It’s no small thing to find peace—whether it’s peace among nations, colleagues, neighbors, friends, family, or even…within our own hearts. Peace takes work to find.
In Somewhere Among, a new middle grade novel by Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu, 11-year-old Ema and her family are searching for a peaceful home. Told in verse through Ema’s perspective, readers learn that she and her pregnant mother must leave their home in eastern Japan to live with her paternal grandparents, Obaachan and Jiichan, in western Japan until her mother has the baby. Ema’s father has to stay behind to work and can only visit on weekends. This change creates a lot of tension in the home as the family members learn to live together, and Ema finds Obaachan’s strict nature difficult to manage.
In addition to this challenge, Ema must attend a new school in the fall. Starting a new school is a challenge for most kids, but it’s especially difficult for Ema. As a biracial girl with a Japanese father and American mother, she lives with continual social scrutiny—always “somewhere among” two cultures.
Although the online summaries of the book stress the 9/11 aspect of the story (which is also found in its cover art), dealing with the news of 9/11 as a family is only part of the novel’s themes. What Somewhere Among really, and so deftly, accomplishes is how it takes on deep subjects of change and chaos in the world—all while introducing kids to Japanese culture and traditions.
Since Somewhere Among is a book to share and discuss, classrooms would benefit from reading the book together as part of a unit of multicultural study. Likewise, it would be a special experience for families to read it together at home. The story begets many enlightening conversations about conflict, change, and how to deal with tragedy. It also gives kids a safe place to talk about tragic events, like the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the attacks on 9/11, and even recent events in war-torn areas like Syria.
Although the story is somber at times, in the end, the joy of Ema’s family finally establishing a peaceful home is poignantly felt in Somewhere Among. Inspired by a paper doll inscribed with the message to “put peace in your heart” that Ema finds, Ema and her family eventually are able to achieve peace, just in time to welcome home the new baby. When Ema’s baby sister arrives, she realizes she’s no longer alone in the world. Her sister is also like her—part American, part Japanese—and having a partner in that diversity is truly a peace and comfort.
Finding and nurturing peace is a daily practice for adults and kids alike—at home or among nations. We may not always succeed, but stories like these light a little candle of tolerance and hope for readers young and old, illustrating that efforts to find peace within ourselves, at home and in between cultures, is a loving foundation—a strength—as we go out to meet the world.