![]() Nurzhan sees how hard his sister is working, and wants to repay her for getting him out of trouble at school. She gets so tired that she barely notices when she cuts herself cooking dinner, and she struggles to stay awake at school, nevertheless, she perseveres for her family. She cooks dinner for her family, as well as takes on all of her mother’s other responsibilities. Without question, Maya takes her Mama’s jobs on top of school and homework. Without Mama’s work, the Alazova family will never be able to afford necessities. Maya comes home from school, her parents still so upset they can’t speak to her, to find her mother with her leg up because of a broken ankle. Thing’s only get worse for their family as the story continues. This is yet another example in the story where Maya’s Papa and Mama do not understand why Maya was being silly when she could be respectful and working. Maya is now in trouble with her disappointed mother, and ashamed father. Maya is enjoying herself until her Papa sees them and is furious. A boy Maya likes named Daniel, is goofing around with her and showing off how strong he is by picking her up on his shoulder. Later in the story, another conflict arises. She tells a “watered-down” version of the fight, explaining that it was the other boy’s fault and Nurzhan should not be punished. Scared of what her father might do to Nurzhan, she translates the principal's words incorrectly on purpose. ![]() Maya goes to Nurzhan’s school with her furious father. When Maya hears that Nurzhan has gotten into a fight with a boy who makes fun of his accent, she knows she will have to translate for her father what the principal will say. Her parents strain to understand cultural differences, but they just don’t have the same views as their children: Maya and her younger brother Nurzhan. She loves her gymnastics team and her friends from ESL but finds it hard to live the “typical” American teen life. She has recently moved from Kazakhstan to America and is struggling to find her place. The story “My Favorite Chaperone” by Jean Davies Okimoto, follows the journey of a high school freshman, and immigrant Maya. However, I write a summary for school, so why not share it with those interested? I had to read this for school, and while I liked the message of the story, the writing style was not for me. A resident of the Pacific Northwest since 1968, Jeanie Okimoto and her husband live on Vashon Island near Seattle. Jean Davies Okimoto’s books and short stories have been translated into Japanese, Italian, Chinese, Turkish, German, and Hebrew. The Love Ceiling won top honors in the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards adding to the author’s numerous awards which include Smithsonian Notable Book, the American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, the Washington Governor’s Award, the Green Earth Book Award, and the International Reading Association Readers Choice Award. With rave reviews from early readers and endorsers such as Christiane Northrup, MD author and host of the PBS television special Mother-Daughter Wisdom, Okimoto’s debut adult novel is fast becoming a book club favorite. Many of the themes resonate for women across generations, but the author is especially passionate about reaching older women, a huge segment of the population which Okimoto feels has not been well served by large publishers. ![]() ![]() The roles of a woman in her sixties: wife, mother, grandmother and artist are richly drawn with complexity and depth. With The Love Ceiling, her eighteenth book and one she calls “my debut novel for my own age group,” Okimoto delivers a charming and poignant exploration of a long marriage and the conflicts that arise in both in retirement and in parenting adult children. An acclaimed children’s author, playwright, retired psychotherapist, wife, mother, and grandmother, she has worn many hats since Putnam published her first book in 1978. Okimoto, who was born in 1942 in Cleveland, Ohio, knows of what she speaks. ![]() “I’ve always had an appreciation for the constant balancing act between career and family and for women in the arts it can be a high wire act.” ![]()
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