Outside Beauty is the newest book from Newberry Medal-winning author (for Kira-kira) Cynthia Kadohata. I am still puzzling over the meaning of the title: is it a reference to "outside" beauty (as opposed in "inner" beauty)? After all, the story is about an American single mom, who is obsessed about her physical appearance, which has been used as a means to … to… something, but the final output was four daughters by different men, a life seemingly on the run, at least for the time being (from the youngest sister's father, who is suing for custody as well as wanting a loan repaid), and a bunch of "baubles" in a safety deposit box in a bank somewhere.

Or is it a reference to some sort of discovery, of a life "outside" of the realm of beauty, perhaps? I can't believe this, since although these four sisters think their mother is the most beautiful woman in the world, my kids think the same thing about me, and there is plenty of beauty to go around anyway, both in terms of their own physical beauty, which they are just beginning to come to terms with, and the "inner" beauty of their sisterhood bond, which I think is the most beautiful part of the whole story.

Or perhaps I am stretching things. There is a story beyond the title. While I enjoy strong female characters, the Kimura family, such as it is, is rather disturbing for me; mom is certainly no role model. However, there comes a time in almost every teen girl's life when she wishes she had a different family, or thinks she's adopted, so perhaps this would be a fantasy family, and a really cool "escape" story.

But then, of course, disaster strikes, and the wonderful free-spirited Kimura lifestyle comes to an abrupt halt. The four daughters of Helen Kimura are sent away to live with their four different dads, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, and Anglo-Saxon. The fact that I've written the previous five words (Italian, Japanese, Chinese, and Anglo-Saxon) does not mean that this is a factor in the plot, however, or that this is a story about race, or being bi-racial in America, or learning about immigrant cultures in America. It just isn't. It is a girl-power story, subtly-crafted, and with a happy ending, after all.

Karmel Schreyer
01 February 2009

Karmel Schreyer writes educational materials for Asian children and is the author of the young-adult novels, Naomi: The Strawberry Blonde of Pippu Town and A Singing Bird Will Come: Naomi in Hong Kong.