The books in this section are usually hardcover and in decent shape, though we'll sometimes offer hard-to-find books in lesser condition at a reduced price. Though we often put images of the book with their original dust jackets, the copies here won't always (or even often) have them. If that is important to you, please call ahead or say so in the order comments!
Miya Okamoto is the heroine of this delightful and touching story of a twelve-year-old who is discontented with her role as the "in-between" member of the family and longs for modern luxuries that are beyond her father's means as the village priest.
Then Miya is invited to Tokyo to spend the summer helping with chores in the home of her ailing aunt and well-to-do uncle. Underestimating the responsibility involved, Miya soon finds that "life is not all sweet bean cakes and fun." But the elegance of her aunt's house and the large city with its expensive stores intrigue Miya, and she begins to doubt if her father has been right in refusing to buy his way into a better position for himself. Even after she is sent home because she is unable to cope with the housework, she is still in doubt.
It takes a lie told to impress a friend, the financial ruin of a neighboring family and the understanding of Mrs. Hirahara, whom she meets on the train to Tokyo, to show Miya that wealth and the desire for luxuries can bring as much loneliness and misery as a life of simplicity and integrity can bring happiness.
—from the dust jacket
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