Mika in Real Life: A Novel

Mika was raised by a Japanese family that reluctantly had to live in America. She was date-raped as a teenager and then decided to keep the baby and put her up for adoption. Her life sputtered around without much progress. She was in contact with her daughter and wanted her to think that she was living a much better life than she was. Her daughter then decided to visit. The adoptive father came as well. (The adoptive mother had died of cancer.) Eventually the lies were discovered and there was a falling out. Things gradually got repaired. At the same time, Mike also starts to repair her relationship with her mother. The daughter is at a Cross Country camp at University of Portland and gets to see Mike more - and enter into a serious relationship. Mika then found herself falling in love with the adoptive father. Her daughter was traumatized when she discovered this and ended up in the hospital for alcohol poisoning. After all this, Mika realizes she had wasted away for the past half of her life and decides to go back and pick up her art that she had left off when she got pregnant. She paints and has an art show where she reconciles with her family and life.

The role of her Japanese ancestry is an important part of this book. However, it is more of a part of a life rather than the dominant role. Mika's story is that of people that have had situations thrust upon them. Even when bad things happen, people still have the ability to decide where to go from there. Sometimes, this leads to long detours in life. However, there is still the chance to come back on track. 

Klara and the Sun: A Novel

Klara and the Sun takes place in a world that is almost like our own. The few differences are the key to the story. Klara is not a human, but an "Artificial Friend". She begins the book in a store. She is picked by a girl to be the artificial friend. As an artificial friend she gradually learns to be a resident of the world. She also learns her true purpose.

The girl that bought her is struggling with her own position in the world. She has a boy friend and a plan together. However, he is from a different social group and they gradually move apart as she tries to fit in with her peers. We also discover that she is sick and had a sister that had died. The parents have hatched a strange plan to create a "clone" of the sun.

The sun is a special power that Klara acknowledges. There are also polluters that in some way block the sun. Klara goes on a quest to achieve some help from the sun and eventually uses the sun to help her owner.

The relationship of A.F.s and people is only briefly explored. There are a few times were she is treated as second class or called a machine. For most of the time, she is just a regular part of the family - somewhere between a servant and a family member. Her skills of observation are beyond that of a regular human. Though socially she is more akin to a small child.