Sachiko KashiwabaBesprekingen

In "The House of the Lost on the Cape" by Saciko Kashiwaba, an orphaned girl, a woman running from her abusive husband and an older mysterious grandmother meet and form a friendship in a rural community that has just been hit by a tsunami. These 3 women, along with several groups of mythological Japanese creatures work to bring a sense of peace and comfort back to this hurting community.
I found this to be a sweet story of overcoming tragedy and grief through friendship and kindness. The addition of the mythological stories was very enjoyable. I would recommend this middle grade novel to those wishing to learn more about Japanese culture.

The House of the Lost on the Cape by Sachiko Kashiwaba, Translated by Avery Fischer Udagawa, Illustrated by Yukiko Saito

This was a wonderful story about friendship, found family, kindness, love, grief, healing, and overcoming. A sometimes tragic, sometimes suspenseful, wholesome story. I recommend this book.

Le livre qui a inspiré [Le Voyage de Chihiro]… Il ne m’en faut pas plus pour avoir envie de le lire, même si ce n’est pas mon animé préféré des studios Ghibli. Bon effectivement, il y a quelques similitudes, mais le dessin animé est une inspiration plutôt très très libre de ce roman pour enfants écrit par une autrice japonaise.
Le livre raconte les vacances d’une petite fille qui travaille dans les boutiques assez étranges d’un village perdu dans une vallée brumeuse de l’autre côté de la réalité. Elle y apprendra quelques jolies vérités sur la vie et l’amitié.
C’est mignon, même si parfois on sent un certain décalage culturel avec une importance donnée à certaines tâches ménagères qui diffère de notre hiérarchie occidentale. A noter, aussi, une vision très genrée de de ce qu’une petite fille doit être, qui fait que ce roman (pourtant publié en 1975 au Japon) a assez mal vieilli.
Un gentil délassement pour une lecture d’été (ce que ce livre a été pour moi, même si la note de lecture se fait sous un ciel automnal), mais un livre qui ne révolutionne pas le genre et qui finalement ne me laissera pas un grand souvenir.

Following the 2011 Tokohu earthquake, three unlikely people come together during this troubled time to form a family of sorts: a mysterious and spry elderly woman, a wife fleeing an abusive relationship, and an orphaned girl. When odd happenings occur around their rural community, concern grows that the earthquake may have awakened restless spirits. The three once strangers work together to bring peace and calm back to the shaken village.
This book was endearing and full of mystery which kept me guessing. While the topic was difficult, the author approached it by showing the range of human feelings and resilience associated with such a disaster. At the same time, there is nothing that would be traumatic to a young child. It was an easy and fast read, and would be loved by children in the 8-12 year old range. This is a perfect book for anyone interested in folk tales, mystery and historical fiction.

This book was really enjoyable to read. I loved reading about three generations coming together to heal and create their chosen family. The book deals with abuse, loss, natural disaster, but also bravery, kindness, and the acceptance of strangers and those who are different, in a way that is age appropriate for the reader.

The stories within a story were interesting and I enjoyed learning about the mystical Japanese creatures in the story. Overall, the book was fantastic, and I would really like to read more books by this author.½

I really loved this book. It's a great story of survival, the kindness of strangers and how extraordinary, near magical things can happen when you least expect them too. It's a wonderful children's book for adults too. I liked how the author weaved the lives of three women, of three generations, from different places, together. I also liked the pretty sketches. I easily suspended disbelief in respect of the other characters in the story who came to the rescue. It's been a while since I've been very entertained by such a wholesome book and I really looked forward to reading it before going to bed.

Beautiful story of a woman fleeing an abusive marriage and a young girl who are brought together after a disaster. They find themselves forming a new family with Kiwa. Kiwa takes on the role of Grandmother. She tells tales of the legends. Soon Yui and Hiyori find that the legends are real. They work together to save their new home.

The physical book is what I've heard call a square binding. The spine is flat, not curved. I'm not sure what I think about that. It seems odd. The cover is beautiful, but they have one of those "permanent stickers" on the front which I hate.

This is the story of three survivors of a Japanese earthquake and tsunami. A child who has lost her parents and who has been rendered speechless, a young woman escaping an abusive marriage and an older woman who is just a little bit magical. They join together after they are displaced by the tsunami and become family to each other. They find an abandoned cottage of a cliff and set to fixing it up as their new home. They come to love their new lives and their new village with it's welcoming people. But something is amiss. The tsunami has caused a rift in the spiritual world where it has released the evil Sea Snake spirit by washing away the seal on the shrine created to keep it locked away from the world. The Sea Snake Spirit is greedy and wishes to do harm to humanity. Obachan, the mystical grandmother, Yui, the adoptive mother and Hiyori the traumatized child band together with magic and mysticism to fight back this evil for themselves as well as their adoptive family and village.

The House of the Lost on the Cape is a story of blended Japanese fantasy (think mystical beings) and humanity and how they can coexist in harmony and help each other when evil attacks. A blend of Japanese folk lore with real day problems creates an exciting and moving tale. Highly recommended.

I received this book as part of the LibraryThing EarlyReviewer program. This is the 2nd book I've read by this author (Temple Alley Summer) and I quite enjoyed both. In both books there is a story being told inside the story, that the you get to hear along with the characters, and there are fantastical Japanese myths and ghosts swirling around the story. The plot is gentle, but deals with some difficult things (it happens after an earthquake and Tsunami), and adventure and bravery follows. Agewise, I'd say for middle school readers and up? But even as an adult I quite enjoyed it too. Looking forward to more by this author.½

Fantasy with heart—three words are all I need to describe this tale. These pages not only let dreams fly but set friendship, family, and determination against demons inside and out.

Hiyori, an orphan, was on her way to meet and live with an uncle, whom she knew nothing about, when the earthquake hit. Alone in a gym crowded with survivors, she meets Yui and Kiwa. Yui's running away from her abusive husband, while Kiwa is a cheerful grandmother with more than a few secrets. The three women bond, especially after a tsunami wipes out everything around them. Under Kiwa's suggestion, they head together to a small town and a house on a cape. It's almost like paradise until something evil begins to slaughter the small animals in the area. Kiwa seems to know more than she's letting on, but Hiyori needs to learn to overcome more than this physical monster. First, she must defeat the one in her heart.

This read has been translated from Japanese and is rich with the culture, myth, and life style. It takes place after the disaster of 2011 and does an amazing job at diving into several problems people faced at that time, while swimming effortlessly in the realm of myth and fantasy mixed into the modern world. While it exposes the tough issue which Yui faces as an abused wife escaping from her husband, it only touches it lightly enough to give her character depth. I was afraid this aspect might pull it out of the middle grade category, but it didn't. Hiyori keeps it grounded right along with the wonders surrounding the elderly Kiwa, whose secrets invite to impossible realms while maintaining the warmth of a grandmotherly embrace.

After starting with the tension of the earthquake and tsunami, the tale allows the three characters to settle in with each other, but it's never boring. Not only do the grandmother's tales keep it interesting, but Kappas, Jizo, and other creatures add a whimsical atmosphere to counter the more evil ones. In this way, it reminds a bit of Spirited Away. All along, the inner struggles of, especially, Hiyori and her past come to light. Together, it makes an engaging read, which will have readers wishing they could move to that thatched house on the cape themselves.

I received an ARC and understand why this has been turned into a well-received film.

Il meraviglioso paese oltre la nebbia è il romanzo che ispirato il regista Hayao Miyazaki nella realizzazione del suo film d'animazione “La città incantata”.
Un libro breve (o un racconto lungo) che porta in un mondo fantastico dove tutti si comportano in modo strano e dove ci sono tigri nascoste nelle ceramiche e dove gli ombrelli sorridono.
Rina, la protagonista, nell’estate della sua sesta classe (ultimo anno di elementari) viene spinta dal padre a passare le vacanze nella Valle della Nebbia, dove la sua famiglia ha amici.
Dopo varie avventure giunge alla Valle della Nebbia e scopre subito che per poterci rimanere dovrà lavorare e mantenersi da sola.
Il libro è un piccolo viaggio di crescita interiore che Rina affronta, non senza difficoltà, anche grazie a tutte le persone (e non solo) che incontrerà nel suo percorso.
Per me è un dolcissimo racconto, una storia per bambini che possono leggere anche gli adulti, che intenerisce, diverte e fa anche un po’ emozionare.

「本をさがすんですよね。」「いやいや。本をさがしてもらいたいのではない。青田早苗ちゃんのつづきが知りたいんじゃ。」「本ではなくて、青田早苗ちゃんのつづきですか?」桃さんには、さっぱりわけがわからない。田舎の図書館でおこった、不思議なできごとに、司書の桃さんはいやおうなしに巻きこまれてしまいますが…。 （アマゾンのサイトより抜粋）