I’ve decided that I am going to try to read as many Newberry Award winners as I can as a way to become familiar with some Juvenile fiction authors. I started with the winner for 2005, Kira-Kira.

It’s the story about an asian girl living in Georgia who experiences the death of her older sister, whom she is very close to. It’s a sad story, but it also is very hopeful. The family is struggling in so many ways. They are minorities, and they struggle with that reality. They struggle to get by financially. And, most importantly, they are dealing with the sickness and demise of the older sister. Yet the story is very hopeful and positive, in the end.

That’s about all I have to say about that.