The Friday 56: Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman

The Friday 56 is a weekly blog meme hosted by Freda’s Voice. Join us every Friday and share an excerpt from a book you’ve been reading.

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
*Find any sentence (or a few, just don’t spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post here in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It’s that simple.

**Be sure to leave a link to your Friday 56 post in the comments!**

      “I twist my mouth. I don’t understand how he can say something so sad and still look so happy. I know some people laugh to hide how they’re feeling, but I don’t think Taro is hiding anything. I think he found a way to never let the sadness in. He’s strong that way. And part of me wishes he told me his secret a long time ago, but the other part of me understands why he couldn’t.”

Akemi Dawn Bowman’s Starfish was an emotional roller-coaster. I felt every emotional blow Kiki endured and wanted so much to rescue her, but really appreciated that she got to rescue herself. You can read my review of this one here. Cover is linked to Goodreads.

From the Goodreads Synopsis:

      “Kiko Himura has always had a hard time saying exactly what she’s thinking. With a mother who makes her feel unremarkable and a half-Japanese heritage she doesn’t quite understand, Kiko prefers to keep her head down, certain that once she makes it into her dream art school, Prism, her real life will begin.
      But then Kiko doesn’t get into Prism, at the same time her abusive uncle moves back in with her family. So when she receives an invitation from her childhood friend to leave her small town and tour art schools on the west coast, Kiko jumps at the opportunity in spite of the anxieties and fears that attempt to hold her back. And now that she is finally free to be her own person outside the constricting walls of her home life, Kiko learns life-changing truths about herself, her past, and how to be brave.”