Akemi Dawn Bowman
Akemi Dawn Bowman writes young adult and middle-grade fiction about identity, grief, belonging, and the inner lives that other people overlook. Starfish began that work through Kiko’s art and search for a life beyond an abusive home.
Photo: Peter Jolly · Source: Macmillan author page — Akemi Dawn Bowman ↗
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Years covered2017
Works on Favedom.com
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Listen & Watch
YALSA asks Bowman about Kiko, the book’s path to publication, and the discipline of continuing to write beyond a debut.
YALSA · January 22, 2018TeachingBooks provides a named recording and interview tied directly to Starfish.
TeachingBooksMore About Akemi Dawn Bowman
Akemi Dawn Bowman writes across contemporary fiction, science fiction, and middle grade. Her official bibliography moves from Starfish, Summer Bird Blue, and Harley in the Sky to the Infinity Courts novels and stories for younger readers, while Macmillan identifies Starfish as a William C. Morris Award finalist .
Starfish follows Kiko, a biracial Japanese American artist trying to separate her own sense of worth from an abusive home. Bowman told YALSA that the next book became her anchor amid publishing’s noise; in her finalist remarks, she returned to the importance of librarians helping quiet stories reach teenagers who need them.
Kirkus found Kiko’s movement from defensive passivity toward self-realization believable and moving . A later Kirkus interview shows Bowman carrying that attention to interior life into Summer Bird Blue, where grief, music, and Hawaiian community shape a different route toward being seen.
Quotes From the Writer and Contributors
“how quiet a book is—to them, it’s the loudest voice in the room.”
Awards & Recognition
Bowman’s YALSA interview and finalist remarks document Starfish’s place among the 2018 finalists.
YALSA · 2018Critical Reception
Kirkus questions some story elements while finding Kiko’s path from passivity to self-realization believable and moving.
Kirkus Reviews · June 26, 2017More Writing
Bowman’s bibliography includes Summer Bird Blue, Harley in the Sky, the Infinity Courts series, Generation Misfits, and Where the Lost Ones Go.
Author bibliography