TEA WITH MILK
Say, Allen. TEA WITH MILK. 1999. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0395904951
Plot Summary
May was born and raised in San Francisco until one day her homesick parents decided to return to Japan. Her mother wanted May to find a "husband from a good family." May wanted to stay in San Francisco with her friends and the customs she had grown used to such as drinking her tea with milk. When the family arrived in Japan, May felt out of place. Now in Japan, May had to take on the customs of the Japanese by wearing a kimono, sitting for hours on the floor and meet a man who possibly might be her future husband. May decides to leave her family for the bustling city of Osaka. She loves the big city but is soon discouraged because women do not usually work and her jobs seem meaningless and unimportant. She gets a break when she uses her English to help an American couple in the store where she is employed. Her boss arranges another job for her and she meets and falls in love with a young man who just happens to like tea with milk.
Critical Analysis
The conflict in Tea with Milk begins when May's (Masako) parents decide to return to Japan. Her parents have lived in California all of May's life but they still hold to Japanese customs. Conflict builds as May returns to Japan with her family. Our lecture notes suggest recurring themes in Asian Pacific American literature. Say includes the theme if "Immigrant adjustment to life in the U.S." in describing May's parents. "Her parents were homesick and decided to return to Japan." The themes of "cross cultural conflict" and the search for and acceptance of an Asian Pacific American identity" reoccur throughout the story as May has learned English and now must learn Japanese with follows this week's lecture notes, " the issue of language is an important component of Asian American culture." She dresses in the Japanese custom of the kimono for the woman and sits "on floors until her legs went numb." Even her home was different. "Her new home was drafty, with windows made of paper." She had enjoyed American food but now "There were no more pancakes or omelets, fried chicken or spaghetti. I'll never get used to this place, she thought with a heavy heart." As a military child I remember getting use to customs of my new surroundings. I did not have to leave the United States but moving from a big city in North Carolina to a small town in Texas was a big culture shock for me in regards to clothing, food and dialect. I was considered "different" for a few months but luckily acclimated easily. The theme of adjustment will resonate with many children. May wants her own identity, an American daughter. She realizes her parents did not want to be foreigners but she is now feels like a foreigner in her parents home country. Leaving for the big city of Osaka, May seems hopeful to find her place. She tries to find work only to discover that Japanese women usually do not work. "Her parents were not happy, especially her mother. It was shameful for ladies to work." May represents a strong woman who knows what she wants and wants to walk her own paths. She does not want an arranged marriage to a banker which is ironic because she meets an young man who is a banker and later marries him. He also grew up in America and likes tea with milk and sugar. After they marry and have children the couple offers both cultures to their children. Allen Say is one of those children and he like his parents enjoys tea with milk and sugar.
Say's beautiful watercolor pictures are warm with crisp details. The facial expressions of the characters add to the text helping the reader to feel the struggle May is having as she must leave the land she knows to go back to a land her parents call home. The characters have dark straight, hair and their skin is varying shades of olive with almond shaped eyes. Say definitely portrays May as a gaijin (foreigner) when he uses earth tones for most of the illustration and gives us May in her bright red dress accented with a touch of purple in her purse which also illustrates her independence and confidence as a young woman. Say exposes the reader to a different type of clothing for women in the pictures of women in kimonos, homes, and the food. There are some pictures showing transportation, department stores, and some of the clothing to be the same as in the United States which lets the reader know we share similarities. Say introduces the reader to a small slice of Japan while letting us know we all have desires and struggles within us.
Reviews
"Both an "ugly duckling" romance and a universal story of leaving home, this is a picture book that will have intense appeal for older readers." - Booklist
"Through choice words and scrupulously choreographed paintings, Say's story communicates both the heart's yearning for individuality and freedom and how love and friendship can bridge cultural chasms." - Publishers Weekly
Awards/Connections
THE LOTUS SEED written by Sherry Garland
FLY AWAY HOME written by Eve Bunting
THE NAME JAR written by Yangsook Choi
Riverbank Review Book of Distinction
Bulletin Blue Ribbon
SLJ Best Book
ALA Notable Book
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/authors/allensay/
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