COLORFUL (2021)

Colorful by Eto Mori
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Considered a YA book, "Colorful" is instead a story that will touch all ages.

FIRST LINE: "Congratulations, you've won the lottery!" shouts the angel Prapura to a formless soul."

THE STORY: Prapura informs a random soul that he has been chosen for a 'homestay'. Even though guilty of a grave error in his life, he has won the opportunity to return to the world by borrowing another's body. The trick is as soon as the soul is able to recall his own enormous mistake, the homestay ends and he moves on. And that's how the soul came to be Makoto Kobayashi, a ninth grader, who committed suicide. With Prapura as his guide, Makoto slips into his new life and begins to discover its complexities.

WHAT I THOUGHT: This simply written story is a gem. Although there are many references to things Japanese, the story itself has already shown, by having been translated and loved in a number of other languages, that it will resonate with readers everywhere. There's an anime movie with the same name on YouTube if you should care to watch.

Makoto makes assumptions about his parents, his brother, the other students at his school and gets them mostly wrong. His journey leads him to a new understanding of those around him and ultimately, a new beginning. The reader can't help but relate those lessons to their own lives.

Jocelyne Allen did a lovely job of translating "Colorful" for an English speaking audience, but I wondered what it would be like reading it in Japanese.

The story is funny, sad, angry, painful, touching, and colorful. I was moved to tears several times.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. This is a book you share with people you love.

A copy of was provided to me by Counterpoint Press /Net Galley for an honest review.

Publisher: Counterpoint Press (July 20, 2021) (first published July 1998)
Paperback: 224 pages
ISBN-13: 9781640094420 

THE AUTHOR: Ito Mori is a Japanese novelist focusing on children's and young adult literature. She has been described as "one of the most celebrated female writers of fiction in Japan today".

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