Kiko is hurtling through her senior year. She is awaiting the answer to her biggest dream - an acceptance letter from Prism, a prestigious art school in New York. Along with her drawing and painting, it is all she thinks about. Well, that's not really true. She also thinks about her self-centered mother and ways to make her happy and willing to accept Kiko for who she is, a half-Japanese, half-American girl.
It's always been difficult for Kiko socially. She is shy and freezes whenever she is in a large group or meets new people. She relies on her best friend Emery who is confident and outgoing. Emery has been Kiko's rock through the ugly divorce of her parents and her constant struggle to gain affection from a blond, blue-eyed mother who forever criticizes her Asian looks and ignores Kiko's fabulous artistic talent.
When the letter comes from Prism, it's rejection threatens to collapse Kiko's fragile world. Dealing with that and her guilt involving a secret about her Uncle Max who recently moved in, is almost more than she can handle. The sudden appearance of her childhood best friend, the handsome Jamie, may be the only thing that can save her. Kiko knows she needs to find the courage to become her own person, but it seems easier to rely on others for the strength she's always lacked.
Author Akemi Dawn Bowman illustrates the need to face life's demons and sever unhealthy relationships despite what norms may dictate. Bowman paints Kiko's relationship with her mother (who I hated with a passion) as the main force standing in the way of Kiko's success. STARFISH has no tidy, happy ending for life and relationships, but instead shows readers the road toward the possibility of a path to a more hopeful future.
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