A William C. Morris Award Finalist
A New York Public Library Best Book for Teens of 2017
A Junior Library Guild Selection
โAn empowering novel that will speak to many mixed-race teens.โ โPublishers Weekly (starred review)
โDazzling.โ โBustle
โOne of the most compelling reads of the year.โ โPaste Magazine
โThis book is a gem.โ โBookRiot
A half-Japanese teen grapples with social anxiety and her narcissist mother in the wake of a crushing rejection from art school in this โstunningly beautiful, highly nuanced debutโ (Booklist, starred review).
Kiko Himura has always had a hard time saying exactly what sheโs thinking. With a mother who makes her feel unremarkable and a half-Japanese heritage she doesnโt quite understand, Kiko prefers to keep her head down, certain that once she makes it into her dream art school, Prism, her real life will begin.
But then Kiko doesnโt get into Prism, at the same time her abusive uncle moves back in with her family. So when she receives an invitation from her childhood friend to leave her small town and tour art schools on the west coast, Kiko jumps at the opportunity in spite of the anxieties and fears that attempt to hold her back. And now that she is finally free to be her own person outside the constricting walls of her home life, Kiko learns life-changing truths about herself, her past, and how to be brave.
From debut author Akemi Dawn Bowman comes a luminous, heartbreaking story of identity, family, and the beauty that emerges when we embrace our true selves.