Mina's Matchbox

<p><b><i>On sleepless nights, I open the matchbox and reread the story of the girl who gathered shooting stars</i></b><br><br>After the death of her father, twelve-year-old Tomoko is sent to live for a year with her uncle in the coastal town of Ashiya. It is a year which will change her life.<br><br>While the 1970s transform Japan, her uncle''s magnificent colonial mansion is a place out of time; its sprawling gardens are even home to a pet pygmy hippo. Equally beguiling are Tomoko¿s relatives, especially her cousin Mina. Their growing friendship draws her into an intoxicating world ¿ one full of secret crushes and elaborate storytelling.<br><br>Rich with the magic and mystery of youth, <i>Mina¿s Matchbox </i>is an evocative snapshot of a moment frozen in time, and a striking depiction of a family on the edge of collapse.<br><br><b>''Beguiling'' </b><i><b>New Yorker</b></i><br><br><b>¿Beautifully composed¿ <i>Financial Times</i><br><br>¿Effervescent¿ <i>New York Times Book Review</i><b