The Best Bad Thing

Continuation after "Jar of Dreams". Rinko, Abu, and Zenny break Aunt Hata's rules and hitch a ride with the train. The old man defends the kids against a bully. The old man lives in the barn and paints kites. Aunt Hata says he came upon bad luck and hard times. Abu'a arm is run over by the train. Rinko screams. Aunt Hata drives abu to the hospital where he slowly recovers. Abu experiences nerve damage and he can't move his arm. Aunt Hata truck is stolen. Rinko's papa and mamma arrive but the truck is not found. The old man goes back to Japan. He leaves kites for the kids and tells Mrs. Hata, "Be Strong" and not to accept welfare because it will impoverish the family. The bad thing the old man feared was confronted and he learned to have pride in himself and return home to Japan. The bad things were not so bad. Aunt Hata can only think about Abu and him getting better. In the meantime the cucumbers rot in the fields. The cucumbers provide income for the family. Aunt Hata sells fresh cucumbers to the factory. Rinko and Zenny try to sell the cumbers by the road earning 10 cents for the day. The old man brings out two kites and lets Rinko and Zenny fly them and provides a distraction from their concerns about Abu. The welfare lady becomes aware of the Hata from hospital reports. The welfare lady visits the home and reports no bath room and wants Aunt Hata to relocate into town and work a job. The old tells Rinko and Zenny his secret. The old man is an illegal alien. The old man stole away on a ship, became a cook, and jumped ship in San Franciso, worked the copper mines in Utah, and ended up in Oakland. The old man is afraid he will be sent back to Japan or imprison. Rinko believes bad things come in threes. How will the bad thing become the best thing?

It's a typical story about the Japanese immigration in the American Continent, in the first decades of 20th century. At that time, many Japanese dreamed to work in America, with intention to "make fortune" there and return to Japan. This didn't happen only in the United States or Canada. Many Japanese families had immigrated for other Latin-American countries, all with the same dream. The story happens in the 30's and shows basically how the Japanese lived in the new country, and the problems that they had faced, such as cultural differences, language, discrimination etc. Rinko is a 'Nipo-American' girl who lives in the city, and has to pass the summer vacations helping her cousins and her aunt, Mrs. Hata, in a small-cucumber-farm. It would have to be a boring vacation for Rinko but, in the end, she will learn important things about japanese culture and about her origins... EXCELLENT BOOK!!!

If you like realistic stories and something which you can compare to yourself, you would love the Best Bad Thing. Once you read a chapter you will not want to stop. Why I loved this book is because I could relate to it. This book has some very funny humor in it. Now it is hard to sum up the story without giving it away, but I can give you a brief review. This story is about a girl named Rinko who is going to have to go to Mrs. Hata's for the summer. Why will she have to go? Because Mr. Hata has died (Mrs. Hata's husband). Everybody thinks that Mrs. Hata is crazy. Rinko does not want to go, she thinks it is bad, but then something makes this one of the best summers ever. One last thing. In this story there are many suprises. So if you would like to read a great, humorous, realistic, and suprising story, you should read: The Best Bad Thing.

i think it was a very good book.it taught children to listen to their parents

I was intrigued by this story for 2 reasons: 1) it details life in Oakland California during the depression period, when there were still farms in the hills. 2) it was made into a famous Japanese (NHK) television drama despite the fact that the story concentrates more on the "lost summer" of the protaganist Rinko, rather than her Japanese ancestry.For those who saw the Japanese drama (it was later subtitled and broadcasted in California on PBS and Channel 26), I recommend you read the book as there are some differences in the story. For young readers, I encourage the reading of this book as it describes a time in America when the joys of life were more simple and not marred by gang violence and drugs.