The Friends - Hardcover

Yumoto, Kazumi

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374324603 ISBN 13: 9780374324605

Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1996

Synopsis

Overwhelmed with curiosity about death and hoping to see it firsthand, three boys are fascinated with an old man in the neighborhood, a fascination that becomes friendship, and when the old man dies, the boys experience true mourning rather than satisfaction.

About this title

Review:

"In this graceful first novel, the funeral of one boy's grandmother excites a curiosity about death in three Japanese schoolboys . . . An offbeat and unsentimental coming-of-age story." -- Starred, " Kirkus Reviews"
"An eloquent initiation story that first touches and then pierces the heart . . . The passage of the time and the nature of mutability are poetically expressed in this warmly humorous narrative, deserving of equally high marks in kid appeal and literary merit." -- Starred, "Publishers Weekly"""
"A book about death that espouses the pure joy in life."" -- School Library Journal"

In this graceful first novel, the funeral of one boy's grandmother excites a curiosity about death in three Japanese schoolboys . . . An offbeat and unsentimental coming-of-age story. "Starred, Kirkus Reviews"

An eloquent initiation story that first touches and then pierces the heart . . . The passage of the time and the nature of mutability are poetically expressed in this warmly humorous narrative, deserving of equally high marks in kid appeal and literary merit. "Starred, Publishers Weekly"

A book about death that espouses the pure joy in life. "School Library Journal""

"In this graceful first novel, the funeral of one boy's grandmother excites a curiosity about death in three Japanese schoolboys . . . An offbeat and unsentimental coming-of-age story." --Starred, Kirkus Reviews

"An eloquent initiation story that first touches and then pierces the heart . . . The passage of the time and the nature of mutability are poetically expressed in this warmly humorous narrative, deserving of equally high marks in kid appeal and literary merit." --Starred, Publishers Weekly

"A book about death that espouses the pure joy in life." --School Library Journal

About the Author:

Kazumi Yumoto began her career as a writer by writing scripts for operas while attending Tokyo University of Music. After graduation she decided to try her hand at writing a novel for young readers. The Friends, her first book, is the winner of the 1997 Mildred A. Batchelder Award for Translation. It was also named an ALA Notable Children's Book and won the Recommended Book Prize from Japan School Library Book Club.

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0374324603
• ISBN 13: 9780374324605
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 169