And I hope they feel like they’re not so alone in the world, and that there’s someone else out there who “gets it” too.Ī reader once wrote to tell me how Starfish helped them to heal, and that they hoped writing it had helped me to heal, too. I hope they feel more understood-more hopeful. My hope is that people will read Kiko’s story and feel like someone knows what they’re going through-what they’ve been through.

And I know what it feels like to be worried that after finding the courage to open up to people, there’s still the risk that they might not believe you. I know how lonely it can be to be surrounded by people who see you, but don’t really see you. I know what it feels like to be afraid to tell your story, and what it feels like to keep your fears bottled up in your heart. But it’s also a story about how necessary the truth can be. Starfish is a book about family, and identity, and finding hope in a world that often makes it difficult.

People often ask me why I chose to write this book, and usually I tell them it's because this is the story I needed most as a teen. Morris Award Finalist A New York Public Library Best Book for Teens of 2017 A Junior Library Guild Selection 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.įrom debut author Akemi Dawn Bowman comes a luminous, heartbreaking story of identity, family, and the beauty that emerges when we embrace our true selves.Ī William C. 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. 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.īut then Kiko doesn’t get into Prism, at the same time her abusive uncle moves back in with her family. Kiko Himura has always had a hard time saying exactly what she’s thinking.

A half-Japanese teen grapples with social anxiety and her narcissist mother in the wake of a crushing rejection from art school in this debut novel.

Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman