Four floors up should have been safe enough. But it wasn't. When the tsunami hits Japan, Kai is desperately trying to save his grandparents. He got them up four floors when his grandfather told him to run. When the waver recedes, Kai's whole community is left to find their dead.
Kai's parents can't leave thier work at the nuclear reactor in their town. They decide to send Kai out of Japan to live with his aunt and uncle in the U.S. Kai is part Swedish and part Japanese and now he's being tossed into an American culture he does not know.
He's about to meet his cousin, Jet, for the first time and the two will spend the summer together. Jet is struggling with the big mistake she just made while sailing. She knows she needs to check the tides. She is filled with regret. Kai regrets the moment he ran for his life leaving his grandparents behind.
The power of friendship can reach deeply into old wounds. This is also a revealing story about the experience of children who are juggling their own cultural affiliation and a brand new unfamiliar culture in a new world...especially when this new culture is actually their third version.
978-0375869723 Ages 8-12 304 pages
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
