When it happened, it was springtime. The cherry blossoms looked like clouds — so pink and fluffy, they might rain sugar”. Seventeen-year-old Sora was still a child when the quake came. Immediately after, “It felt as though the world had stopped, and for a handful of heartbeats we all floated, suspended in space”. Seven years on, it’s as if the world has still stopped for Sora. She lost her Japanese mother in the Shake and now she and her Canadian scientist father are still lost, living close to the deserted wild zones where, since the Shake, time runs differently — faster, or slower, with their own zonal micro-seasons.

Time runs as we expect it to. Time runs fast. Time runs slow. Some fast time runs faster than other fast time. Some slow time runs slower than other slow time. And the people in Sora’s world are only barely beginning to understand what it all means. Whilst her father researches the time zones, Sora sneaks into them illegally; she shows tourists around the time zones (for a fee), and conducts her own research, always searching for the mother she lost when the catfish rolled. But all that time in the zones have begun to have a bad effect on her father, whose health appears to be deteriorating rapidly with no real conclusion as to why. A gorgeously written, thoughtful read that combines science, Japanese mythology and human emotion to great effect.”— Irish ExaminerStylish, accomplished and thought-provoking story-telling explores themes of identity, philosophy, science, ecology, life, loss and love. About This Edition ISBN: Having lived in Japan, shortly after the big quake of 2011, I could relate to many of the things in this story. I love the details of life, taking off shoes to go into the houses, bowing at the temple, giving mochi to the jizus. I was totally immersed in the place and thought it was beautifully captured in the text.

Finally, for younger readers aged 11-14, Friendship Never Ends by Alexandra Sheppard (Knights Of, May) follows four girls over one long summer apart: Sunita on holiday with her blended family; Dawn at drama summer school in London; Gifty with her grandparents in an isolated village; and May at home working in her parent’s Chinese takeaway. Sheppard brilliantly captures all the awkwardness and insecurities of being in your early teens in this hopeful, heart-filled paean to friendship and girlhood. Set in a world shattered by loss and haunted by memories, spirits, and folktale creatures, Catfish Rolling is a stirring exploration of the relationship between time and grief. Lovingly crafted and beautifully written, this tale will linger with you long after the story comes to an end.”— Traci Chee, author of Printz Honor Book We Are Not Free As someone very interested in Japanese mythology and culture (as well as the scientific implications of time rifts and the like), I was so excited after reading the synopsis, and it certainly didn't disappoint. Excellent, evocative, and thoughtful, with genuine depth. #1 New York Times bestselling author Nicola YoonSora is visiting her maternal grandfather in Japan an enormous earthquake happens that is so powerful it shakes time out of kilter. Japan is left, along with huge physical devastation and loss of life, with time anomalies, where time moves at different speeds in different places. These areas, called zones, are put off limits as the authorities are uncertain how they will affect people. Sora and her father explore these zones, her father as part of his work, Sora, because she is looking for her mother but these areas are not safe and when her father explores too far, Sora must go in to find him. It’s magical realism, it’s mythology, it’s philosophy, it’s sciency. It’s how the tremors and earthquakes we experience in our lives unbalance us. It’s figuring out who you are in a world that no longer makes sense to you. It’s the impact of grief on individuals and families over time.