Welcome to Gaia! ::

After her parents' divorce, 12-year-old Ann and her mother move from Tokyo to the country to live with her grandmother. Shortly thereafter Ann's mother, plagued by depression and a drinking problem, kills herself. Ann finds comfort in her new friends Fuji and Daigo. By age 14, she has developed a huge crush on Daigo and become closer to Fuji, who has caught his philandering mother with another man. The teen worries about her period, which stopped right after her mother died. This is a sensitive story about the passing of time and the many rites of passage of adolescence. The characters are drawn with flowing lines and luminous eyes, adding to the book's wistful, contemplative tone.