A review by cottonquilts
The Best Bad Thing by Yoshiko Uchida

4.0

Rinko is a young Japanese American girl who enjoys life and is at that age where she’s trying to figure things out, mostly herself. She’s got a very strong, assertive mother who has such a good heart that she volunteers Rinko to live with a family friend who really needs an extra set of hands for the next month or so. Rinko doesn’t want to go, but she’s been raised to perform without complaint and she rises quite well to the occasion. Uchida deftly writes a coming of age story that is filled with several underlying themes that never weigh the story down. Uchida was the first Nissei (Japanese born American) to write about Japanese culture for young people. She wrote more than 30 books before passing away in 1992. May she rest in peace.