Summary and Story Board

Summary: 

Today we read the graphic novel called 'Something Alive' by Jem Yoshioka.  A young girl, the main character, was born in New Zealand as were both her parents. However, her grandmother travelled from Japan to New Zealand. 

The girl describes her features as ambiguous because of her accent that blends in with the voices around her. She rarely gets addressed with the question: "No, where are you really from?" Her father has no choice. He has his fathers Japanese face features. 

But she still feels there's a part of her people seem to misunderstand. They want to dress her up in what they think she should be/do, stereotypical. She describes the way she feels as a badly translated Haiku. Means something in Japanese but something different in English. However, she feels lost in both places. 

People like to tell her things about Japan. She feels frustrated when they do because she would already know. But when people ask her things about Japan, it's like a reminder she doesn't know so much and it makes her feel hurt. 

She often feels as if her blood makes her less somehow. She explains that not what heritage is about. She can trace her lineage back thousands of years, back to a shrine of bamboo her grandmother once called home. 

Now her grandmother calls New Zealand home. The girl always tells her grandmother about the progress she is making learning about the Japanese culture. When the girl feels lost, she has her family. And her grandmother.