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    Jasmine Toguchi, Mochi Queen
    Jasmine Toguchi, Mochi Queen
    Jasmine Toguchi, Mochi Queen
    Ebook100 pages48 minutes

    Jasmine Toguchi, Mochi Queen

    By Debbi Michiko Florence and Elizabet Vukovic

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    About this ebook

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    A Junior Library Guild Fall 2017 Selection
    An Amazon's Best Children's Books of 2017
    A Beverly Clearly Children's Choice Award Nominee
    An Evanston Public Library's 101 Great Books for Kids List 2017
    A Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best Books 2017
    A 2017 Nerdy Book Club Award Winner
    A We Are Kid Lit Collective 2019 Summer Reading List Pick

    The first book in a new chapter book series featuring a spunky Japanese-American heroine!

    Eight-year-old Jasmine Toguchi is a flamingo fan, tree climber, and top-notch mess-maker!

    She's also tired of her big sister, Sophie, always getting to do things first. For once, Jasmine wishes SHE could do something before Sophie—something special, something different. The New Year approaches, and as the Toguchi family gathers in Los Angeles to celebrate, Jasmine is jealous that her sister gets to help roll mochi balls by hand with the women. Her mom says that Jasmine is still too young to join in, so she hatches a plan to help the men pound the mochi rice instead. Surely her sister has never done THAT before.

    But pounding mochi is traditionally reserved for boys. And the mochi hammer is heavier than it looks. Can Jasmine build her case and her mochi-making muscles in time for New Year's Day?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateJul 11, 2017
    ISBN9780374304126
    Jasmine Toguchi, Mochi Queen
    Author

    Debbi Michiko Florence

    Debbi Michiko Florence is a third-generation Japanese American and has many fond memories of sharing in her family’s traditions while growing up in California and visiting her relatives in Japan. Debbi is also the author of novels and picture books, including Niki Nakayama: A Chef’s Tale in 13 Bites. She now lives in Connecticut with her husband and their many animals (but no flamingo).

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    4/5

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    • 4/5
      Great book for young readers about bending traditional norms.
    • 3/5
      Nice early chapter book about being frustrated at the limits of what age you are at, and about important Japanese American family traditions.

    Book preview

    Jasmine Toguchi, Mochi Queen - Debbi Michiko Florence

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    Table of Contents

    About the Author and Illustrator

    Copyright Page

    Thank you for buying this

    Farrar, Straus and Giroux ebook.

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    For email updates on Debbi Michiko Florence, click here.

    For email updates on Elizabet Vuković, click here.

    The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the author’s copyright, please notify the publisher at: us.macmillanusa.com/piracy.

    FOR MY DAUGHTER,

    CAITLIN MASAKO SCHUMACHER,

    WHO EATS HER MOCHI WITH

    CINNAMON AND SUGAR —D.M.F.

    FOR ANNA,

    MY SISTER AND BEST FRIEND —E.V.

    A TERRIFIC IDEA

    It was safest for me to hide in my room. Mom was scrubbing the guest bathroom. Dad was getting the cardboard boxes from the garage. My big sister, Sophie, was sweeping the kitchen floor. I waited for my chance to escape the cleaning frenzy.

    I, Jasmine Toguchi, do not like to clean! But I do like to climb trees, eat dessert, and make messes. I’d rather do any of those things right now.

    I peeked out my bedroom window. Dad has moved into the backyard! I tiptoed out of my room. Nobody in the hall! I ran to the front door. But just as I put my hand on the doorknob, I heard footsteps behind me.

    Jasmine Toguchi, where do you think you’re going?

    I turned slowly to face my mother.

    We need to clean the house before everyone arrives tomorrow, Mom said. Now go help your sister.

    Walnuts! This was exactly what I was trying to avoid. Helping Sophie would mean that I did all the work while she bossed me around.

    I already finished sweeping, Sophie announced from the next room. Scattered across the kitchen floor, small mounds of dust and bits of trash sat like sand dunes on the beach. Except this was no vacation. You can pick it all up. I’ll let you know if you do a good job.

    Sophie is two years older than me. She thinks that makes her my boss. If that weren’t annoying enough, she also gets to do everything before me. She started school first. She learned to read first. She even started piano lessons last year, and I have to wait another year. Not that I really want to play the piano.

    Sophie was always the expert. She thought she was smarter and better than me. Just once, I wished I could do something first. Just once, I wanted to be the expert.

    As I swept the piles into the dustpan, Sophie climbed up onto the kitchen stool. It was like being higher up made her more in charge. This meant barking commands at me while she picked at the chipped polish on her fingernails.

    You missed a pile!

    Stop sweeping so hard! You’re making dust fly into the air!

    Don’t spill or you’ll have to clean it up.

    I sighed and swept.

    We were getting ready for mochi-tsuki. Every year, our relatives come over to our house to

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