books

Through Eyes Like Mine (2010) is the story of a childhood told through the present-tense voice of Nori Nakada. Born to a Japanese American father and German-Irish mother in rural Oregon, Nori’s family becomes increasingly diverse when they adopt a six-year-old boy from Korea. She struggles to find comfort within a family, a community and a world that is both simple and complex.  By examining her family's silences, she begins to understand life, death and her own identity. The joys and challenges of growing up invite the reader to recall the world through eyes like mine.

Overdue Apologies (2012) is the the follow-up to Noriko Nakada's early childhood memoir, Through Eyes Like Mine. This book explores the world of middle school where an adolescent Nori continues the story of her evolving family. She enters a new world where teenage friendships and coming-of-age shift her developing sense of identity. Nori's sharp perspective captures universal teen moments and takes the reader back to the excitement and challenges of growing up. 

I Tried (2019) explores what it means to be a young woman of color growing up in rural America. In the final installation of the Through Eyes Like Mine series, Nori teeters on the edge of adulthood and navigates shifting expectations of her community, family, and herself. I Tried examines the challenges and isolation a multiracial feminist girl faces in small-town America. 

ANTHOLOGIES

Made In LA Vol. 3, Art of Transformation (2020) highlights Noriko Nakada's fiction in the story "Infamy." Set in 1940's Los Angeles, Natasha Nakamura and her family's lives are transformed on a December afternoon. 

Made In LA Vol. 5, Vantage Points (2023) In the short story, "All That Can Wait," Nakada captures a moment when immigration policy results in immediate changes. 

ACCOLADES: A Women Who Submit Anthology (2020) publishes "Camp Stories" a poem originally published by Kartika. 

GATHERING: A Women Who Submit Anthology (2022) highlights "Pandemic Post" the poetic correspondence of Hazel Kight Witham and Noriko Nakada during the early months/years of the COVID 19 pandemic. 

TRANSFORMATION: A Women Who Submit Anthology (2023) edited by Ryane Nicole Granados and Noriko Nakada, TRANSFORMATION is a collection of poems, essays, stories, and plays by Women Who Submit (WWS) members from New York, South Carolina, Texas, Washington State, Europe, Long Beach, Westside, and Los Angeles chapters including Nakada's essay, "Flare Up."