The Friends - Softcover

Yumoto, Kazumi; Hirano, Cathy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0440414466 ISBN 13: 9780440414469

Publisher: Random House South Africa, 2000

Synopsis

After Yamashita's grandmother dies, he and his friends begin to wonder if people turn into ghost when they die, and they start watching an old man who looks as though he is about to die to see if they will see his spirit leave him, but things do not go quite as planned. Reprint.

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: Random House South Africa
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0440414466
• ISBN 13: 9780440414469
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 169