Under the Cherry Blossom Tree

by Morteza Javadi, Aaron Summer Javadi (Foreword by), Steven Dragan (Illustrator)

Overview

A boy and a girl, Menashi and Ahnami, from two opposing Asian cultures, fall in love at the end of a four hundred year battle. As the two form a truce that is sealed with a kiss, the two help their warring factions come together on the islands of Japan, in present day Hokkaido region. With beautifully illustrated water color and with Asian inspired scenic detail, this Eastern author takes us on a journey in time to a world filled with tumultuous wartime history between the Ainu and Wajin tribal factions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798218100346
Publisher:	McNeilly Enterprizes LLC
Publication date:	10/28/2022
Edition description:	Large Type
Pages:	24
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.06(d)

About the Author

Aaron Summer Javadi is an Afro-Asian author, poet, and Anthropology Ambassador for Western Illinois University. Her studies emphasize Afro-Asian cultural and religious pluralism as well as advocating within the Native American Boarding School Initiative with the Department of the Interior initiated by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland. Summer published her first work of poetry in 2020 entitled, "Zen Tao Ghi: DNA Untangled" published by AlienBuddha Press. Summer is the mother of seven children and works in mental health advocacy and community writing projects that promote Mad Pride and inclusion of marginalized people. Summer has also published "Ladies' Night: The Gasconade Review Presents," with Spartan Press and was featured in the 2018 Inferno Magazine. Summer joined Madwomen in the Attic in 2019 and began serving as Literacy Director and was Mita's 2020 Featured Writer while also chosen as Kansas City's Black Writers for The Black Sunflower's Wildflower Project in the same year. Summer has had several radio interviews where she continues open dialogue on mental health advocacy and suicide prevention on KKFI 90.1FM ARTSPEAK RADIO with Maria Vasquez Boyd and on Songs of Selah Blogtalk Radio with Host Scott Thomas Outlar. She has been interviewed twice on Fireside Chat with PBS Host & New York Times Contributor Kenyatta Berry's "Finding Your Purpose" in June 2022.

Editorial Reviews

"Beautiful visually, a great homage to culture and home."- Masaki Takahashi, Poet Laureate of Lansing, Michigan"Morteza Javadi's poetry and Steven Dragan's illustrations combine to tell a tender, hopeful story of young lovers, set in medieval Japan. A Wajin boy and an Ainu girl fall in love and seek to bridge the divide between their two cultures in a time of war. This book introduces young readers to the proudly independent Ainu and the Wajin peoples of northern Japan, who have a rich history independent of the rest of the country. The reader hopes that Menashi and Ahnami will meet again and again."-Ann Marti Friedman, Author of "A Fine Tapestry of Murder" (2018), "An Artist in Her Own Right" (2021), Accent Press."Morteza's poetic words carry an amazing message. One that not only creates an awareness of Eastern Asian culture for children but for a wide range of people. Offering them an opportunity to appreciate how epic legendary and mythological pathways of culture are relevant and inextricably woven into their lives.At the same time, he effectively demonstrates how cultural divides can be overcome through the beauty of simple human interaction. Javadi has planted another desperately needed Cherry Blossom seed. One devoid of shame and stigma!"-Steve Nash, Mental Health Advocate, Member of the NCPD Council on Mental Illness and Wellness, Complex Trauma Coach and Group Facilitator, and Lay Minister.

From the Publisher