Kyoto, Japan, 1948. "If a woman knows nothing else, she should know how to be silent... Do not question. Do not fight. Do not resist." Such is eight-year-old Noriko "Nori" Kamiza's first lesson. She will not question why her mother abandoned her with only these final words. She will not fight her confinement to the attic of her grandparents' imperial estate. And she will not resist the scalding chemical baths she receives daily to lighten her shameful skin. The illegitimate child of a Japanese aristocrat and her African American GI lover, Nori is an outsider from birth. Though her grandparents take her in, they do so only to conceal her, fearful of a stain on the royal pedigree that they are desperate to uphold in a changing Japan. Obedient to a fault, Nori accepts her solitary life for what it is, despite her natural intellect and nagging curiosity about what lies outside the attic's walls. But when chance brings her legitimate older half-brother, Akira, to the estate that is his inheritance and destiny, Nori finds in him the first person who will allow her to question, and the siblings form an unlikely but powerful bond-a bond their formidable grandparents cannot allow and that will irrevocably change the lives they were always meant to lead. Because now that Nori has glimpsed a world in which perhaps there is a place for her after all, she is ready to fight to be a part of it-a battle that just might cost her everything.
View Booking Instructions
You must have a valid Coquitlam Public Library card to reserve your book club set. The card used to pick up the book club set must match the card used to make the reservation. Reservations can be made a minimum of 7 days before the pickup date and a maximum of 1 year in advance.
- Use the booking grid below to click on your preferred pickup date OR click on the “Go To Date” button to select a date using the calendar. Green spaces indicate item availability.
- The return date will be set automatically.
- Click the white “Add to Cart & Checkout” button.
- If you clicked on the blue “Add to Cart” button, you will need to scroll to top of page and click on the green “1 item / Checkout” button to complete your booking.
- Fill out the booking form.
- Check the Terms & Conditions box.
- Click on “Submit my Booking” button.
- IMPORTANT: The software only allows you to add to cart and check out ONE ITEM at a time. Repeat steps 1-5 for additional reservations.
You will receive an email notification when your reservation has been approved.
- Your Book Club Set will be ready on your selected pickup date. Your 7-week loan begins on your selected pickup date. No renewals permitted.
- Book Clubs must check out a complete set (12 copies); all copies must be returned at the same time by the due date.