Full Cicada Moon

June 22, 2015
In free verse, Mimi Yoshiko Oliver narrates her seventh grade year at a new school in 1969 Vermont. Mimi’s ethnicity puzzles people: on the first day of school, a classmate asks, “What are you?” a question Mimi often hears: “I am/ half my Japanese mother,/ half my Black father,/ and all me.” Her father advises, “ ‘be kind, be respectful, and persist.’/ ‘Like raindrops on granite,’ I say,/ because we know that’s how I persist—/ drip, drip, drip/ until the granite cracks.” Mimi makes friends, excels academically, and dreams of being an astronaut; however, “I feel like I have to be/ twice as smart and funny at school/ and twice as nice and forgiving in my neighborhood.” Throughout the year, Mimi confronts barriers; when told that girls take home economics and boys take shop, she politely and repeatedly protests this rule, eventually engaging in civil disobedience. When the school suspends her, her classmates organize a sit-in. Through the perspective of this clear-eyed, courageous heroine, Hilton (Found Things) powerfully recreates a time of momentous transition in American history. Ages 8–12. Agent: Josh Adams, Adams Literary.

Starred review from June 15, 2015
Perhaps a few books manage to capture tweendom's chaos, but too few catch its poetry. Hilton offers readers the indelible character of Mimi, a half-Japanese, half-black seventh-grader who travels with her mom, Emiko, from their old home in Berkeley, California, to Vermont, where her dad, James, works as a college professor. She's the new kid at her school during the second half of the 1969 school year-around the time the U.S. starts withdrawing troops from Vietnam and lands on the moon. As Mimi hitches her career dreams to the lunar landing, microaggressions-those daily intentional and unintentional slights, snubs, and insults aimed at people solely because they belong to a marginalized group like Mimi and her interracial family-drag her back to Earth. Spare verse viscerally evokes the shattering impacts these everyday forms of bigotry from family, teachers, neighbors, townspeople, and schoolmates ("I'm trying hard to smile... / and pretend I don't see... / that kids are making squint-eyes at me") cause even as Mimi makes fast pals with Stacey, the Southern white girl with "that accent / as fragrant as lilacs," and a slower, deeper bond with Timothy, the white boy living next door. In her acknowledgments, the author states that Mimi is "for anyone who has big dreams but is short on courage." By the book's end, readers will be moved by the empathetic lyricism of Mimi's maturing voice. (glossary, pronunciation guide) (Verse/historical fiction. 8-12)

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Starred review from August 1, 2015

Gr 4-8-Mimi tells her story in this novel in verse that will resonate with fans of Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming (Penguin, 2014). The seventh grader describes arriving in small-town Vermont from Berkeley in 1969. While filling out a form, the teen is perplexed by which ethnicity to check off: her father is a black college professor, and her mother is Japanese (they married when he was a soldier stationed overseas). In 1969, mixed race is not an option on the form, nor is Oriental the same as Japanese. Mimi is fascinated by space and the moon landing. She designs a science project for school that requires the use of power tools-all this during a time when girls were not expected to be interested in science and were required to take home economics rather than shop. When Mimi bucks convention, there are repercussions and punishments. She weathers these with support from a smart girlfriend as well as a loyal and tender boy next door. Mimi's parents are engaged in and support the budding scientist's projects. This novel stands out with its thoughtful portrayal of race and its embrace of girls in science and technical fields. The verse, though spare, is powerful and evocative, perfectly capturing Mimi's emotional journey. VERDICT An excellent addition to the growing shelf of novels in verse with culturally diverse protagonists.-Amy Thurow, New Glarus School District, WI

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2015
Grades 4-7 *Starred Review* Mimi Yoshiko Oliver and her family just moved from Berkeley, California, to Hillsborough, Vermont, where she immediately encounters barrier after barrier to overcome. Mimi's goal is to become an astronaut; however, it's 1969, a time when young girls are encouraged to become mothers, secretaries, teachers, or nurses. She also wants to fit in at school. That was easy at her school in Berkeley, where there were kids from every background, but in white-populated Vermont, she stands out as the only half black, half Japanese student. Mimi also goes against the grain by entering the science fair and protesting (via courteous civil disobedience) not being allowed to take the shop class instead of home economics. Persistent like raindrops on granitedrip, drip, dripshe makes friends, finds solutions, and, in being true to herself, gains respect. Written as a novel in verse, the book captures the key snapshots of Mimi's journey through a transitional time in our history. Mimi's voice as narrator is clear and focused: she must figure out who she is, instead of answering the question, What are you? Out of respect for her parents, the decisions she makes pull from both halves to make a whole. Perfect for readers who straddle societies, feel they don't fit in, or need that confirmation of self-celebration.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)