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>The 1970s are bringing changes to Japan and her uncle's magnificent colonial mansion opens up a new and unfamiliar world for Tomoko; its sprawling gardens are even home to a pygmy hippo the family keeps as a pet. Tomoko finds her relatives equally exotic and beguiling and her growing friendship with her cousin Mina draws her into an intoxicating world 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>Praise for <i>Mina's Matchbox </i></b><br><br>'I read <i>Mina's Matchbox</i> like a besotted chi