Tomo: Friendship through Fiction: An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories by Holly Thomson

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 384
Publisher: Stone Bridge Press
Published: 6th of March 2012

This aptly named fiction anthology—tomo means “friend” in Japanese—is a true labor of friendship to benefit teens in Japan whose lives were upended by the violent earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. Authors from Japan and around the world have contributed works of fiction set in or related to Japan. Young adult English-language readers will be able to connect with their Japanese counterparts through stories of contemporary Japanese teens, ninja and yokai teens, folklore teens, mixed-heritage teens, and non-Japanese teens who call Japan home. Tales of friendship, mystery, love, ghosts, magic, science fiction, and history will propel readers to Japan past and present and to Japanese universes abroad.

What I Have to Say 

As an anthology, it's obviously  quite hard to pull together a lot of stories that are really good, but on the most part the stories in this book are very good. Some are absolutely amazing. 


There are some lovely bits of Japanese folk lore in here. Which I always find really interesting. But there are other things if that's not your thing. Whether you would be interested in exploring how people recover from disaster, or just how teenagers cope with exploring identity. There'll be something in here to interest you. 


Also, I wouldn't normally be promoting something this strongly, but if you buy this book, a percentage of the profit goes to Hope For Tomorrow, a non-profit organisation in Japan that supports the ongoing relief efforts for Teens in Japan. So buying it would be giving money to a really good cause. And you get a great book out of it!