Talent Night

by Jean Davies Okimoto

Overview

Rodney Suyama has two impossible dreams...
to be a rap star and to go out with gorgeous Ivy Ramos.

Set in the nineties at the dawn of rap, a witty and determined young man gets in touch with his past while taking control of his future in this romantic, poignant and hilarious novel by Jean Davies Okimoto.

Winner of the Parents Choice Award . . .

“A celebration of diversity.”
––Signal

“A story of ethnic pride, first love and determination to overcome stereotypes. Okimoto’s talents give this book the same wide appeal as her earlier titles Jason’s Women and Molly By Any Other Name.” ––School Library Journal

“. . . humor and empathy that will engage the reader.”
––The ALAN Review

Product Details

BN ID:	2940011474217
Publisher:	Jean Davies Okimoto
Publication date:	08/02/2011
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	176 KB
Age Range:	12 Years

About the Author

JEAN DAVIES OKIMOTO

Jean Davies Okimoto is the recipient of the American Library Association “Best Books for Young Adults” Award, the International Reading Association's Reader's Choice Award, the IRA/CBC Young Adults’ Choice Award, the Parents’ Choice Award, the Washington Governor's Award, the 1993 Maxwell Medallion for Best Children's Book of the Year, and two of her books have been recognized as Smithsonian Notable Books. In 2007 she received the Green Earth Book Award from the Newton Marasco Foundation and in 2008 the Green Prize for Sustainable Literature honor book, a national award given by the Santa Monica Public Library.

In connection with her non-fiction title, Boomerang Kids: How to Live with Adult Children who Return Home, she has appeared on the Today Show, the CBS Morning Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and CNN. Her publishers include Atlantic Monthly Press, Putnam, Little, Brown & Co., Dell, Scholastic, HarperCollins, and the Simul Press in Japan which has published Japanese editions of her novels My Mother Is Not Married To My Father and It's Just Too Much. Her short stories have also appeared in four Delacourte anthologies, Short Stories by Outstanding Writers for Young Adults. Shelley Duvall produced an animated version of Blumpoe the Grumpoe Meets Arnold the Cat for the series "Bedtime Stories" which was narrated by John Candy and appeared on HBO and Showtime.

Her one-act play, Hum it Again, Jeremy has been produced in schools in Vancouver, Toronto and New York. The Northwest Asian American Theater in Seattle produced the world premiere of Uncle Hideki based on her novel Talent Night and in 2006 produced Uncle Hideki and the Empty Nest. Book-it Repertory Theatre produced The Eclipse of Moonbeam Dawson based on her novel by the same name.

Her other titles include Norman Schnurman, Average Person, a mystery, Who Did It, Jenny Lake?, Jason's Women, Molly By Any Other Name, and Take A Chance, Gramps! which was a Junior Library Guild selection, named to the Lone Star State Reading List, and nominated for the Mark Twain Award and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award.

A Place For Grace, published by Sasquatch Books, was the first picture book for a general audience to feature a hearing dog and a deaf character and was praised by Smithsonian as "One of this year's most charming and large-hearted offerings." No Dear, Not Here a picture book about the marbled murrelets, endangered seabirds and their quest for a nest in the Pacific Northwest, is also a Sasquatch title and was designated a 1995 Smithsonian Notable Book for Children.

A member of PEN American Center, the Author's Guild and the Dramatists Guild, she has a master's degree in psychology from Antioch University and is the founder of the Seattle Reading Awards, which recognizes the fifth grade students in the Seattle Public Schools who have shown the most improvement in reading.

Editorial Reviews

Rodney Suyama, 17, has two goals: to be the first Asian rap star and to win the affection of his classmate Ivy Ramos. But she already has a boyfriend-the school's football hero. And Rodney's sister, Suzanne, a college sophomore, discourages his musical ambitions (``You gotta be black. They're the only guys that are cool rappers,'' she tells him). Then a paired assignment ignites a promising friendship with Ivy. On the home front, Rodney and Suzanne join forces to convince an estranged great-uncle that they've retained their Japanese heritage; an impending visit will decide if the siblings will receive his inheritance. Okimoto (My Mother Is Not Married to My Father) portrays varying degrees of racism-from a hurtful slur to the grievous U.S. internment camps of WWII. The dialogue and Rodney's bouncy first-person narration include both contemporary teenage lingo and Japanese vocabulary. Although the plot is essentially slim, it's strengthened by Rodney's wit, determination and sunny outlook. Ages 12-up. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 7-10-A fast-paced, humorous story of ethnic pride, first love, and determination to overcome stereotypes. Senior Rodney Suyama (he's half-Polish, half-Japanese) has two goals: to become a famous Asian-American rap star and to date beautiful Ivy Ramos. Talent Night at his high school in Seattle and a possible inheritance from his Japanese uncle from California may give him the chance to realize his first dream. In order to receive cash from their uncle, however, Rodney and his sister Suzanne must convince the stuffy, narrow-minded older man that they have an interest in their Japanese heritage. Rodney must also overcome the stereotype that only Blacks can be rap singers. Winning Ivy (she's half-Black, half-Filipino) away from the star football player proves to be a challenge. When the two are assigned a school project together, a friendship grows and Ivy encourages Rodney's musical goal, eventually becoming part of his Talent Night act. References to local landmarks will please Seattle readers, but Okimoto's talents as a contemporary YA writer gives this book the same wide appeal as her earlier titles, Jason's Women (Little, 1986) and Molly by Any Other Name (Scholastic, 1990; o.p.).-Judy R. Johnston, Auburn High School, WA

School Library Journal

Seventeen-year-old Rodney Suyama has a single career goal: to be the first Japanese American rapper. This appears far-fetched, but his second goal seems equally ludicrous: to date Ivy Ramos, the beautiful girlfriend of intimidating football star Lavell Tyler. Although the story is designed to be humorous, Okimoto addresses serious issues in the Japanese American community. Thoroughly Americanized Rodney and his sister, Suzanne, like many Japanese American teens, have little knowledge of or desire to know about their Japanese heritage, especially the legacy of the American prison camps during World War II. Unfortunately, unlike Okimoto's "Molly by Any Other Name" (1990), the characters here so lack depth and substance that it is difficult to care about their present or their past. Additionally, the plot seems somewhat juvenile for its intended YA audience. For collections supporting a Japanese American readership.

Frances Bradburn