Carnegie 2022: Tsunami Girl by Julian Sedgewick

Hi Everyone!

This is the first post from Carnegie 2022, which I am taking part in this year with my school. This was a fantastic read to kick it off and I can't wait to tell you all about it. 

Note: these are books that I am lent by my school to read and discuss with the book club. 

Synopsis:

Tsunami Girl is a powerful coming-of-age story of 15-year-old Yuki Hara Jones who gets caught up in the March 2011 Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. It’s about a young person trying to work out who they are, and where they fit - and trying to do this whilst surviving the trauma of a triple disaster of colossal scale, told through both prose and manga.

I've never been much of a manga person but I really loved the manga aspects of Tsunami Girl. I found them so authentic and the whole Japanese vibe of them was so heart-warming. 

After having studied the tsunami that this book centers around (Japan 2011), I found it so interesting to really be immersed in it all. It made me cry, it made me smile, it made me feel terrified. I have never been in that situation, seeing my whole life crushed under the power of a single wave, but through this book I really felt the emotions as Yuki was. 

The whole storyline was just so well crafted. The way that Yuki has mental health struggles added another plot layer and made me feel closer to her, and her relationship with her Grandpa was beautiful. I felt very scared and uncomfortable when she returns to Japan afterwards and that was exactly how she felt too. 

The imaginary and real were so cleverly interlinked and really illustrated the trauma that comes with an event like this. It tells a real story of grief, and it's a story that was shared by so many people back in 2011 when the tsunami hit. 

Yuki as a character was great. She felt real, but at the same time flawed and some of her decisions were questionable even if I know that she was traumatised and there is a reason why she makes them. I fell in love with her, and of course all the other people she interacts with throughout the book. 

Overall this was an amazing start to Carnegie and I highly recommend this book!

I am so excited to read the other Carnegie books and see how they compare to this one. I hope you are all okay, and I wish you very happy reading!

Have you read this book? Does it sound like something you could enjoy? Are you taking part in Carnegie?

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p.s. casual magic of the day:

(If you are new here and have no idea what I'm on about, click here to find out more)

The daisies on the bank outside our house came out and it made me very happy!!