Celebrated author Sarah Kuhn reinvents the modern fairy tale in this intensely personal yet hilarious novel of a girl whose search for a storybook ending takes her to unexpected places in both her beloved LA neighborhood and her own guarded heart.
If Rika’s life seems like the beginning of a familiar fairy tale—being an orphan with two bossy cousins and working away in her aunts’ business—she would be the first to reject that foolish notion. After all, she loves her family (even if her cousins were named after Disney characters), and with her biracial background, amazing judo skills and red-hot temper, she doesn’t quite fit the princess mold.
All that changes the instant she locks eyes with Grace Kimura, America’s reigning rom-com sweetheart, during the Nikkei Week Festival. From there, Rika embarks on a madcap adventure of hope and happiness—searching for clues that Grace is her long-lost mother, exploring Little Tokyo’s hidden treasures with cute actor Hank Chen, and maybe…finally finding a sense of belonging.
But fairy tales are fiction and the real world isn’t so kind. Rika knows she’s setting herself up for disappointment, because happy endings don’t happen to girls like her. Should she walk away before she gets in even deeper, or let herself be swept away?
Format
Page Count
Trim Size
Dewey
AR
Lexile
Genre
Scholastic Reading Counts
JLG Release
Book Genres
Topics
Standard MARC Records
Cover Art
Gr 9 Up–Rika dislikes all things fairytale; she doesn’t believe happy endings are in the cards for her. She never knew her parents, and was adopted by Auntie Suzy and her wife, Auntie Och, as a baby. Together with their daughters, Belle and Rory, they are one happy Japanese family. Except biracial (white and Japanese) Rika feels like an outsider, an orphan with a temper who feels closer to the drawings of yokai, Japanese monsters, covering her bedroom walls. Until she meets Henry Chen, a heartthrob and movie star, who unexpectedly becomes Rika’s knight in shining armor. Together, they go on an adventure, dodging paparazzi and fans, to help Rika find answers about her birth mother. Deeply rooted Japanese customs and family are the heart of this compelling story, set in beautiful Los Angeles. Written in Rika’s perspective, Kuhn has created a protagonist who doesn’t fit the mold of a typical “princess.” Instead, she is spirited, fearless, real, and fights tirelessly for what her heart desires. Readers will surely fall in love with Henry Chen and the memorable and relatable cast of characters. The enthralling dialogue will keep readers engaged as they put together the pieces of the puzzle. The narrative delves into real-life issues facing youth who are biracial, orphaned, and dealing with cultural barriers and demands. VERDICT An inclusive contemporary fairy tale that sheds light on important topics, this should hold a place on school and public library shelves.–Suraya Jairam, Queens P.L., Hollis, NY