Low Price Guarantee
We Take School POs
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Contributor(s): Ford, Jamie (Author)

View larger image

ISBN: 0345505344     ISBN-13: 9780345505347
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Retail: $18.00OUR PRICE: $13.14  
  Buy 25 or more:OUR PRICE: $12.06   Save More!
  Buy 100 or more:OUR PRICE: $11.52   Save More!


  WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD!   Click here for our low price guarantee

Binding Type: Paperback - See All Available Formats & Editions
Published: October 2009
Qty:

Annotation: This debut novel tells a heartwarming story of fathers and sons, first loves, fate, and the resilient human heart. Set in the ethnic neighborhoods of Seattle during World War II and Japanese American internment camps of the era, the times and places are brought to life (Jim Tomlinson, author of "Things Kept, Things Left Behind").
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Fiction | Historical - General
- Fiction | Literary
- Fiction | Sagas
Dewey: FIC
Lexile Measure: 850(Not Available)
Physical Information: 0.8" H x 5.1" W x 7.9" L (0.60 lbs) 368 pages
Features: Ikids, Illustrated, Price on Product, Price on Product - Canadian
Awards: Grand Canyon Reader Award, Recommended, Teen, 2014
Review Citations: New York Times Book Review 10/25/2009 pg. 24
Accelerated Reader Info
Quiz #: 145257
Reading Level: 5.7   Interest Level: Upper Grades   Point Value: 15.0
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
Sentimental, heartfelt....the exploration of Henry's changing relationship with his family and with Keiko will keep most readers turning pages...A timely debut that not only reminds readers of a shameful episode in American history, but cautions us to examine the present and take heed we don't repeat those injustices.-- Kirkus Reviews

"A tender and satisfying novel set in a time and a place lost forever, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet gives us a glimpse of the damage that is caused by war--not the sweeping damage of the battlefield, but the cold, cruel damage to the hearts and humanity of individual people. Especially relevant in today's world, this is a beautifully written book that will make you think. And, more importantly, it will make you feel.
-- Garth Stein, New York Times bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain

"Jamie Ford's first novel explores the age-old conflicts between father and son, the beauty and sadness of what happened to Japanese Americans in the Seattle area during World War II, and the depths and longing of deep-heart love. An impressive, bitter, and sweet debut."
-- Lisa See, bestselling author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan


In the opening pages of Jamie Ford's stunning debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle's Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II. As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol.

This simple act takes old Henry Lee back to the 1940s, at the height of the war, when young Henry's world is a jumble of confusion and excitement, and to his father, who is obsessed with the war in China and having Henry grow up American. While "scholarshipping" at the exclusive Rainier Elementary, where the white kids ignore him, Henry meets Keiko Okabe, a young Japanese American student. Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and FBI raids, Henry and Keiko forge a bond of friendship-and innocent love-that transcends the long-standing prejudices of their Old World ancestors. And after Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with the hope that the war will end, and that their promise to each other will be kept.

Forty years later, Henry Lee is certain that the parasol belonged to Keiko. In the hotel's dark dusty basement he begins looking for signs of the Okabe family's belongings and for a long-lost object whose value he cannot begin to measure. Now a widower, Henry is still trying to find his voice-words that might explain the actions of his nationalistic father; words that might bridge the gap between him and his modern, Chinese American son; words that might help him confront the choices he made many years ago.

Set during one of the most conflicted and volatile times in American history, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is an extraordinary story of commitment and enduring hope. In Henry and Keiko, Jamie Ford has created an unforgettable duo whose story teaches us of the power of forgiveness and the human heart.

BONUS: This edition contains a Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet discussion guide and an excerpt from Jamie Ford's Songs of Willow Frost.

 
Customers who bought this item also bought...

Night - Revised Edition
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Reissue Edition
All American Boys - Reprint Edition
Romeo and Juliet - Reprint Edition
Fahrenheit 451 - Reprint Edition
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Reprint Edition
Holes
Of Mice and Men - Reissue Edition
 
Customer ReviewsSubmit your own review
 
To tell a friend about this book, you must Sign In First!