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A Graphic Memoir of Self-Discovery
by Christine Mari
A poignant young adult graphic memoir that follows one teen's year abroad in Japan, as she seeks to reconcile both sides of her biracial identity.
Christine has always felt she is just half: Half American, half Japanese. As a biracial Japanese American who was born in Tokyo but raised in the US, she knows all too well what it's like to be a part of two different worlds but never feeling as though you belong to either.
Now on the brink of adulthood, Christine decides it's time to return to the place she once called home. So she sets forth on a year abroad in Tokyo, believing that this is where she truly belongs. After years of feeling like an outsider, now she will finally be complete.
Except…Tokyo isn't the answer she thought it would be. Instead of fitting in, Christine finds herself a fish out of water, as being half of two cultures isolates her in ways she'd never imagined. All she can do is try to stay afloat for the rest of the year—still figuring out who she is, what she wants in life, and whether she'll ever truly be more than halfway there.
Author-illustrator Christine Mari explores what it means to lose and find yourself in this moving narrative of belonging and home.
"Christine's portrayal is appealing and true to life...Identity issues and mental health crises portrayed with depth and authenticity." ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Readers will be pulled into her emotional journey through darker shades, melting word balloons, and even melting panel edges as Mari illustrates her despair on the page. But readers will also witness the colors of cherry blossoms, among other things that still manage to spark joy in her heart. A powerful memoir for teens who enjoy physical and emotional journeys, and for anyone who ever felt they didn't fit in." —School Library Journal (starred review)
This information about Halfway There was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Christine Mari is a comic artist based in Los Angeles, California. When she was fifteen years old, she wrote her first book, Diary of a Tokyo Teen, an illustrated travelogue detailing one summer in Japan. Her artistic journey continued in her online comics, which deal with topics ranging from her multiracial identity to navigating adulthood and the joys and challenges of daily existence. She loves rainy days and grocery store birthday cake. This is her first graphic novel. Christine invites you to visit her at christinemari.com or follow her Instagram @christinemaricomics.
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