Why a Booktrail?
1945, 2000s: Welcome to the island where departed spirits mingle with the living…
Above the East China Sea
What you need to know before your trail
Okinawa, present day: Luz, a teenage military brat, has moved to the island’s U.S. Air Force base with her mother, a no-nonsense sergeant. Luz’s mother hopes that the move will reconnect them with the Okinawan branch of their family–and help them heal from the death of Luz’s beloved older sister.
This is an island where departed spirits mingle with the living, and interwoven with Luz’s narrative is the story of an Okinawan girl, Tamiko Kokuba, who in 1945 was taken out of school and put to work in the Imperial Army’s horrific cave hospitals. Both of these extraordinary young women are seeking peace, and as Luz digs deeper and deeper into her past, their quests will intersect
Travel Guide
Travel BookTrail style to Okinawa
Okinawa is a Japanese island in the East China Sea.
Okinawa is part of the Ryukyu Islands chain which although in Japan, has a very different culture and history.
To the outside world, and foreign visitors, they simply say they are Japanese . However, they are Okinawans and they are a proud people, feeling that they have been forgotten in history or brushed over in many ways. They don’t like the fact that the Japanese on the mainland seem to make all the important decision which affect them. They are quite alright alone, until the war and the violence come:
“The soldiers, either Japanese or American, will kill us as soon as the sunrises. We cannot die such a violent death. If we do, we will be condemned to haunt this place for ever and never be reunited with our clan. I won’t permit my child to endure such a cruel fate”.
Battle of Okinawa
In this novel , there is a lot of cultural information and the “Battle of Okinawa”, from the perspective of the Okinawan people themselves. The battle lasted 82 days
Obon Festival
The setting and background of the story takes place against this Japanese Buddhist custom which honors the spirits of one’s ancestor’s. The so called Kami are spirits …. and have both good and bad sides to them.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Above the China Sea
Destination:Okinawa Author/guide: Sarah Bird Departure Time: 1945, 2000s
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