A review by jselliot
Ms Ice Sandwich by Mieko Kawakami

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

A short little novella about an introverted fourth grader navigating his first crush and the impending loss of his ailing grandma. He's basically just barely getting out of the "eww, girls have cooties" phase considering he uses the phrase "not like other girls" for the classmate - Tutti - that his crush on an adult ultimately shifts to (though I do like how the author used the adult in question leaving her job and therefore his contact with her into processing the concept of letting go shortly before the MC's grandma passes). It feeds into the concept nicely and progresses smoothly rather than meandering, which the rest of the novella is prone to being entirely character-driven. 

Simpler than I initially thought the story might be, but not bad.