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Music for Alice
by Allen Say
- Used
- near fine
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine/Fine
- Seller
-
Portland, Oregon, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company / Walter Lorraine Books, 2004. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/Fine. Signed by Author(s). Signed by Alice Sumida (the subject and dedicatee of the book) on the title page and inscribed by the author on the dedication page along with his hand-drawn self-portrait. First printing (with full number line). Bookplate on ffep, else clean and unmarked. Dust jacket not price clipped; in an archival mylar sleeve. 32 pages. 8.5 x 11 inches. The true life story of a Japanese-American farmer, recounting her agricultural successes and setbacks and her enduring love of dance. Based on the life story of Alice Etsuko Eto Sumida (1914-2018), who with her husband Mark established the largest gladiola bulb farm in the country during the last half of the twentieth century. From her growing up on a farm in California, to her and her husband's forced removal from their home in Seattle into an assembly center in Portland following Pearl Harbor, the story follows their struggles and successes farming in Eastern Oregon and tells of her life journey and her passion for dancing through the years after the passing of her husband. Allen Say (b. 1937) is a Caldecott Medal-winning, Japanese-American writer and illustrator who has lived in both San Francisco and Portland.
Synopsis
As a girl, Alice loved to dance, but the rhythms of her life offered little opportunity for a foxtrot, let alone a waltz. World War II erupted soon after she was married. Alice and her husband, along with many other Japanese Americans, were forced to leave their homes and report to assembly centers around the country. Undaunted, Alice and her husband learned to make the most of every circumstance, from their stall in the old stockyard in Portland to the decrepit farm in the Oregon desert, with its field of stones. Like a pair of skilled dancers, they sidestepped adversity to land gracefully amid golden opportunity. Together they turned a barren wasteland into a field of endless flowers. Such achievements did not come without effort and sacrifice, though, and Alice often thought her dancing days were long behind her. But as her story testifies, life is full of changes . . . In this striking book, Allen Say introduces readers to the remarkable story of the life of a woman whose perseverance and resilience serve as an inspirational reminder that dreams can be fulfilled, even when least expected.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Boyd Used & Rare Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 014082
- Title
- Music for Alice
- Author
- Allen Say
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- 1st Edition
- Publisher
- Houghton Mifflin Company / Walter Lorraine Books
- Place of Publication
- Boston
- Date Published
- 2004
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Keywords
- children's, illustrated, picture book, Japanese-American, Nikkei, farms, farming, Oregon, WWII, biography,
Terms of Sale
Boyd Used & Rare Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Boyd Used & Rare Books
Biblio member since 2013
Portland, Oregon
About Boyd Used & Rare Books
We sell previously owned books, magazines, journals, historic documents and ephemera, specializing in unique and hard-to-find titles.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Inscribed
- When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- FFEP
- A common abbreviation for Front Free End Paper. Generally, it is the first page of a book and is part of a single sheet that...
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
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