Somewhere Among PREPARING MYSELF Not enough room for me to give Mom space, I crouch in my corner fold clothes for three seasons into my suitcase slide pencil case, supplies box, assignments, notebooks, and textbooks into my schoolbag and slip my NASA pen into my pocket. I do not want to go to stay with Obaachan, my Japanese grandmother, but it cannot be helped. Every August I pack my summer homework shorts and swimsuit to fly to Northern California with Mom but this year I am packing on a school holiday the longest day of the year to go to western Tokyo. I will miss six months of fifth grade at my school I will miss our holiday by the sea with Papa before California I will miss a whole month of having Mom's old room to myself. My friends will miss the cinnamon balls wrapped in pepper-red plastic I always bring back as souvenirs. JUNE 21, 2001 Excerpted from Somewhere Among by Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
