Every Peach Is a Story

Young Midori is excited as she tugs at Jichan—her grandfather—and pulls him toward the peach orchard, asking, “Is it ready yet?” Jichan hands Midori a peach and asks her what she hears when she bites into it. Crunch! The peach is hard and inedible.

Midori is impatient, wondering when the peaches will be ripe like the ones she ate last summer. Jichan explains that they will have to wait for the peaches to ripen, then says, “You’ll know it’s ready when it tastes like a story.” Midori is confused, and asks, “But what does a story taste like?”

Wisely and patiently, Jichan explains to Midori that a peach is like a story because both need time to grow. He offers Midori a metaphor—a word picture—to help her understand: “Green peaches are like our family’s ancestors when they first arrived in America. Things weren’t ready. They felt like strangers. Sometimes they didn’t know what to say. … Patience. Hard work. Survival. Bittersweet. Have to wait to grow roots.”

As the summer progresses, Midori listens to Jichan’s stories about how her ancestors established the family orchard. Soon Midori sees, feels, and tastes a ripe peach; it “comes to life in all her senses.” She envisions her ancestors planting the orchard and eventually sharing its fruit. Then she exclaims, “It tastes like a story!”

In an author note, Nikiko Masumoto shares the history of her family’s California peach orchard, of three generations of Japanese Americans nurturing the land and the community of which they are a part. She also briefly narrates the disturbing reality of how the United States government sanctioned anti-Asian racism that confronted newcomers from China and Japan.

The poetic narrative and pastel illustrations celebrate the relationship between a child and her grandfather, the wonder of God’s creation of orchards and fruit, the joyful stewardship of the land, and the importance of passing on stories from one generation to the next.

(Abrams Books for Young Readers)