My anxiety was too big of a hurdle to overcome, as was my mild separation anxiety from my loved ones when we’re apart for extended periods of time. Review: One of my big regrets from my youth is that I never did a study abroad program through school.

But will they be able to hold one another up as life tests them with new loves, old heartbreaks, and the everyday challenges of being fish out of water? The trio live together, share meals, and even attend the same Japanese-language school, which results in them becoming fast friends.

There she meets Hyejung and Tina, two other girls who came to Japan to freely forge their own paths. When Nao returns to Tokyo to reconnect with her Japanese heritage, she books a yearlong stay at the Himawari sharehouse. Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat | Amazon | Indieboundīook Description: Living in a new country is no walk in the park. Click here for info.Publishing Info: First Second, November 2021 Hosted by East City Bookshop in Washington, DC. She lives near Portland, Oregon, and her latest book is A Map to the Sun. She has been self-publishing her own comics since she was 16 and has done various work for companies like Image Comics, First Second, Top Cow, Cartoon Network, DC, Dark Horse, Boom!, Namco, and BuzzFeed. Her work aims to connect personally with individuals through storytelling and to cultivate a kinder, more understanding future. Sloane Leong is a self-taught cartoonist, artist, and writer of Hawaiian, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, Native American, and European ancestries. She is the illustrator of George Takei's graphic memoir, They Called Us Enemy. Harmony Becker was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Though each of them has her own motivations and challenges, they all deal with language barriers, being a fish out of water, self discovery, love, and family. Nao came to Japan to reconnect with her Japanese heritage, while Hyejung and Tina came to find freedom and their own paths.

The three of them became fast friends through living together in the Himawari House in Tokyo and attending the same Japanese cram school. Living in a new country is no walk in the park - Nao, Hyejung, and Tina can all attest to that. About Himawari House: A YA graphic novel about three foreign exchange students and the pleasures, and difficulties, of adjusting to living in Japan.

Himawari House by Harmony Becker