This Time Will Be Different

In Silicon Valley, Japanese-American CJ Katsuyama, 17, has yet to show an interest in or an aptitude for anything, except perhaps working at the family’s failing flower shop, Heart’s Desire, with her aunt Hannah, much to her overachieving venture capitalist mother Mimi’s chagrin. Mimi gives Hannah an ultimatum about the business—fix it or sell it to McAllister Venture Capital, a family that partially built its wealth by acquiring the property of Japanese-Americans forced into internment camps during WWII. The family flower shop was one of those businesses, sold cheaply and bought back by CJ’s grandfather at the market rate decades later. In this tension, CJ finally finds her cause: save the family business, and make the McAllisters pay for their past transgressions. Sugiura (It’s Not Like It’s a Secret) deftly weaves historical fact into this coming-of-age narrative, which also explores a budding romance and CJ’s curiosity about her father’s identity, a secret her mother has never revealed. Through CJ, she also addresses how the myth of the model minority has impacted Asian-Americans but is careful to not judge success within the Asian-American community. Sugiura provides an entertaining and informative backdrop that allows CJ to explore her own sense of identity while giving readers a front seat to her process. Ages 13–up. [em]Agent: Leigh Feldman, Feldman Literary Agency. (June) [/em]