dianalrendina 's review for:

Himawari House by Harmony Becker

5.0

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This is a beautiful graphic novel and it deals with identity, belonging and language in a unique and beautiful way. The three main characters are all college age and are Japanese-American, Korean and Singaporean, and the dialogue includes characters to show when they are speaking languages other than English - all three are attending a Japanese language school. When a character doesn't understand something in Japanese or another language, the words are blurred out. The accents of each character are incorporated into the spelling of the dialogue. It's a fantastic approach to language and how it can both separate and bring people together.