Tea with Milk by Allen Say

a. Bibliographic data
Say, Allen. 1999. TEA WITH MILK. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0547237472

b. Brief plot summary
After spending the first part of her life living in San Francisco, Masako (or May as she is called in America), must follow her parents when they move back to Japan. Although she has graduated high school in America, May must now return to school to be educated in Japanese. Irritated with her new life, May buys a ticket to Osaka, a large city in Japan, and gets a job in a department store. While working, she meets a young man and begins a friendship that will last a lifetime.

c. Critical analysis
Author Allen Say does an excellent job in retelling his mother’s life story in Tea with Milk. The somber tone of the book reflects the thoughts and feelings of young May as she struggles with adjusting to her new life in Japan. Underneath the loneliness and “a heavy heart”, May is a girl with dreams of being independent and living life on her terms. There is a sense of bravery in May that shines through even her saddest moments.

Say confronts the differences in the Japanese and Japanese-American cultures head on. From the first page, readers understand that May is known by two different names and speaks two different languages. She has even grown accustomed to two types of food: “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.”

Readers are able to share May’s experience as she is introduced to Japanese traditions such as sitting on the floor (instead of chairs), wearing a kimono in place of her American clothing, and bowing in the traditional Japanese greeting. Likewise, readers are also able to share her sense of adventure in making it on her own and accomplishment in discovering herself.

The watercolor illustrations in Tea with Milk provide support for the text when needed (such as May’s isolation at school on page 9) but also enhance the emotions of the main character (the devastated facial expression on page 7 or the bright, American outfit worn in defiance on page 15). Each character drawn on the pages of this beautiful book are detailed and realistic. As an illustrator, Say has paid careful attention to his images so even the backgrounds of buildings and rooms have depth.

d. Reviews/Awards
• From SLJ: “Continuing the story he started in Grandfather's Journey (Houghton, 1993), Say explores familiar themes of cultural connection and disconnection. He focuses on his mother Masako, or May, as she prefers to be called, who, after graduating from high school in California, unwillingly moves with her parents to their native Japan… 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.”
• From Booklist: “Say's masterfully executed watercolors tell as much of this story about a young woman's challenging transition from America to Japan as his eloquent, economical prose. Raised near San Francisco, Masako (her American friends called her May) is uprooted after high school when her parents return to their Japanese homeland… Through choice words and scrupulously choreographed paintings, Say's story communicates both the heart's yearning for individuality and freedom and how love and friendship can bridge cultural chasms.”

e. Connections
• Readers should read Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say to understand the characters of Tea with Milk.
• This story can be coupled with other tales of immigration such as the wordless picture book, The Arrival by Shaun Tan.
• An author study can be completed by reading Say’s biography at http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/authors/allensay/author.shtml or reading any of the other works listed below:
o Tree of Cranes
o Emma’s Rug
o The Boy in the Garden
o Under the Cherry Blossom Tree
o Allsion