The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
by Jamie Ford
Henry Lee is a 12-year-old Chinese boy who falls in love with Keiko Okabe, a 12-year-old Japanese girl, while they are scholarship students at a prestigious private school in World War II Seattle. Henry hides the relationship from his parents, who would disown him if they knew he had a Japanese friend. His father insists that Henry wear an "I am Chinese" button everywhere he goes because Japanese residents of Seattle have begun to be shipped off by the thousands to relocation centers. This is an old-fashioned historical novel that alternates between the early 1940s and 1984, after Henry's wife Ethel has died of cancer. A particularly appealing aspect of the story is young Henry's fascination with jazz and his friendship with Sheldon, an older black saxophonist just making a name for himself in the many jazz venues near Henry's home.
The library has copies of the books available. The meetings are at 12:30 in the gallery.
The next book will be A Pearl in the Storm: How I Found My Heart in the Middle of the Ocean by Tori Murden McClure. Everyone is welcome. For more information, please call the library at 668-3896.
