A family trilogy

Allen Say

Tree of Cranes (Houghton Mifflin, 1991)

Grandfather's Journey (Houghton Mifflin, 1993)
Tea with Milk (Houghton Mifflin, 1999)


Some of us are set fast-forward to the future. Others of us wonder about the past. Where did our parents and grandparents come from, we ask. And we use the answers to understand who we are and where we are going. Allen Say shares his family's story in three beautifully illustrated and and somewhat wistful books.
  In Tree of Cranes, Say is a young boy in Japan. His mother, who grew up in the United States, celebrates his return to good health and commemorates her own childhood with a hybrid Christmas tree.
  Grandfather's Journey memorializes the life of Say's grandfather, who may seem acculturated and settled with his family in California, returns to Japan.
  Tea with Milk concerns Say's mother, who is wrenched from the comforts of California when her father brings the family back to Japan. She eventually meets a fellow with unconventional tastes that match her own.
  All of the books speak thoughtfully and gently about the un-ease of being caught between cultures, an increasingly common experience in our post-modern, globally connected world. Say's family seems to have pioneered this path, and he is generous to share its intimacies and beauty with us.