Song of the Stranger Book

Thirteen-year-old Karen Nomura's plans for a blissful summer vacation are dashed when her disapproving, bossy grandmother suddenly arrives from Japan to stay with Karen's family in New Jersey. Suddenly everything Karen does is wrong: She doesn't eat right, she doesn't sit right--she doesn't even speak Japanese! Karen can't wait for her grandmother to leave. And when that day finally arrives, Karen is told that her grandmother won't be traveling back to Japan alone: Karen will be joining her!

Now Karen has to spend two months in a strange land with the one person in the world she can't stand. But the road ahead is chock-full of surprise and adventure, and for Karen Nomura, the next sixty days will change the course of her life forever.

Twelve-year-old Karen leans more about her grandmother and her heritage after spending the summer in Japan.