TEA WITH MILK by Allen Say

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Say, Allen. 1999. Tea with Milk.Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.ISBN-10:0395904951

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Born into a Japanese family, but raised in San Francisco, May, (Masako at home), is used to one way of life at home, and another at her friends’ houses. At home they speak Japanese, everywhere else they speak to her in English. “At home she had rice and miso soup and plain green tea for breakfast. At her friends’ houses she ate pancakes and muffins and drank tea with milk and sugar.” May has big plans for her life after she graduates high school. She plans to go to college and live in San Francisco. That changed when her parents decided to move the family back to Japan because they were homesick. May finds herself in a place where she is an outsider in a strange country, “they called her gaijin (foreigner) and laughed at her.” May had to go to Japanese high school to learn Japanese, flower arranging, calligraphy and other skills needed to find a good husband. When her parents hire a matchmaker, May(Masako) rebels and goes to the large city of Osaka where she finds a job and an apartment, and eventually meets her future husband who also likes tea with milk and speaks English.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Tea with Milk, which is written and illustrated by Allen Say, begins with comparisons between the two cultures in which his mother grew up.  Although Say was born in Yokohama, Japan, but his mother spent her early years in San Francisco. Say uses beautiful watercolor paintings which accurately capture the expressions on the faces of the characters who are shown with varying facial features and skin tones. For instance, when Masako (May) returns to Japan with her family and has to “wear a kimonos and sit on the floor until her legs were numb,” the author paints her standing slumped over with an unhappy look on her face. When Masako meets with the potential husband who was chosen for her by the matchmaker, both characters are sitting stiffly upright on a bench and turned slightly away from each other. When May discovered the department store that looked like “a gleaming palace” and first got the idea to try to get a job there, the text says “Her heart beat faster and faster. She felt dizzy and confused,” while the picture shows May with an excited and slightly bemused look on her face.

The Japanese culture is well represented in this book which recounts the experiences of Allen Say’s mother as she struggled to find her own way in a life balanced, and sometimes torn between two cultures. Traditional Japanese foods such as green tea, rice, and miso contrast with the spaghetti and hot dogs common to America. Accurate drawings show the architecture of Japan. The differences in the cultural expectations for young women, (go to college and live on your own versus learning the necessary skills to find a husband from a good family), and the clothing, (kimono versus brightly colored dress from California) are revealed in both text and illustrations.

Young readers (recommended for grades K – 6) will enjoy this story of May longing for the home she is used to, struggling to fit in and find a place she can call home, meeting her husband and finding that "home isn't a place or a building that's ready-made and waiting for you, in America or anywhere else,” you have to make it for yourself.

4. REVIEWS/EXCERPTS

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL REVIEW: “The pages are filled with detailed drawings featuring Japanese architecture and clothing, and because of the artist's mastery at drawing figures, the people come to life as authentic and sympathetic characters. This is a thoughtful and poignant book that will appeal to a wide range of readers, particularly our nation's many immigrants who grapple with some of the same challenges as May and Joseph, including feeling at home in a place that is not their own.”

HORN BOOK REVIEW: "Continuing to explore place and home, Say tells the story of his mother, first introduced to readers in TREE OF CRANES. Born in California to Japanese immigrants, Masako is miserable when she moves to Japan with her parents after high school. The illustrations capture Masako's unhappiness and also her eventual contentment as she learns to combine two cultures."

5. CONNECTIONS

This a great book to read to a class to challenge students to explore their own heritage. Students could talk to parents and grandparents and record their memories and stories of their own family history.

Other books by Allen Say:

Say, Allen. Grandfather’s Journey. ISBN-10: 0547076800
Say, Allen. Emma’s Rug. ISBN-10: 0618335234
Say. Allen. Tree of Cranes. ISBN-10: 054724830X