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    Beyond Me
    Beyond Me
    Beyond Me
    Ebook290 pages56 minutes

    Beyond Me

    By Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu

    ()

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    About this ebook

    “An essential read…with a message of hope and community.” —Booklist (starred review)

    In the spirit of A Place to Belong, this “moving” (Kirkus Reviews) novel-in-verse examines the aftershocks of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan in 2011 through the eyes of a young girl who learns that even the smallest kindness can make a difference.

    March 11, 2011
    An earthquake shakes Japan to its core.
    A tsunami crashes into Japan’s coast.
    Everything changes.

    In the aftermath of the natural disasters that have struck her country, eleven-year-old Maya is luckier than many. Her family didn’t lose their home, their lives, or each other. But Maya still can’t help feeling paralyzed with terror, and each aftershock that ripples out in the days that follow makes her fear all over again that her luck could change in an instant.

    As word of the devastation elsewhere grows increasingly grim—tens of thousands have perished—it all seems so huge, so irreparable. Already flinching at every rumble from the earth, Maya’s overcome with a sense of helplessness and hopelessness. How can her country ever recover, and how could anything she does possibly make a difference?

    Before Maya can extend a hand to others, she must dig deep to find the hidden well of strength in herself in this sweeping, searing novel that shows even small acts can add something greater and help people and communities heal.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster
    Release dateJun 30, 2020
    ISBN9781481437912
    Beyond Me
    Author

    Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu

    Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu’s debut novel Somewhere Among, based on life in a bicultural multi-generational home in Tokyo, won the Freeman Award, SCBWI Crystal Kite Award, Writers’ League of Texas Book Award, and was a Bank Street Best Book of the Year. She still lives in Tokyo, Japan, after raising two children and experiencing the 2011 earthquake and aftershocks. After inheriting the garden work from Great-grandfather and Grandfather, she has spent a lot more time gardening. It keeps her grounded.

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      Book preview

      Beyond Me - Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu

      Cover: Beyond Me, by Annie Donwerth-ChikamatsuBeyond Me by Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu, Atheneum Books for Young Readers

      To the people of Japan,

      especially

      the people who work tirelessly

      to keep us safe, warm, and fed

      MARCH 9, 2011

      not much time

      between good morning and good-bye

      out the door

      early

      Father goes one way

      to catch a train east to Shinjuku

      then later

      I go another way

      to walk to school

      when all’s clear

      Mother goes to the table

      to work at her laptop

      out into March wind

      I rush to meet Yuka

      my best friend since kindergarten

      Maya! she shouts to me

      we run, grab hands

      lean in, squint, and

      smile into each other’s faces

      we are sweaterless

      kaze no ko

      wind kids

      who don’t wear coats

      even in winter

      with no time to spare

      to be on time

      we hurry on

      at recess

      a time

      when we choose

      how we use

      our time,

      Yuka and I run out

      to meet

      under the cherry tree near the gym

      long time no see, I say

      she giggles

      Ready?

      Yuka stands behind me

      waiting

      waiting

      waiting

      for

      the wind to knock me back

      into her outstretched arms

      it takes big gusts and trust

      to fall back

      it’s not easy

      for me to let go

      there’s hesitation

      then panic

      the moment my toes are off the ground

      then relief—

      Yuka’s always there

      to catch me

      today’s wind is not a true March wind

      but

      we wait

      let go and

      fall

      as many times as we can

      until the playground clock says

      our time is up

      back inside

      my class lines up

      carrying our chairs

      to the music room

      we’re out of step

      starting and stopping

      bumping and scooting

      straggling

      before lunch each day

      these last days of fifth grade

      we practice

      for the spring choir performance

      at the city concert hall

      on Monday

      March 14

      five days from now

      parents (mostly mothers) and grandparents

      will come

      at their appointed time

      make their way through the lobby then

      rush to seats

      as each grade files onstage

      takes their places

      sings and exits

      Teacher chose me

      to be front row center

      to clank blocks

      to keep the beat

      with her piano chords

      I love this task

      but

      it’s not easy

      each day

      we get lost

      in bird notes

      a thrush

      high in mulberry branches

      outside the music room

      begins his song when we begin ours

      he is trying to cheer us up—

      our song sounds so sad

      humans are fragile, we sing

      Teacher assures us

      the song will make hearts ring

      it does end on a higher note

      but it is no one’s favorite

      except

      maybe grandparents’

      we struggle on

      with my clank clank

      trying to get them in tune

      life is mysterious, we sing

      walls

      windows

      tree limbs shudder

      the thrush disappears in flutters

      Teacher stands up

      we don’t miss a beat

      grabbing our padded emergency hoods

      from the backs of our chairs

      putting them

      on our heads

      in case something falls

      we have earthquakes all the time

      but this time

      Earth rocks us

      in circles

      someone says, this is eerie

      Earth stills

      we settle back into our classroom

      where

      there are desks to slide under

      if it happens again

      it doesn’t

      early afternoon

      in the gym

      all fifth-grade classes

      come together

      to practice

      Moriyama’s big hit, Sakura

      a spring song for cherry blossom season

      we will perform at the sixth graders’ graduation ceremony

      after they present us with rice seeds from their school project

      they will stand from their chairs

      to face us

      as we sing

      I know we will see them smile

      we are in harmony

      from the first note

      the thrush does not take a seat

      in the cherry tree outside the gym

      shoulder to shoulder

      within the group

      I lift my eyes to the windows

      singing the chorus

      Sakura! Sakura!

      as these cherry blossoms bloom…

      I see

      sparrows flit and twitter

      twig to twig

      through cherry blossom buds

      not ready to bloom

      after school

      I wait for Yuka

      not in a rush

      on Wednesdays

      we walk and chat

      pass shops and stop

      to count

      pigeons sitting

      in a bare tree,

      bulbuls shredding

      magnolias, and

      city workers pruning

      branches

      the trees are full today, I say

      Yuka giggles

      I giggle back

      we count

      twelve pigeons

      three bulbuls

      five city workers

      then cut along the path

      of Great-grandfather’s field

      past the last cabbage

      daikon and

      broccoli

      he’s pushing a motor tiller

      guiding it

      making a new row of crops

      a starling follows him

      picking out insects

      I call to him

      Yuka echoes me

      then says,

      he cannot hear us

      he doesn’t hear well anyway

      and

      he never says much either

      even back when

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