Tea with Milk

Say, A. (1999). Tea with Milk. Houghton Mifflin.

ISBN: 978-0606106948

Plot Summary:

At home in San Francisco, May speaks Japanese and the family eats rice and miso soup and drinks green tea. When she visits her friends’ homes, she eats fried chicken and spaghetti.

May plans someday to go to college and live in an apartment of her own. But when her family moves back to Japan, she soon feels lost and homesick for America.

In Japan everyone calls her by her Japanese name, Masako. She has to wear kimonos and sit on the floor. Poor May is sure that she will never feel at home in this country. Eventually May is expected to marry and a matchmaker is hired.

Outraged at the thought, May sets out to find her own way in the big city of Osaka. The accompanying story of his mother and her journey as a young woman is heartfelt. Tea with Milk vividly portrays the graceful formality of Japan and captures the struggle between two cultures as May strives to live out her own life.

-Amazon

Analysis:

May is Japanese American, and her family has just moved back to Japan. She misses the freedoms women have in America; driving a car, holding a job, or going to college. She doesn’t fit the traditional Japanese expectations for a girl her age and she is lonely. The prospect of an arranged marriage is the last straw and she escapes to the city where she finds work in a department store. At first she is only allowed to be an elevator girl or bow at the door. But when she has an opportunity to help an English-speaking customer the store manager begins to see the value of her multi-cultural upbringing. Eventually she meets a friend who understands how difficult it has been for her to adjust to traditional life in Japan. May finds her balance and is able to appreciate her ability to be at home with herself no matter where she lives. The illustrations are realistic and add an important dimension to the story. From the traditional kimono she wears at home to the brightly colored dress she leaves for the city in and her formal work attire, these depictions are beautiful representations of May’s life. Tea with Milk is a brave story about pushing boundaries and listening to your heart.

Book Reviews:

Through choice words and scrupulously choreographed paintings, Say's story communicates both the heart's yearning for individuality and freedom and how love and friendship can bridge cultural chasms.

—Publisher’s Weekly

"Continuing to explore place and home, Say tells the story of his mother, first introduced to readers in TREE OF CRANES. Born in California to Japanese immigrants, Masako is miserable when she moves to Japan with her parents after high school. The illustrations capture Masako's unhappiness and also her eventual contentment as she learns to combine two cultures."

 —Horn Book

Painted with characteristic control and restraint, Say's illustrations, largely portraits, begin with a sepia view of a sullen child in a kimono, gradually take on distinct, subdued color, and end with a formal shot of the smiling young couple in Western dress.

–Kirkus Reviews

Connections:

This book is for anyone who has had to leave home and try something new. It could be used for lessons on self-acceptance, friendship, and belonging.

Awards:

ALSC Notable Children's Books, 2000

Notable Books for a Global Society, 2000

This review was created as an assignment for SHSU LSSL 5361