Mina’s Matchbox

When 12-year-old Tomoko leaves her mother in Tokyo to spend a year on the Japanese coast in her aunt’s home in Ashiya, she’s quickly enchanted by her cousin Mina. Plagued with chronic asthma but gifted with a bright imagination and a penchant for striking matches, Mina is unlike anyone Tomoko’s ever met. But not even the wonders of this new friendship can keep Tomoko from trying to understand the reasons for the quiet melancholy that fills the family’s home. Mina’s Matchbox, the latest novel by Japanese author Yoko Ogawa, translated by Stephen B. Snyder, is a tender testament to all that children see, the unavoidable influence of family, and the enduring power of our formative years.

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