Reference
Darla Rodriguez
9-12 Grade Fine Arts
Pine Grove Area HS
Twenty-four Eyes written by Sakae Tsuboi is a wonderful novel. The story of a first year teacher traveling to a cape village 5 miles from her home every day to teach 12 small first graders. The story follows 20 years of Mrs. Oshi's life and discusses her relationship with her students before, during and after WWII. It was an easy read except for the flashbacks. I had to read through the flashbacks and could not figure them out until I was finished reading them. However, the overall story line was easy to follow. The story was interjected with historical information about the War, but the characters lives is what is most important here.
I would reccomend this novel for any team taught Asian History/Asian Literature section. The Student level that I would reccomend would be gifted students grades 6 on up as well as High school level literature. This would easily fit into Japanese specific curriculum and as pleasure reading/free time reading for any reader.
I will be passing on my copy to my 10th grade niece and my 8th grade nephew to read as well as suggesting it to my high school students.