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Heartwarming Story Apr 24, 2008
Good story about achieving your goals. Realistic concerning prejudice, which Americans don't percieve as being prejudiced. It was nice to see a perspective from a different and innocent point of view. Young and old alike should enjoy this for a quick read.
 Sachko Apr 19, 2008
NOTHING, this book is fiction. Girl dredges a dream to go to America. She is unlucky in that the Lady of her host family turns against her because of some mental thing. Goes to another host family, sleeps with a guy she meets in collage. I felt no bond with the way this character is written. Liberal fiction with no point. No value what so ever.
The book arrived in good time. I will buy from Amazon again, just NOT this author, Shizue Tomoa.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Sachiko Will Grab You by the Heart and Make You Sing Mar 25, 2008
In the early Sixties life in Japan was very different than it is now. Young women were expected to marry, raise children, obey their husbands. This is not the life fourteen-year-old Sachiko sees for herself. She loves her mother Koharu, loves her father Masaru, loves her country as well, but she wants to go to America. And she doesn't want to wait till she's grown up. She wants to go to high school there.
However, she knows her parents would never go along. It would be unthinkable. So she devises a plan. She advertises for a family to take her in in American Newspapers and Mr. and Mrs. Henry Carlton of Newburgh, New York respond. Now Sachiko has ammunition she can use in her arguments with her parents.
She eventually wins those arguments and goes to America, however the Carlton's are autocratic, prejudiced and not to Sachiko's liking. She manages to find a new family in Minnesota, manages to get both high school and college degrees, learns about love and lies along the way and discovers a whole lot about America, herself and the country she's come from in this book that will grab you by the heart and make you sing.
Reviewed by Captain Katie Osborne
Very true to life, I loved it Feb 28, 2008
This novel is the most believable I have ever read, it was like reading a true autobiography. This is not to say that I believe Sachiko is based on the authorâÂÂs life, for that is something I do not know. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Shizue Tomoda has captured both the post-war Japan era and the American eras of the war in Vietnam and the breaking away of the ideals and conformity of earlier decades. Even as a Canadian living through the same decades, I could feel bonded with the story as it progressed.This is the story of a young 14 year old girl in Japan who through sheer determination and belief in herself works hard to gather every bit of information she will need to go to high school in America despite the opposition of her family. Coming from a very traditional Japanese Buddhist family, this is no small feat. But Sachiko never veers from her decision and proceeds with her plans regardless. At the last moment permission and funds for her fare to the United States are provided by her parents, and she travels alone to America. She has already gained a sponsor, an invitation and scholarship to study in Newburgh, New York. I admire the strength and depth of feeling in this character both in her old world and the new. She settles quickly into her new life, and is doing well until she is shocked to discover the racism her sponsors harbor toward the blacks, and cannot avoid a confrontation with them. She is then sent to Arizona to another family where she settles in quite happily and makes friends. The reader must keep in mind the times that this story is taking place. Existentialism, counterculturism, and other âÂÂismsâ were a major influence, and thus caused more confusion for Sachiko than one might expect between cultures. When Sachiko falls in love, this very influence affects her deeply and as her love story plays out we see how much confusion, drama and trauma came out of this decade. This book never loses its focus and is a wonderful look at life in diverse cultures and mores. I would certainly recommend this book to both young people and adults. It is life as it was, fully captured, the book could have gone off on various tangents but sticks to its own truth. I most heartily congratulate the author on a beautiful slice of life.
A young girl in search of her identity Feb 23, 2008
Sachiko does not fit the mold of her Japanese culture and family. Instead of holding a menial job until she becomes a wife as her sisters have, she wants to go to America to finish her high school and college education. Though she faces many problems and much opposition from her parents, Sachiko realizes her dream and goes to America. Her host family, who are very welcoming at first, are not all they seem to be and eventually Sachiko moves on to another home. Throughout the book, she continues to grow as she advances through her education, has a love affair, and meets people from all walks of life. Her search for identity is made more difficult by her confusion while straddling the American and Japanese cultures. This is a book written with amazing insight and passion, and is a fascinating look at the Japanese culture and the difficulties encountered by immigrants.
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