From Little Tokyo, With Love

By (author) Sarah Kuhn
Description
Celebrated author Sarah Kuhn reinvents the modern fairy tale in this intensely personal yet hilarious novel of a girl whose search for a storybook ending takes her to unexpected places in both her beloved LA neighborhood and her own guarded heart. If Rika''s life seems like the beginning of a familiar fairy tale--being an orphan with two bossy cousins and working away in her aunts'' business--she would be the first to reject that foolish notion. After all, she loves her family (even if her cousins were named after Disney characters), and with her biracial background, amazing judo skills and red-hot temper, she doesn''t quite fit the princess mold. All that changes the instant she locks eyes with Grace Kimura, America''s reigning rom-com sweetheart, during the Nikkei Week Festival. From there, Rika embarks on a madcap adventure of hope and happiness--searching for clues about her long-lost mother, exploring Little Tokyo''s hidden treasures with a cute actor, and maybe...finally finding a sense of belonging. But fairy tales are fiction and the real world isn''t so kind. Rika knows she''s setting herself up for disappointment, because happy endings don''t happen to girls like her. Should she walk away before she gets in even deeper, or let herself be swept away?
Review quote
"Readers will cheer for tough-but-tender Rika as she navigates the city of Los Angeles-and her own complicated emotions-in search of love, family, and belonging in this heartwarming pick-me-up of a novel." -Misa Sugiura, award-winning author of It''s Not Like It''s a Secret
Biographical note
Sarah Kuhn is the author of the popular Heroine Complex novels--a series starring Asian American superheroines. The first book is a Locus bestseller, an RT Reviewers'' Choice Award nominee, and one of the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog''s Best Books of 2016. Her YA debut, the Japan-set romantic comedy I Love You So Mochi, is a Junior Library Guild selection and a nominee for YALSA''s Best Fiction for Young Adults. She has also penned a variety of short fiction and comics, including the critically acclaimed graphic novel Shadow of the Batgirl for DC Comics and the upcoming Star Wars audiobook original Doctor Aphra. Additionally, she was a finalist for both the CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) New Writers Award and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer. A third generation Japanese American, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and an overflowing closet of vintage treasures.
Excerpt
   Once upon a time, a beautiful princess lived in the magical kingdom of Los Angeles. Always alone, she belonged to no one—and no one belonged to her. She dreamed of one day finding someone who shared her passions, a handsome prince obsessed with monstrous mythical creatures and exploring all the weirdest corners of her kingdom.
   Or alternately, she dreamed of kicking ass and winning the regional judo championship, which came with a really awesome trophy.
   Neither of these things happened, so she revealed herself to be a nure-onna (an actual monstrous mythical creature), transformed into a snake, and ate everyone’s faces off.
   The end.

Chapter One

Never argue with the Nikkei Week Queen of Little Tokyo.
    Auntie Suzy gifted me with this advice when I was six, and I probably should’ve taken it to heart. But “never” sounds like a long time when you’re six, and I must have known deep down that there would be so many things I’d want to argue about.
    “Ugh, Rika-chan, why won’t you just stop fighting with me!” My sister Belle—the current Nikkei Week Queen of Little Tokyo—gives me an impressively regal glower. “You have the worst temper in the whole entire world.”
    “False,” I say, even though it’s kind of true. “I’m actually suppressing my kaiju-temper extra hard becau