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Shadow Life
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Published:
First Second 2021
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2022 Asian/Pacific American Literature Award Winner for Adult Fiction
2022 L.A Times Book Prize Finalist
Poet and novelist Hiromi Goto effortlessly blends wry, observational slice-of-life literary fiction with poetic magical realism in the tender and surprising graphic novel Shadow Life, with haunting art from debut artist Ann Xu.

When Kumiko's well-meaning adult daughters place her in an assisted living home, the seventy-six-year-old widow gives it a try, but it's not where she wants to be. She goes on the lam and finds a cozy bachelor apartment, keeping the location secret even while communicating online with her eldest daughter. Kumiko revels in the small, daily pleasures: decorating as she pleases, eating what she wants, and swimming in the community pool. But something has followed her from her former residence—Death's shadow.
Kumiko's sweet life is shattered when Death's shadow swoops in to collect her. With her quick mind and sense of humor, Kumiko, with the help of friends new and old, is prepared for the fight of her life. But how long can an old woman thwart fate?

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Format:
Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Street Date:
03/30/2021
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781250831347
ASIN:
B08Y7MX5NM

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Citations

APA Citation (style guide)

Hiromi Goto. (2021). Shadow Life. First Second.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Hiromi Goto. 2021. Shadow Life. First Second.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Hiromi Goto, Shadow Life. First Second, 2021.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Hiromi Goto. Shadow Life. First Second, 2021.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.

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Date Added:
Aug 05, 2022 16:33:48
Date Updated:
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Last Metadata Check:
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Last Metadata Change:
Oct 11, 2024 17:01:52
Last Availability Check:
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Last Availability Change:
Oct 11, 2024 17:01:54
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
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OverDrive Product Record

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      • value: family life
      • value: romance
      • value: ghosts
      • value: Drama
      • value: LGBTQ
      • value: magical realism
      • value: Asian American authors
      • value: Poetic
      • value: ghost story
      • value: Literary
      • value: mother daughter relationship
      • value: female lead
      • value: literary graphic novels
      • value: comic drama
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      • bioText: Hiromi Goto is an emigrant from Japan who gratefully lives on the Unceded Musqueam, Skwxwú7mesh, and Tsleil Waututh Territories. She's written Chorus of Mushrooms, The Kappa Child, along with three novels for children and youth, a book of poetry, and a collection of short stories. Shadow Life is her first graphic novel.
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2022 Asian/Pacific American Literature Award Winner for Adult Fiction
2022 L.A Times Book Prize Finalist
Poet and novelist Hiromi Goto effortlessly blends wry, observational slice-of-life literary fiction with poetic magical realism in the tender and surprising graphic novel Shadow Life, with haunting art from debut artist Ann Xu.

When Kumiko's well-meaning adult daughters place her in an assisted living home, the seventy-six-year-old widow gives it a try, but it's not where she wants to be. She goes on the lam and finds a cozy bachelor apartment, keeping the location secret even while communicating online with her eldest daughter. Kumiko revels in the small, daily pleasures: decorating as she pleases, eating what she wants, and swimming in the community pool. But something has followed her from her former residence—Death's shadow.
Kumiko's sweet life is shattered when Death's shadow swoops in to collect her. With her quick mind and sense of humor, Kumiko, with the help of friends new and old, is prepared for the fight of her life. But how long can an old woman thwart fate?

reviews
      • premium: False
      • source: Booklist, starred review
      • content:

        "Sprinkled with fabulism (a vacuum and salt can stop death), confronting racist history (Canada's WWII prison camps for Japanese Canadians), and questioning institutionalized eldercare, Goto's latest is an empowering, emotional tribute to defiant, independent, kick-ass old women living their best lives."

      • premium: False
      • source: Publishers Weekly, starred review

      • content: "The loose black-and-white line art by Xu, including interspersed wordless panels, perfectly captures the progression of Kumiko's emotions from serenity to revelation to distress to determined defiance, as well as the narrative's fantastical and surreal turns. Quiet sensitivity and humor shine throughout, lighting the bright triumph in one woman's twilight."
      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        Starred review from January 4, 2021
        This wry genre-bending graphic novel from Goto (the Half World series) delves into aging, independence, lost love, and mortality with a whimsy that doesn’t undercut its literary heft. Kumiko Saito, an elderly Japanese Canadian woman, runs away from an assisted living facility to reclaim her autonomy and embrace a solitary—but not lonely—life. Putting off her overbearing daughter and living on the bare essentials, Kumiko relishes swimming, simple cooking, and shopping on her own. Soon, however, Kumiko senses a presence encroaching on her solitude—a shadowy being that wants to take her somewhere she’s not ready to go. With plucky ingenuity, she holds the being off, but the experience opens her eyes to a Miyazaki-esque parallel world of quirky spirits and mystic creatures. The loose black-and-white line art by Xu, including interspersed wordless panels, perfectly captures the progression of Kumiko’s emotions from serenity to revelation to distress to determined defiance, as well as the narrative’s fantastical and surreal turns. Quiet sensitivity and humor shine throughout, lighting the bright triumph in one woman’s twilight.

      • premium: True
      • source: Booklist
      • content:

        Starred review from February 1, 2021
        Commonwealth Writers' Prize-winning Canadian Japanese novelist/poet Goto (Half World, 2010) makes her stupendous graphic debut, in splendid artistic synchronization with Ignatz-nominated Xu. "It never felt right here," Kumiko thinks as she sneaks out of an assisted-living facility her daughters thought would be the best option for their septuagenarian, widowed mother. She's winnowed her life down to a single bundle--"but do the necessary things have to be so heavy?"--as she leaves everything else behind . . . except the shadow of death, which follows her out. Kumiko moves into a tiny studio and spends her days exactly as she pleases: swimming at the local community center, navigating the city buses, making friends (sometimes reluctantly) with neighbors, ignoring her increasingly worried daughters. When death attacks her, she insists "I'm not ready YET!" and impressively eludes the shadow. She survives for now, but forgetting, falling, and losing her way makes her realize, "Maybe I was too rash cutting off all my old friends," providing the impetus to pursue some important reconnections. Sprinkled with fabulism (a vacuum and salt can stop death), confronting racist history (Canada's WWII prison camps for Japanese Canadians), and questioning institutionalized eldercare, Goto's latest is an empowering, emotional tribute to defiant, independent, kick-ass old women living their best lives.

        COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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2022 Asian/Pacific American Literature Award Winner for Adult Fiction
2022 L.A Times Book Prize Finalist
Poet and novelist Hiromi Goto effortlessly blends wry, observational slice-of-life literary fiction with poetic magical realism in the tender and surprising graphic novel Shadow Life, with haunting art from debut artist Ann Xu.

When Kumiko's well-meaning adult daughters place her in an assisted living home, the seventy-six-year-old widow gives it a try, but it's not where she wants to be. She goes on the lam and finds a cozy bachelor apartment, keeping the location secret even while communicating online with her eldest daughter. Kumiko revels in the small, daily pleasures: decorating as she pleases, eating what she wants, and swimming in the community pool. But something has followed her from her former residence—Death's shadow.
Kumiko's sweet life is shattered when Death's shadow swoops in to collect her. With her quick mind and sense of...

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