Grandfather's Journey

Grandfather's Journey
Allen Say

Genre: Non-Fiction (multicultural literature)

My Rating: 4 out of 5

Allen Say's story recounts his grandfather's life in both Japan and America. His grandfather moves to California from Japan and falls in love with the New Word's natural wonders. As his grandfather ages, he begins to miss his friends and family back in Japan and moves back. In Japan, he marries his childhood sweetheart and brings her back to San Francisco Bay and together they have a daughter. When his daughter is nearly grown, his longing for his homeland returns, and the family moves back to Japan. In Japan, the daughter falls in love and is married, and sometime later, Allen Say was born. Allen grows up in Japan, and loves to hear his grandfather tell his stories about life in California. When Allen is a young man, he finally travels to California and falls in love with the land of his grandfather's stories. Eventually, we learn that no matter which country he is in, Say becomes homesick for the other, and through this experience he comes to understand the struggles of a cross cultural existence.

I had to read this story a couple of times to keep track of who was who, and where the setting was. Despite the confusion, I really enjoyed Allen Say's story. Say carefully chooses words which capture his family's history, yet any person who has a shared experience can relate. The illustrations are reminiscent of an old family album and add to the personal element of the story. I feel children who have moved to this country from another can find a special connection with Allen Say and his grandfather in this book.