kira-kira (kee’ra kee’ra): glittering; shining
Glittering. That’s how Katie Takeshima’s sister, Lynn, makes everything seem. The sky is kira-kira because its color is deep but see-through at the same time. The sea is kira-kira for the same reason. And so are people’s eyes.
Even when the family is forced to move from their Japanese community in Iowa to the less welcoming Deep South of Georgia, it is Lynn who still makes things glitter, even when people stop and stare at them. It’s Lynn who, with her special way of seeing the world, teaches Katie to look beyond tomorrow.
But when Lynn becomes seriously ill and the whole family begins to fall apart, it’s up to Katie to find a way to remind them all that there is always something glittering – kira-kira – in the future.
Kira-Kira is a young adult novel by Cynthia Kadohata. The book’s plot is about a Japanese-American family living in Georgia. The main character and narrator of the story is a girl named Katie Takeshima, the middle child in a Japanese-American family.