Himawari House
by Harmony Becker
First Second, 2021. 380 pages.
Review written February 26, 2023, from a library book
2023 Asian/Pacific American Youth Literature Award Winner
This graphic novel was creator by the illustrator of George Takei’s graphic memoir, They Called Us Enemy. It’s about three Asian girls in Japan from other countries, staying in a home called Himawari House.
As the book opens, we follow Nao, who was born in Japan, but grew up in the United States. She doesn’t remember much about Japan, especially not the language, but it’s the background for her dreams, and she decided to spend a year in Japan after high school, before going to college.
She learns that her housemates are from Korea and Singapore. As the book goes on, we learn what things in their past made them decide to come to Japan. At the start, Nao is simply overjoyed that they both speak English. And there are also two boys living in Himawari House. One of them seems rude, but maybe he’s just shy because he doesn’t speak English very well?
This story has a lot of depth to it. I liked the way the author put in Japanese characters along with English in the speech bubbles when they were speaking in Japanese — or didn’t put the English where Nao didn’t understand the Japanese.
Taken all together, the book gives the feeling of the challenges of living where you don’t speak the language, as well as bonds that form and deep moments of connection. I thought the graphic novel format with speech bubbles in different languages was extra effective for this story.
harmonybecker.com
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