A literary hit in Japan when it was released, this beautiful and thoughtful novel explores the Zainichi Korean experience through a teen girl who seems surrounded by secrets.” “Though it is just over 150 pages, The Color of the Sky is the Shape of the Heart packs a lot of emotion, history and personal growth within its pages. “The translated version of Chesil’s debut novel, which was originally published in Japanese, draws from her own childhood…the novel unpacks the complexities around nationalism, prejudice, and identity.” Magazine Most Anticipated Book of 2022Ī Kirkus Reviews Anticipated YA Book of 2022 Praise for The Color of the Sky is the Shape of the HeartĪ Ms. We see this as an awards contender and will be widely submitting it. Special focus on Asian and Pacific Herritage-related media in addition to national print and digital book coverage. Major media anticipated from adult literary outlets to Young Adult media, women’s media, and regional media from the Pacific Northwest. Its themes are universal to coming-of-age stories: struggles of identity, race, abuse, and the often slow and painful process of healing. Publicity: Shortlisted for one of Japan’s most prestigious literary prizes, this English language debut is a landmark translation event made all the more special given the scarcity of YA translations and growing interest in internationally-set YA books. SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, SHELF AWARENESS.

Pre-publication digital/print advertising across trade venues, incl. Outreach to teen book club, reading groups and young adult book bloggers Robust galley giveaways at PLA, ABA Whitebox, B&T, regional fall shows, Children’s Institute. Targeted mailing to booksellers and influencers involved in the translation community. Hyper regional focus: robust indie campaign focused on PNBA. Marketing: Robust digital campaigns targeting multiple audiences: adult literary readers of translation, and YA readers interested in #AllTheFeels and representative stories. Inspired by her own childhood, author Chesil creates a portrait of a girl who has been fighting alone against barriers of prejudice, nationality, and injustice all her life-all while searching for a place to belong. In witty and brutally honest vignettes, and interspersed with old letters from her expatriated family in North Korea, Ginny recounts her adolescence growing up Zainichi, an ethnic Korean born in Japan, and the incident that forced her to leave years prior. Ginny sets off on the road in search of an answer, with only her journal as a confidante. Then, Ginny finds a mysterious scrawl among Stephanie’s scraps of paper and storybook drawings that changes everything: The sky is about to fall. She can’t bring herself to open up to anyone about her past, or about what prompted her to flee her native Japan. Stephanie, the picture book author who took Ginny into her Oregon home after she was kicked out of school in Hawaii, isn’t upset she only wants to know why. Seventeen-year-old Ginny Park is about to get expelled from high school-again. Now in translation for the first time, the award-winning debut that broke literary ground in Japan explores diaspora, prejudice, and the complexities of a teen girl’s experience growing up as a Zainichi Korean, reminiscent of Min Jin Lee’s classic Pachinko and Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street.

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