  | Lost Ryu Author: Cohen, Emi Watanabe | |
| Price: $22.58 | ||
Summary:
Kohei Fujiwara has never seen a big ryu in real life. Those dragons all disappeared from Japan after the war, and twenty years later, they've become the stuff of legend. Kohei has a memory of those big ryu. How could he have such a memory, if they all disappeared before he was even born? Kohei knows that if he finds a dragon to show to Ojiisan, Ojiisan will stop drinking, stop throwing bottles, and stop being sick.
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (06/15/22)
School Library Journal (07/01/22)
Booklist (06/01/22)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/06/22)
The Hornbook (00/07/22)
Full Text Reviews:
School Library Journal - 07/01/2022 Gr 3–7—Kohei Fujiwara's beloved grandpa is really sick, and all Kohei wants is to make him smile again. To do that, he'll need to bring back the big ryu—legendary dragons no one has seen since World War II. With the help of his new neighbor Isolde, as well as their palm-sized ryu Cheshire and Yuharu, Kohei thinks he might just be able to pull it off. Set 20 years after the bombing of Japan, Cohen's debut is a spellbinding mix of fantasy and alternate history that explores themes of generational trauma, resilience, and family love. Kohei and Isolde balance each other nicely, and readers will enjoy watching their friendship blossom and grow. Kohei is Japanese; Isolde, like the author, is Japanese-Jewish. VERDICT A great recommendation for fans of Studio Ghibli or graphic novel series such as Jaimal Yogis's "City of Dragons" and Mark and Alexis Siegel's "5 Worlds." Recommended purchase.—Kaitlin Frick - Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
Booklist - 06/01/2022 This historical fantasy imagines a postwar Japan where large ryu, or dragons, haven’t been seen since WWII. Now, in the 1960s, only tiny ryu remain, living as companions to everyday people, but 10-year-old Kohei somehow has a cherished memory of seeing a huge Western dragon soaring and, nearby, his grandfather, or ojiisan, marveling at it. Since then, however, Ojiisan has been unhappy, and now he’s very sick. Deciding that one more glimpse of a large ryu will make his grandfather smile again, Kohei sets out with his new neighbor, Jewish Japanese American Isolde, to find the dragon-egg facility and, using his dead father’s controversial research, hatch a large dragon himself. Cohen’s touching debut has the air of a modern fairy tale, forgoing tedious world building and delivering a tight, thoughtful story of a boy coming of age as he unlocks the mysteries of his family’s past. Deceptively simple, it’s an uncommonly sophisticated story in its exploration of intergenerational pain, family dynamics, and the surrounding emotions. Sweet and satisfying. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.
