Saucy

Cracker!: The Best Dog in Vietnam

Half A World Away

The Year of the Fortune Cookie: Anna Wang

While I Was Away

The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond

Mama and Mommy and Me in the Middle

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period

"My mother had four daughters by four different men."

There's only one way Shelby and her sisters can describe their mother: She's a sexpot. Helen Kimura collects men (and loans, spending money, and gifts of all kinds) from all over the country. Sure, she's not your typical role model, but she's also not just a pretty face and nail polish. She is confident and brave; she lives life on her own terms, and her four daughters simply adore her. These girls have been raised outside the traditional boundaries. They know how to take the back exit. They know how to dodge crazed lovers in highway car chases. They do not, however, know how to function without one another.

Then suddenly they must. A late-night phone call unexpectedly shreds the family apart, catapulting the girls across the country to live with their respective fathers. But these strong-willed sisters are, like their mother, determined to live life on their own terms, and what they do to pull their family back together is nothing short of beautiful.

At turns wickedly funny and insistently thought-provoking, Outside Beauty showcases Cynthia Kadohata's unerring ability to explore the bonds that bind.

Discover Your Child's Next Read

Saucy

Marianna Raskin, Cynthia Kadohata, 2020

Cracker!: The Best Dog in Vietnam

Cynthia Kadohata, 2007

Half A World Away

Cynthia Kadohata, 2014

The Year of the Fortune Cookie: Anna Wang

Patrice Barton, Andrea Cheng, 2014

While I Was Away

Waka T. Brown, 2021

The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond

Brenda Woods, 2014

Mama and Mommy and Me in the Middle

Nina Lacour, 2023

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period

Gennifer Choldenko, 2007