Western media has a habit of displaying accents in a negative way, but your graphic novel treats accents in a respectful way and not for comedic effect. And I thought ‘language learning is something I know a lot about.’ How can I combine all of these elements into one thing that will be longer than one chapter? I just thought ‘what do I know a lot about,’ enough that I could do a long-form story. One experience I’ve always had a hard time relaying the depth of is how intense the immersion experience is.
And I wanted to explore something that maybe wasn’t a super common experience. I wanted to write about something I knew. PW spoke with Becker about her inspiration for the novel, her experiences that made their way into the novel, and what readers can expect from her next.Ĭan you tell us a bit about the inspiration behind Himawari House? The book tells the coming of age story of a Japanese American girl reconnecting with her Japanese heritage while spending a year at the Himawari sharehouse with other language learners in Tokyo. Asian American author and cartoonist Harmony Becker illustrated George Takei’s acclaimed graphic novel They Called Us Enemy, before writing her debut graphic novel, Himawari House, which originated as a webcomic called Himawari Share.
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