When Mikan Road Was OursWhen Mikan Road Was Ours

"When Murano receives a call from his cousin Kaiya that his great-uncle Benjiro has died, he isn't sure why he should care. After all, he's been estranged from that side of his family for more than a decade and would much rather be left alone to grade his high schoolers' English papers and cope with his recent cancer diagnosis all by himself. But, when a mysterious manuscript, Benjior's memoirs, is left in Murano's possession, he finds himself transported back to 1930s California, back to his family's now abandoned farm that he never knew existed, and faced with questions about his family that he had never before known to ask. Through Benjiro's memoirs, letters, and family artifacts, the intimate and sweeping stories of the Murano family are brought back from the dead. Benjiro takes Murano through his childhood that he shared with Murano's grandfather Tomoya on their parents' blackberry farm, to their internment during World War II and beyond. Rich with themes of belonging, shame, and tradition, the vibrant settings of California's agricultural heartlands and the crossroads of Japanese and American culture come into breathtaking focus. Lovingly crafted with poignant prose and profound attention to historical detail, When Mikan Road Was Ours seamlessly blends the complexities of heritage, the resilience of family bonds, and the struggle to reconcile a past filled with both pain and hope. This is a must-read for anyone seeking a profound meditation on family, memory, and survival"--