About the book
On the southern island of Kyushu,
two children who can turn into birds live with their adopted human parents. An
evil feudal overlord kidnaps Azuki for the valuable white and orange feathers
she sheds when she is a Toki-bird. Her courageous father dies trying to prevent
her capture. With the help of the local birds and animals, her mother sets her
free, but is also killed by the overlord’s men. With her parents dead at the
evil overlord’s hands, a heartbroken Azuki flees. It’s all her fault! It’s her
ridiculous ability to turn into a Toki-bird that caused everything horrible to
happen! She destroyed her human family. Maybe she’ll do better as a bird.
She’ll join her Toki-kin and give up being human at all. That will make things
better. Won’t it?
Shota, her brother, can turn into a
sparrow, but nobody’s interested in his plain brown feathers. The best he can
do is follow his mother’s directions and rouse his own bird-kin to help his
sister fly free. But his mother is hurt! She is dying, and Shota can’t think about
anything else. But before she dies, their mother tells him all is not lost at
home or in the human world for either of her children. She will do whatever she
can to help them, living or dead, and she makes of Shota a final request. Shota
speeds after Azuki to tell her that they will lose their human inheritance and
won’t be able to live in human society at all, ever, unless they return in time
to claim it, and return they must, honoring their mother’s wishes. Shota plans
to bring Azuki home whether she likes it or not. She is his sister! They must
stay together! There must be a way for them to embrace their heritage, all of
it — didn’t their mother tell him so?
In her desperate search for her Toki-kin, Azuki visits egrets who send her off to the major Toki nesting grounds on Sado-ga-shima, far from their Kyushu home. On the way to a place she doesn’t know, unsure of her welcome, and with no clear directions other than “north and east”, Azuki weathers storms, encounters a fierce mountain ogre, and befriends a dragon who also has a secret. Will she ever reach her goal? What will she find when she gets there?
Shota, smaller and slower, doggedly
follows the directions from the egrets. In a dream, his late father comes to
give him help in his quest to track his sister and bring her home. Shota thinks
he knows where Azuki is going, but it’s far from a sure thing. She could join
other Toki, she could make a wrong turn, she could give up the idea and do
something else! Can he find her? Will he reach her in time? Even if he does,
can they possibly get back before the deadline? He is helped on the way by
sailors, finding in himself a love of the sea, makes a friend of a war-horse,
earns some gold, and just maybe discovers a way to get them back in time to
claim their human heritage, so they can live as themselves, even if that isn’t
like anybody else.
My Thoughts
Magic and mystery surrounds the story. I have longed
to read a book which has magical creatures that can turn themselves into humans
and an animal form at will.
Azuki and her brother Shota are two magical children
who have the power to change into a Toki; according to Japanese legend Magical
Toki is a bird who can also change into human form and back to a bird at will
and Shota also a magical bird who like Azuki can turn into a human and a
sparrow.
Azuki constantly shed beautiful feathers which her
father Hachibei used as fabric and the family became prosperous. Azuki was a
household name and she was readily accepted in the society until one day a
greedy Sheriff wanted to use Azuki to perform in his circus and captured her.
Azuki’s father tried to protect her but was killed by the Sheriff.
Her mother and his brother devise a plan to free her
from the clutches of the Sheriff. In the process of freeing Azuki, her mother
was also killed.
Now her brother sets in a journey to find Azuki, who
went in a journey to find a new home with other Tokis. Shota is following his
sister to bring her back to their home before the equionox before the Sheriff
declares both of them dead, as instructed by his dying mother.
The book has a gripping storyline and after a very
long time I read a book full of imagination and magic. It is must for kids who
will love the magical worlds that the story has. As more and more magical
creatures are introduced in the story you will fall in love with the story
plot. The background of the story is set after the Japanese were attacked at
the Hiroshima and Nagasaki and trade routes were closed for the west.
Magic and imagination has a perfect blend with the
growing western culture in the Japanese society gives a perfect picturesque to
the story, as if reality and magic are walking hand in hand which enhances the
beauty of the story line making it easier for the young readers to relate the
story in detail with the real world. I have already narrated the story to many
of my friends at work and will narrate it to kids who will love to listen as
their bedtime stories.
About the author
Claire Youmans is an accomplished
adult non-fiction and mystery writer who has also written and edited
innumerable articles, engaging audiences for over 20 years. With a deep love
for Japan and its culture, Claire has traveled there extensively studying the
country's culture and folklore.
While working on a play produced in
Tokyo, The Great Grateful Jizo, Claire was so inspired by two minor characters
-- Azuki, a Toki-Girl, and her brother, Shota, a Sparrow-Boy -- that she
expanded their story into The Toki Girl and the Sparrow Boy. With generous
doses of adventure, suspense, folklore and fantasy, Claire has brought their
visually compelling story into book form.
The Toki Girl and the Sparrow Boy (2014) is the first in a series of books recounting their adventures. The Toki Girl and the Sparrow Boy, Book Two: Chasing Dreams was released in June, 2015. Book Three, Together, was released July 4, 2016. All three books are garnering great reviews and an expanding readership. People -- including and maybe especially adults -- love them. Reminiscent of Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Watership Down, The Toki-Girl and the Sparrow-Boy series addresses real-world issues in a context of the history, culture and folklore of Japan. With further books in development, Claire returns to Japan often for more inspiration and motivation to bring that nation's beauty and culture to life for readers with stories that people love to read.
Read more about the book at Online Book Club
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