Jimmy Jo’s mom and her brother steal the song that Jimmy Jo’s dad wrote for him, and record it with their names on it. Jimmy Jo gets angry, but in time he realizes he just has to overlook the problems and keep on singing.

This summer I picked up guitar, but I probably don’t play as well as Jimmy Jo. I can kind of relate to Jimmy Jo, though, even if I am not a celebrity. He and I both come from a musical family. My mom and dad were both music teachers and my dad is a member of the old folk group, The Brothers Four. Maybe I’ll be up there some day, too.

What are you reading (or singing)?

Jason and his family met my mom and dad last November (but I wasn’t there),at a Brothers Four concert when my dad was performing.

The next morning, they brought us to see pottery shops, and a mechanical puppet show. The puppets were made out of porcelain. Then we went around to the shops outside that area and got some porcelain spoons and chopstick rests — all my mom’s idea. She likes that kind of stuff. After that, they took us to this awesome resteraunt called the Lion. It’s traditional Japanese food, and the chefs cook it right in front of you! The guy came out and dazzled us with fancy slicing and then he lit the food on fire. The prawns were so buttery, and the scallops were so big, I could stay there forever! We also visited the Korean potters’ kilns that had been made hundreds of years ago by enslaved Koreans.

The 99 Islands were next on the agenda, though not in the same day. It was definitely magical, looking like they stepped out of a Tamora Pierce book. Pierce is an author who mostly writes with female protagonists, but her “Circle of Magic” books are perfectly written for both genders . Spinning tales of mages and magic, she gives the world’s upcoming sorcerers something to do while they’re not practicing their spells.

Four teens who were the outcasts of their worlds are brought together at the Living Circle to learn magic. Sandry (the weaver), Triss (storm bringer), Daja (the metal worker) and Briar (the plant mage), all have to learn to get along while working on magic, or face their teachers Lark and Rosethorn.

So join our junior magicians on their reckless adventure to control their powers and save much more than themselves from destruction in all four Circle of Magic books.

Happy reading!

After that we went to the hotel we were staying at on base. When we woke we went to the Sakura Theater where we were doing the presentations. The powerpoint didn’t work for the first one but it was great anyway. After that was done, we went to the school to figure out more tech solutions and get ready for the night show.

Barry took me over to the Boys and Girls Club. It was pretty fun. The day after, Saturday, we went to Hiroshima with Billie before leaving. First we went to a bakery where we got some lunch, then we ate it in the Peace Park by Sadako’s memorial.

We walked past the eternal flame to get to the Peace Museum. When you get in, you see all kinds of things about the bombing. They have videos, artifacts, and diagrams. These two displays stood out for me…

The first one is Shin’s tricycle. Little Shin always wanted a tricycle. When he got it, he was very excited and treasured it. One day he was riding it with the neighbor girl and the bomb blew up. His parents made it through, but Shin did not. His father buried him in the backyard with a charred helmet and his trycicle for forty years before digging up his remains and burying him in a cemetary. At that time he gave the helmet and tricycle to the museum.

Below is a great realistic before/after model of Hiroshima.

I was glad to have the long train ride to Sasebo to recover.

I asked my mom to take a picture of just the sign, but she included the temple anyway. I thought it was a stop sign, but later found out it was actually a no-parking sign. One slash means no parking, and two slashes means no parking and no stopping.                                            

Another no-parking sign, but what’s the other one? A stop sign! 

Naritasan Shinshoji Temple covers many acres. A service was going on when we got there. Chanters, drummers, a bell ringer, and a few grill-size incense burners filled the air and our senses. Many of the ponds surrounding the temple contained turtles that loved to lie on the rocks. Some of them lay so still they appeared to be made of stone. Gigantic carp swam around them. As we were about to leave, I noticed that the island the turtles were on was shaped like a stone turtle.

We shopped our way back to the hotel. The first shop was a seafood place. For some reason they had roasted grasshopper. I was brave enough to try one. It had a little crunch and a sweet coating. My mom said I went through a series of faces afterwards. It was less the taste, and more the idea of what I had just done.

We went through other shops, but none were as interesting, except for maybe the clothing shop that carried T-shirts with sayings in English.

“I knew they would be major, I will like this popularity.”

“This popularity we have brought it up.”

“sunlight is strong, burnt, a drought continues in a place with no water and water is lost, keep moisture drying with care.”                                                                                                                                    

I’ll leave it to you to decide what to make of those, but they remind me of THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY, a parody of America. J-Lo, a Boov, and Gratuity, a human, meet up and become instant friends.You’ll laugh out loud at their hilarious partnership. We were reading it at school, and we weren’t quite done with it. Tomorrow I’ll be at a school library, but what books (besides SMEKDAY) should I look for? Send me your list! Really!

It’s just too bad I finished The Lord of the Rings already so I can’t bring it to Japan. My mom (the author) and I are doing presentations there. I’m leaving on Monday, but I’ll be visiting lots of school libraries, and I get to pick up books to read. Anyone got suggestions?