Tokyo Ever After, Emiko Jean (Flatiron Books, Macmillan, May 2021)

But is that even possible in a closely controlled imperial court where her every move will be scrutinized, down to an unscheduled bathroom break at Narita upon landing? It’s her hope that she will feel more at home in Japan than in Mount Shasta. Soon Izumi is on her way to Tokyo to meet her father, flying alone in first class with only one other passenger, her personal imperial guard, Akio. Once Izumi discovers the identity of her father and tries to reach out to him, it doesn’t take long before the Japanese embassy in Washington, DC gets involved. He remained unmarried, pining for Izumi’s mother, a sansei or third generation Japanese American who fits in better with the kombucha crowd than those whose tea is poured by servants.Įmiko Jean’s latest young adult novel, Tokyo Ever After, has been compared to The Princess Diaries and Crazy Rich Asians.

In her final semester of high school, life as she knows it suddenly comes to a halt when she discovers that her long lost father-a man she has never met-is the Crown Prince of Japan. She’s an average student and spends much of her free time at the local diner with her friends, a quartet they’ve dubbed the Asian Girl Gang, or AGG. But then honestly, it took me another five or so years before I figured out how I wanted to tackle it (also, I was just embarking on my career as a TV writer in Los Angeles so all of my early attempts at writing it never panned out.Izumi Tanaka is a normal, Northern California teenager. I wrote my book agent, she replied back a day later and told me she loved the idea…. Late that night when I couldn't sleep I snuck down to the hotel lobby with my laptop and I was struck that a YA retelling of Anna Karenina would be such a fun book. The women in the original book were very inexperienced when it came to matters of their (own) heart as they were obviously unable to ever really get to know any man before marriage at the time it took place. It was then that I realized that Anna Karenina really discusses first loves and it occurred to me if someone were to do a modern retelling it may have to be done with high school age teens, as that's sometimes the first place when someone falls in love (or thinks they have fallen in love). In 2012 I saw the Keira Knightley version of the movie in NYC with my mom on Christmas Day and as we had both read the book we discussed Anna's tragic story for a long time.

Tokyo ever after by emiko jean