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The Inker’s Shadow

Allen Say picks up where he left off in Drawing from Memory, continuing his memoir in a volume blending prose narrative with intricate full-page, panel, and spot illustrations in both color and black-and-white. Fifteen and newly arrived in the United States from Japan, Say is given $10 and a few words from his father (“Don’t disgrace me”) before he is deposited at a military school run by his father’s old friend. His experiences there are mixed: He knows great kindness and also great frustration. He eventually leaves on his own, hoping to get a job and attend college, but first he has to finish high school. An understanding principal helps him enroll and find a job to support himself (he was living alone in a small hotel room), and a keen-eyed and compassionate art teacher helps him take the next steps on his journey to becoming an artist. He also falls in love for the first time. Occasional photographs and examples of his high school art are also included in a volume in which Say’s alter ego, a comic strip character named Kuysuke created by Say’s Japanese master teacher, is both a source of comfort and companionship for the lonely teen, as well as a sounding board. ©2015 Cooperative Children's Book Center

Illustrated by Allen Say

CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 11 and older
Age Range: Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13) Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Formats: Biography, Autobiography and Memoir Graphic Novel
Subjects: Art and Artists Autobiography/Memoir Immigration and Immigrants Japanese and Japanese Americans Loneliness School
Diversity subject: Asian

Publisher: Scholastic
Publish Year: 2015
Pages: 79
ISBN: 9780545437769

CCBC Location: Non-Fiction, 741.5 Say

The Inker’s Shadow