Tea With Milk by Allen Say

1.  Bibliography
Say, Allen.  1999.  TEA WITH MILK.  New York:  Houghton Mifflin Company.  ISBN 9780395904954


2.  Plot Summary
May grew up in San Francisco with her family who are Japanese.  "At home she had rice and miso soup and plain green tea for breakfast.  At her friends' houses she ate pancakes and muffins and drank tea with milk" (4).  When May grows up she wants to go to college in San Francisco an have her own apartment.  She wants to take part in more of the American culture.  But when she graduates high school her parents decide to return to Japan to live.  She as to start High School over and take part in the Japanese traditions.  Eventually she will have to marry a Japanese man.  "Mother is determined to find a husband for me she tole herself" (12).  May departs for Osaka to see if she can find what she is seeking.

3.  Critical Analysis
The setting of the story begins in San Francisco and concludes in Japan.  The characters in the story are a Japanese family that try to live in America, but prefer Japan.  The text of the story does not have any physical descriptions of the characters.  The people in the story are seen in the realistic illustrations as they turn each page.  The people in the pictures have dark hair, tan skin, and eyes that are Asian.  The main character in the story wears a kimono in several pictures which is an indicator of the Japanese culture.   "She had to wear kimonos and sit on the floor until her legs were numb" (6).  The architecture and environment in the story are of a modern day city in Japan.  All of the signs on the building are written in Japanese letters. 
The text in the story shows identification of the specific culture.  The main characters name Masako is Japanese.  The foods mentioned rice, miso soup, and green tea for breakfast are cultural indicators.  The lifestyle of the characters is a marker.  The main character takes specific lessons.  "At home, Masako took lessons in flower arranging, calligraphy, and the tea ceremony" (10).  A matchmaker is going to find a husband for the young woman.  These are all cultural markers for the Japanese culture.  The author gives plenty of indicators in the text and illustration for the reader to decide exactly what culture this book is about.

4.  Review Excerpts
PUBLISHER WEEKLY says:  "With his characteristic subtlety, Say sets off his cultural metaphor from the very start, contrasting the green tea Masako has for breakfast in her home, with the "tea with milk and sugar" she drinks at her friends' houses in America. Later, when she meets a young Japanese businessman who also prefers tea with milk and sugar to green tea, readers will know that she's met her match."
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL:  "Kindergarten-Grade 6-Continuing the story he started in Grandfather's Journey (Houghton, 1993), Say explores familiar themes of cultural connection and disconnection. He focuses on his mother Masako, or May, as she prefers to be called, who, after graduating from high school in California, unwillingly moves with her parents to their native Japan. She is homesick for her native country and misses American food. She rebels against her parents, who force her to repeat high school so that she can learn "her own language"; the other students tease her for being "gaijin" or a foreigner."

5.  Connections
This book can be used to show how young Japanese girls grow up or contrast the cultural differences between how American girls and Japanese girls are brought up differently.   
Other books about growing up in a different culture:
Altman, Linda Jacobs.  AMELIA'S ROAD.  ISBN 978180000274
Say, Allen.  GRANDFATHER'S JOURNEY.  ISBN 9780547076805