The Very Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura
by Waka T Brown (Author)
In this magical and chilling Coraline-esque retelling of the Japanese folktale "The Melon Princess and the Amanjaku," one girl must save herself--and her loved ones--from a deceitful demon she befriended.
Melony Yoshimura's parents have always been overprotective. They say it's because a demonic spirit called the Amanjaku once preyed upon kids back in Japan, but Melony suspects it's just a cautionary tale to keep her in line. So on her twelfth birthday, Melony takes a chance and wishes for the freedom and adventure her parents seem determined to keep her from. As if conjured by her wish, the Amanjaku appears.
At first, Melony is wary. If this creature is real, are the stories about its destructive ways also real? In no time, however, the Amanjaku woos Melony with its ability to shape-shift, grant wishes, and understand her desire for independence.
But what Melony doesn't realize is that the Amanjaku's friendship has sinister consequences, and she quickly finds every aspect of her life controlled by the demon's trickery--including herself. Melony is determined to set things right, but will she be able to before the Amanjaku turns her life, her family, and her community upside down?
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Publishers Weekly
Brown (Dream, Annie, Dream) explores intergenerational trauma and cultural identity in this eerie interpretation of the Japanese folktale "The Melon Princess and the Amanjaku." On Melony Yoshimura's 12th birthday, her Japanese emigrant parents tell her about the shape-shifting demon spirit Amanjaku, the reason they left Japan for Oregon. But Melony doesn't care about the Amanjaku or her parents' memories of Japan; she wants to be like other American kids who have smartphones and get to attend sleepovers. That night, Melony makes a birthday wish for freedom from her overprotective parents. Soon after, she meets the Amanjaku, a "fuzzy gray creature--kind of like a person in a wolf suit," who offers to grant her wishes. But even as things in Melony's life seem to be looking up, she begins to realize that her relationship with the Amanjaku portends disaster. Brown conveys practical lessons on morality via an empathetic protagonist; by interweaving Melony's contemporary struggles surrounding autonomy and independence with the origin text's foundational narrative, the author delivers an evenly paced speculative tale whose anticipatory atmosphere sows tension. Ages 8-12. Agent: Penny Moore, Aevitas Creative Management. (July)
Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
JUV039140 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
JUV012020 - Juvenile Fiction | Fairy Tales & Folklore | Country & Ethnic - General
JUV039270 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Strangers
JUV012060 - Juvenile Fiction | Legends, Myths, Fables | Asian
JUV074000 - Juvenile Fiction | Diversity & Multicultural
Japanese Americans
Demonology
Wishes
Folk literature
Novels
