ideal of connection with  foreign languages by having the audience interact with the words in just the same way that Nao did! Another aspect I want to cover in this recommendation was the novel's setting being in Japan. While at first glance it may seem that the overall setting may have little to contribute to the story's impact, however the opposite is the case. The story's traditional setting symbolically highlights Nao's re-connection with her culture, in a sort of new-meets-old format. This and all of the previous literary elements mentioned contribute to the resultant theme that everyone belongs somewhere. This resultant theme being the main demonstrative of the novel's value. So, overall, Himawari House (2021) is an excellent read for those interested in a colorful, young-adult perspective on soul-searching and reconnection. 

Possible Discussion Topics:

1) How can adults help reduce the impact of racial discrimination in public schools?

2) If you were struggling with your identity like Nao, what would you do?

3) Should Nao have stayed in Japan with the others in Himawari House? Why or why not?