Mina's Matchbox

"There’s such an elegance to the way Mina’s Matchbox unfolds that it didn’t even stick out to me that the young, rich, asthmatic title character was riding a hippo to school. In the novel, 12-year-old Tomoko moves in with her rich cousin (the aforementioned hippo rider). They form crushes and cook up schemes as preteen girls tend to do. The world Yoko Ogawa builds is quiet, warm and it should feel comforting. But there are peculiarities about the whole thing that keep you on the tips of your toes."