While I Was Away

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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this book.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Waka T. Brown's While I Was Away is a middle grade memoir set in 1984. It follows 12-year-old Waka, a Japanese American girl who's enjoying her life in Kansas, but her parents worry that Waka isn't learning Japanese enough. So they decide to send her to Japan for the summer, where she can go to school (Japanese children go to school during the summer) and get better at speaking, writing, and reading Japanese. She'll also live with her grandmother, Obaasama. Japanese kids show bullying behavior toward Waka, who cannot speak or understand Japanese as well as they can. They call her "foreigner," "Gaijin (outside person)," and other bad names. They make fun of the way she mistakes certain words. There are a few moments of sudden violence: Obaasama surprisingly yelling at Waka for something she didn't do, Obaasama's story of how she was physically abused as a child (burned by a cattle iron, locked outside in cold), and the occasional head slap from teachers. Some girls joke about "liking boys." Language includes: "Fart-faced butthead," "pig-faced jerk," "foreigner," "Gaijin," "pervert," and "GOD!"
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What's the Story?
In WHILE I WAS AWAY, it's 1984 and 12-year-old Waka is Japanese American and living in Kansas. She has good friends, a good school, and loving parents who care about her Japanese heritage. Unfortunately, they are also making her go to Japan for the summer to focus on getting better at her Japanese. Not only will Waka miss out on her American summer, she will have to also go to school in Japan! And she'll be staying with her grandmother, Obaasama, who lives alone and doesn't know Waka that well. How will she survive?
Is It Any Good?
Even though not much happens, this middle grade memoir is incredibly well written. While I Was Away is straightforward and plods along a bit, but author Waka T. Brown's writing really helps her story feel alive and genuine. Waka's thoughts, feelings, worries, perspectives, opinions, and entire inner world is beautifully realized. As a positive role model, Waka is a good daughter, friend, and student. She's insightful, honest, open, and fair. In all respects, Waka is a brave 12-year-old girl facing a scary situation. She must move to another country by herself and live there for five months. She will have a different home, go to a different school, hear a different language, be submersed in a different culture, customs, rules, and traditions. Brown's memoir also provides a great example of what it's like for many children who have feet in two or more cultures. Waka's racialized experiences in Japanese school in 1985 doesn't sound too different from what many children in American schools face.
Some readers might be shocked, however, by some of the parental behavior in this book. An author's note at the end explains, "What might be shocking to us now wasn't shocking in 1984, and what was shocking in 1984 wasn't back when my parents were children." Brown further explains that in Japan teachers today aren't allowed to hit their students, just as this isn't allowed in American schools. Unfortunately, some readers might end up wishing there was some way to mention this idea in the memoir proper, as without doing so (and combined with the only other reference to child abuse being one of Japanese parental abuse), some readers might get the impression that Japan or Asian nations are more archaic, harsh, abusive, "savage," inhumane, and/or not as civilized than their Western counterparts.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about being or feeling different. In While I Was Away, how does Waka feel about being different before her summer? How about after it's over and she returns home to Kansas?
What would it be like to go to school for several months in another country, where you weren't completely fluent in the language and you barely knew the relative you're staying with. Would it be hard or a fun challenge?
Do you consider Obaasama's story of how she was raised as her way of apologizing to Waka? Why or why not?
Book Details
- Author: Waka T. Brown
- Genre: School
- Topics: Middle School
- Book type: Non-Fiction
- Publisher: Quill Tree Books
- Publication date: January 26, 2021
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 10 - 14
- Number of pages: 320
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: August 2, 2021
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