Catfish Rolling

October 1, 2023
After a great earthquake alters life in Japan, a teen girl navigates a time-distorted world. Legend says that a giant catfish lives under the islands of Japan, causing earthquakes whenever it twists and turns. Sora Campbell hates that catfish. Seven years earlier, a massive quake altered time, resulting in the disappearances of the Japanese and white Canadian teen's mother and grandfather. Sora now lives near zones where time flows faster or slower than elsewhere. High school is over, her best friend is leaving for Tokyo, and Sora isn't sure what the future holds for her. Spending too much time searching in the restricted zones proves dangerous, and she can see the toll it's taking on her time-obsessed researcher father. When he goes missing, too, Sora (with help from friends) delves deeper into the time zones than anyone has before. Meanwhile, she also develops an unexpected crush on new Okinawan and Black American friend Maya, who is a fellow hafu, or biracial, girl. Poetic, expressive writing creates a fascinating tale blending myth, legend, philosophy, and science. Sora's journey of self-discovery is rooted in loss, grief, memories, learning to let go, living in the now, and moving forward. Told from Sora's first-person point of view, the present-day narrative is broken up with memories that add crucial context. Each chapter title page is beautifully illustrated and named after a period of the lunar calendar and its micro-seasons, reflecting an old, nature-based way of telling time. An intriguing, contemplative tale. (image credits, glossary) (Fantasy. 13-18)

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October 15, 2023
Grades 9-12 With poignant observations, Kumagai tells the powerful story of a young woman navigating grief and her new normal. When Sora was a child, her family often visited her grandfather in her mother's home country of Japan. During one visit, the island experienced a devastating earthquake that took both Sora's grandfather and mother; but more than that, time started behaving differently. In certain areas, time was either faster or slower and physically affected anyone who stayed in the zones for an extended time. As a high-school graduate, Sora doesn't see a future for herself: her only friend has moved to Tokyo, she has no career prospects, and her father's obsession and grief are driving him to alcohol. Alone in the world, she takes it upon herself to save her father from himself and cope with her own sorrow. Interlaced with Sora's memories of the past, this is both heartbreaking and empowering. While the time jumps may take time to get used to, patient readers will be rewarded with a rich exploration of grief, society, and finding yourself.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2024
When Sora, a Japanese-Caucasian (hafu) teenager, was eleven, a Fukushima-esque earthquake -- known in Japanese folklore as a catfish rolling beneath the islands -- fractured the land into zones where time slips faster or slower than it normally would. That day, Sora lost her mother and ojiichan (grandfather). Now, she sees her father lose his memory as he enters these time-twisted areas to conduct research. Sora feels aimless and alone. She recently graduated from high school and her close male friend and love interest is away at university. While conducting illegal tours of the zones, she meets researchers like her father (one of whom, Maya, might also become a love interest), who help Sora discover her ability to accurately assess the passage of time just by observing her world. If only understanding the people around her were as easy. With her past a traumatic blur, her present a constant source of stress with her father now missing, and her future disappointingly uncertain, Sora must conduct her own research and discover how she wants her time to unfurl. Told in clear yet pensive prose, Sora's story unfolds in pieces that flit forward and back in a disorienting and ambitious yet compelling narrative. Occasional visual motifs, appearing as chapter openers, feature seasonal elements -- waves, cherry blossoms, stones, leaves -- to complement the story's unstoppable passage of time. J. Elizabeth Mills

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2024
When Sora, a Japanese-Caucasian (hafu) teenager, was eleven, a Fukushima-esque earthquake -- known in Japanese folklore as a catfish rolling beneath the islands -- fractured the land into zones where time slips faster or slower than it normally would. That day, Sora lost her mother and ojiichan (grandfather). Now, she sees her father lose his memory as he enters these time-twisted areas to conduct research. Sora feels aimless and alone. She recently graduated from high school and her close male friend and love interest is away at university. While conducting illegal tours of the zones, she meets researchers like her father (one of whom, Maya, might also become a love interest), who help Sora discover her ability to accurately assess the passage of time just by observing her world. If only understanding the people around her were as easy. With her past a traumatic blur, her present a constant source of stress with her father now missing, and her future disappointingly uncertain, Sora must conduct her own research and discover how she wants her time to unfurl. Told in clear yet pensive prose, Sora's story unfolds in pieces that flit forward and back in a disorienting and ambitious yet compelling narrative. Occasional visual motifs, appearing as chapter openers, feature seasonal elements -- waves, cherry blossoms, stones, leaves -- to complement the story's unstoppable passage of time.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)