Susumu Higa's OKINAWA picked for the USBBY 2024 Outstanding International Books List
Major recognition for Okinawa, and we're so incredibly proud!
Hey folks, Christopher here! Got some good news that we wanted to share: School Library Journal has announced that Okinawa by Susumu Higa, translated by Jocelyne Allen, has received some major recognition! Okinawa has made it onto the USBBY 2024 Outstanding International Books List. This is a big deal!
For those not in the know USBBY is The United States Board on Books for Young People, which serves as the U.S. national section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). These are works that “that U.S. publishers and distributors have brought in from around the world,” which is primarily works in translation.
The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) was begun in 1953 based on the vision of its founder, Jella Lepman. IBBY´s mission is to promote international understanding through children´s books; to give children everywhere the opportunity to have access to books with high literary and artistic standards; to encourage the publication and distribution of quality children´s books, especially in developing countries; to provide support and training for those involved with children and children´s literature and to stimulate research and scholarly works in the field of children´s literature.
From the USBBY Website
While the details aren’t yet up on the USBBY website (they’ve still got the 2023 books on that page), you can see the full list of winners AND learn much more about USBBY in SLJ’s PDF release containing all of the winning works.
One of the things that’s been really interesting about working on Okinawa is that while this is a book for adults in Japan (and we kind of thought it might end up more in that category in the west too), the work has a lot to offer younger readers who might be ready to learn about the hardships and tragedies of war. It’s already received some great recognition in venues for teenaged readers. While most of the books on the USBBY list are for young people and comprise picture books, there are also illustrated ‘readers’, novels, and even graphic novels! USBBY has included the title in their “Grade 9 and Up” category, which I think is a good descriptor.
As mentioned, it’s only in the PDF linked above (for now, I assume it’ll eventually make it to their website) so here’s what they had to say about the book:
HIGA, Susumu. Okinawa. tr. from Japanese by Jocelyn Allen. illus. by author. Fantagraphics. (Japan) In two volumes, this manga dissects the island’s difficult history. Alternating between stories about the devastation of the Battle of Okinawa and the present-day effects of American occupation, this book highlights tensions between Japanese and Okinawan identity and the resiliency of its people. - USBBY Outstanding International Books Committee
I’m incredibly grateful to Jacq Cohen, Jennifer Chan, Eric Reynolds, and everyone at Fantagraphics for their continued support of Okinawa, including sending it out to be noticed by these sorts of awards. Thank you so much.
I know our team is really grateful for this continued recognition for the title. Not just us either, as Higa-sensei has been delighted every time he hears back about additional recognition. If you read the interview with him that we did for the book, you know that his work didn’t always get the attention it probably should have in Japan. I’m so grateful that North American (and international!) readers are recognizing it again. I hear there are more international versions on the way, too, which is amazing!
(Oh! And we’re covering most of the news around recognition for the book in the Notes section of Substack so as not to overwhelm your inbox.)
If you want a copy of Okinawa of your very own, I highly recommend heading over to these fine retailers to pick one up: Fantagraphics | The Beguiling | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones
And if you want to check out one of two free chapters of Okinawa, head over to Our Manga Page.
Thanks so much for reading. I’m working on the notes for Mangasplaining Podcast Episode 111: Heavenly Delusion by Masakazu Ishigura over in the other window, so that episode will get sent to you shortly, and we’ll be back next week with a new chapter of manga AND at least one report from the Angouleme festival. Should be an exciting week! See you soon. - CWB
Congratulations!
That’s great, congrats!