Tokyo Dreaming: A Novel (Tokyo Ever After, 2)

About the Author\nWhen Emiko Jean isn’t writing, she is reading. Before she became a writer, she was an entomologist, a candlemaker, a florist, and most recently, a teacher. She lives in Washington with her husband and children (unruly twins). She is also the author of Empress of all Seasons and We'll Never Be Apart.\nReturn to Tokyo for a royal wedding in Emiko Jean's New York Times bestseller Tokyo Dreaming, the sequel to beloved rom-com Tokyo Ever After!\nWhen Japanese-American Izumi Tanaka learned her father was the Crown Prince of Japan, she became a princess overnight. Now, she’s overcome conniving cousins, salacious press, and an imperial scandal to finally find a place she belongs. She has a perfect bodyguard turned boyfriend. Her stinky dog, Tamagotchi, is living with her in Tokyo. Her parents have even rekindled their college romance and are engaged. A royal wedding is on the horizon! Izumi’s life is a Tokyo dream come true. Only. . .\nHer parents’ engagement hits a brick wall. The Imperial Household Council refuses to approve the marriage citing concerns about Izumi and her mother’s lack of pedigree. And on top of it all, her bodyguard turned boyfriend makes a shocking decision about their relationship. At the threat of everything falling apart, Izumi vows to do whatever it takes to help win over the council. Which means upping her newly acquired princess game.\nBut at what cost? Izumi will do anything to help her parents achieve their happily ever after, but what if playing the perfect princess means sacrificing her own? Will she find a way to forge her own path and follow her heart?\nFrom School Library Journal\nGr 8 Up-In the second installment of Jean's lovable coming-of-age romp, Izumi Tanaka has a lot on her mind. Will she take a gap year? Go directly to college? How will she and her friends stay in touch? Is the boy she fell head over heels for still the one? However, there is an enormous, more foreboding element to things. Izumi is not just a girl trying to navigate the mundane changes of getting older-she is the daughter of the crown prince of Japan and forever under the watchful eye of the press. People inside and outside the court are ready to record her even slightest mistake. Quickly she realizes it is not just her reputation on the line; after finally reuniting, her father and her mother want to marry. A princess does not simply get to choose her life and the adventure throughout it. Or does she? This book excels in the best of both the cheesy and the substance of a YA novel's plot. The setting, however, sets it apart. The Japanese imagery and historical context explained in the book never feel forced. Jean accurately captures the difficulty for truly empathic individuals to focus on what is best for themselves while caring for others. Readers will find themselves laughing and screaming out loud at the characters' choices. Warning for one tastefully vague sexually explicit scene in the book that readers can easily skip without derailing the overall awesome writing of the book as a whole. VERDICT Buy this fun book for any collection, especially where the previous book is popular.-DeHanza Kwongα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.