Shelley Tanaka - Böcker

Selected for the USBBY Outstanding International Book ListIt's autumn in Tokyo, and twelve-year-old Akira and his younger siblings, Kyoko, Shige and little Yuki, have just moved into a new apartment with their mother. Akira hopes it's a new start for all of them, even though the little ones are not allowed to leave the apartment or make any noise, since the landlord doesn't permit young children in the building. But their mother soon begins to spend more and more time away from the apartment, and then one morning Akira finds an envelope of money and a note. She has gone away with her new boyfriend for a while.Akira bravely shoulders the responsibility for the family. He shops and cooks and pays the bills, while Kyoko does the laundry. The children spend their time watching TV, drawing and playing games, wishing they could go to school and have friends like everyone else. Then one morning their mother breezes in with gifts for everyone, but she is soon gone again.Months pass, until one spring day Akira decides they have been prisoners in the apartment long enough. For a brief time the children bask in their freedom. They shop, explore, plant a little balcony garden, have the playground to themselves. Even when the bank account is empty and the utilities are turned off and the children become increasingly ill-kempt, it seems that they have been hiding for nothing. In the bustling big city, nobody notices them. It's as if nobody knows.But by August the city is sweltering, and the children are too malnourished and exhausted even to go out. Akira is afraid to contact child welfare, remembering the last time the authorities intervened, and the family was split up. Eventually even he can't hold it together any more, and then one day tragedy strikes…Based on the award-winning film by Kore-eda Hirokazu, this is a powerfully moving novel about four children who become invisible to almost everyone in their community and manage -- for a time -- to survive on their own.

Selected for the USBBY Outstanding International Book ListIt's autumn in Tokyo, and twelve-year-old Akira and his younger siblings, Kyoko, Shige and little Yuki, have just moved into a new apartment with their mother. Akira hopes it's a new start for all of them, even though the little ones are not allowed to leave the apartment or make any noise, since the landlord doesn't permit young children in the building. But their mother soon begins to spend more and more time away from the apartment, and then one morning Akira finds an envelope of money and a note. She has gone away with her new boyfriend for a while.Akira bravely shoulders the responsibility for the family. He shops and cooks and pays the bills, while Kyoko does the laundry. The children spend their time watching TV, drawing and playing games, wishing they could go to school and have friends like everyone else. Then one morning their mother breezes in with gifts for everyone, but she is soon gone again.Months pass, until one spring day Akira decides they have been prisoners in the apartment long enough. For a brief time the children bask in their freedom. They shop, explore, plant a little balcony garden, have the playground to themselves. Even when the bank account is empty and the utilities are turned off and the children become increasingly ill-kempt, it seems that they have been hiding for nothing. In the bustling big city, nobody notices them. It's as if nobody knows.But by August the city is sweltering, and the children are too malnourished and exhausted even to go out. Akira is afraid to contact child welfare, remembering the last time the authorities intervened, and the family was split up. Eventually even he can't hold it together any more, and then one day tragedy strikes…Based on the award-winning film by Kore-eda Hirokazu, this is a powerfully moving novel about four children who become invisible to almost everyone in their community and manage -- for a time -- to survive on their own.

Revised and updated editionScientists have been warning the world about global warming for almost three decades. But the rest of us are only now starting to get the message. The planet is warming at an unusually rapid rate, and this warming is largely being caused by human activity. Shrinking glaciers, thawing permafrost, erratic weather and threatened freshwater supplies are already affecting the lives of people around the globe, and the worst is yet to come.The crisis is real, but there is little consensus about how to confront the problem, not only because the science is complex, but because the economic, political and social implications of taking action are vast, far-reaching and unsettling. And despite the urgency, climate change deniers seem to be more vocal than ever.This revised and updated edition includes the most recent scientific findings while addressing the main issues. What is happening, and how did we get here? What is the basic science behind climate change? What is going to happen in the future? And, most important, why is it so hard for us to accept what is going on, and what can we do about it?Charts, maps, a glossary, an index and suggestions for further reading accompany the text.