The Happiness of Kati by Jane Vejjajiva

Although the main character is just 9, the book is definitely for an older audience. Kati’s happy life with her grandparents is disrupted by a visit to her mother, whom Kati has not seen for almost five years. Suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease, Kati’s mother wants to spend the last days of her short life with her beloved daughter, whom she left in her parents’ care because she feared for Kati’s safety with her debilitating condition. Even while she is bewildered by her mother’s death, Kati is well-loved by many nurturing relatives, and is able to peacefully let her mother go.

Review: “In Celebration of Asian Pacific American Month: A Literary Survey,” The Bloomsbury Review, May/June 2006

Readers: Middle Grade, Young Adult

Published: 2006