Once Removed

The Washington Post praised Mako Yoshikawa's extraordinary first novel, One Hundred and One Ways, as "strikingly assured." The Orlando Sentinel called it "an impressive accomplishment." In Once Removed, Yoshikawa continues in the tradition of Alice Walker and Amy Tan with a powerful story of two women from different cultures who form a deep friendship that, though severely tested, can never be broken. It has been many long years since Claudia last saw her Japanese-American stepsister. Once upon a time, Claudia's Jewish father fell in love with Rei's Japanese mother and abandoned his family to be with her. Though Claudia resented this new family her father so readily embraced, from the moment she and Rei met, the two girls formed a bond not even their parents understood. Their long-standing joke is that they are mirror reflections of each other--though in truth they are striking opposites. Claudia is blond and large-boned; Rei is dark-haired...