by Asha Lemmie
First published 2020
Eight-year-old Noriko "Nori" Kamiza sits in the attic of her grandparents' imperial estate in 1948 Kyoto, enduring daily chemical baths meant to lighten her skin. The illegitimate daughter of a Japanese aristocrat and an African American GI, Nori has been abandoned by her mother and hidden away by her grandparents, who fear she will stain their royal bloodline. She accepts her confinement without question until her legitimate half-brother Akira arrives to claim his inheritance. Akira becomes the first person to encourage Nori's curiosity and intellect, and the siblings form a powerful bond that threatens everything their grandparents have built. When Nori discovers there might be a place for her in the world beyond the attic walls, she prepares to fight for it, even if the battle costs her everything she has ever known.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, family-drama, african-american-historical-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, outsider-protagonist
Setting: Kyoto, Japan
Period: 1948
449 pages · Hardcover · Dutton
Content warnings: racism