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Prairie Ostrich
Bookish, eight-year-old Egg Murakami lives on her family’s ostrich farm in rural, southern Alberta. It is the end of the summer, 1974. Since her brother’s death, her Mama curls inside a whiskey bottle and her Papa shuts himself in the barn. Big sister Kathy — in love with her best friend, Stacey — reinvents the bedtime stories she reads to Egg so that they end in a happily ever after.
Confronted by bullies and the perplexing quirks of the adults around her, Egg watches, a quiet witness to her unraveling family as she trys to find her place in a bewildering world.
The sisters increasingly depend on one another for protection and support but the girls’ relationship is threatened when Kathy’s stories clash with the realities of their small town of Bittercreek. How can Egg trust someone who has lied to her about everything?
Confronted by bullies and the perplexing quirks of the adults around her, Egg watches, a quiet witness to her unraveling family as she trys to find her place in a bewildering world.
The sisters increasingly depend on one another for protection and support but the girls’ relationship is threatened when Kathy’s stories clash with the realities of their small town of Bittercreek. How can Egg trust someone who has lied to her about everything?
200 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 2014
11 people are currently reading
1075 people want to read
About the author
Tamai Kobayashi
7 books27 followersI was born in Japan and raised in Canada and I have lived in Calgary and Toronto. I am a writer and screenwriter. Prairie Ostrich is my first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 134 reviews
December 27, 2014
Prairie Ostrich by Tamai Kobayashi is not a bold book. It is not a quick read. It is not an action-packed book. It is not explicit. For these reasons, and more, this first-time novel is one of the most powerful I’ve ever read.
Kobayashi, who was born in Japan and raised in Canada, has crafted one hell of a mesmerizing novel. It’s the kind of fascinating that you might miss, though, if you try to read it too fast; it would be too easy to miss the subtle, quiet power of this novel. So take your time! For one thing, it takes a while to sink into the setting of Prairie Ostrich, which is an historical novel set in rural Alberta in the 70s. Your angle on this small town called (significantly) Bittercreek is not what you might expect: eight-year-old “Egg” Murakami is the limited perspective you get. Egg is having a rough time. Her teenage brother Albert died last summer, and her family are all grieving in their own way. Her dad has secluded himself away in the barn with the ostriches he raises. Her mother drinks whiskey at all hours of the day. Her older sister Kathy—in grade twelve—is trying to hold the family together, and is the only one really present for Egg, who is not only trying to make sense of her brother’s death but deal with the bullies at her school....
See the rest of my review here: http://caseythecanadianlesbrarian.wor...
Kobayashi, who was born in Japan and raised in Canada, has crafted one hell of a mesmerizing novel. It’s the kind of fascinating that you might miss, though, if you try to read it too fast; it would be too easy to miss the subtle, quiet power of this novel. So take your time! For one thing, it takes a while to sink into the setting of Prairie Ostrich, which is an historical novel set in rural Alberta in the 70s. Your angle on this small town called (significantly) Bittercreek is not what you might expect: eight-year-old “Egg” Murakami is the limited perspective you get. Egg is having a rough time. Her teenage brother Albert died last summer, and her family are all grieving in their own way. Her dad has secluded himself away in the barn with the ostriches he raises. Her mother drinks whiskey at all hours of the day. Her older sister Kathy—in grade twelve—is trying to hold the family together, and is the only one really present for Egg, who is not only trying to make sense of her brother’s death but deal with the bullies at her school....
See the rest of my review here: http://caseythecanadianlesbrarian.wor...
May 27, 2020
Took me a while to get into this story, but once I did, I liked it. Egg is brilliant, deeply confused and lonely, bullied at school, and neglected by her parents after the death of her older brother. Only her older sister Kathy still sees her and looks out for her, even while Kathy’s dealing with her own grief and frustration with her mother’s drinking, her feelings for her best friend and her desire to leave their town, and her father spending all his time in their barn, caring for their ostriches.
The story’s told entirely from Egg’s perspective, so we only very slowly glean some of the family secrets as Egg stumbles upon them. The author wonderfully conveys Egg’s confused understanding of her family’s situation and how they’re imploding. And how Egg rationalizes her way through the many adult messages and lies swirling around her. The story is tense as Egg becomes more upset as the months go by, and her parents continue their spiral downwards. The small mindedness and cruelty of the town feels true, and the intolerance towards the only Japanese Canadian family in town as they struggle with their son’s death felt so real.
This book was a good surprise, with a well characterized protagonist and an interesting examination of grief from a child’s perspective.
The story’s told entirely from Egg’s perspective, so we only very slowly glean some of the family secrets as Egg stumbles upon them. The author wonderfully conveys Egg’s confused understanding of her family’s situation and how they’re imploding. And how Egg rationalizes her way through the many adult messages and lies swirling around her. The story is tense as Egg becomes more upset as the months go by, and her parents continue their spiral downwards. The small mindedness and cruelty of the town feels true, and the intolerance towards the only Japanese Canadian family in town as they struggle with their son’s death felt so real.
This book was a good surprise, with a well characterized protagonist and an interesting examination of grief from a child’s perspective.
April 14, 2021
This was hard for me to rate, I went back an forth between 4 and 5.
So it's a 4.5.
I may after sometime thinking about it I might come back and up it to 5
I loved Egg and my heart broke for her.
Also the only reason I picked this up was because of the name Egg, my mom calls me Egg so I had to read it.
So it's a 4.5.
I may after sometime thinking about it I might come back and up it to 5
I loved Egg and my heart broke for her.
Also the only reason I picked this up was because of the name Egg, my mom calls me Egg so I had to read it.
September 6, 2019
Pick this one up and root for Egg and her family. Egg is the lone Japanese kid in her class on the very white Canadian prairies. Egg is a sweet character and is that kid that is alone and confused and asking themselves a lot of tough questions. Egg's sister Kathy is also a great character. This book doesn't shy away from the fact that kids have to deal with big issues. Racism, bullying, religion, and LGBTQ issues, are seen from Egg's point of view.
April 2, 2025
In this quite sad story of grief, little Egg shines through. Such a feisty little girl, I loved her.
February 16, 2014
This is an outstanding book. My only qualm is the way-too-detailed description here on Goodreads - fortunately, I didn't read it before reading the book. Please consider letting readers discover plot points on their own!
December 2, 2014
1974, Bittercreek, Alberta. Eight-year-old Egg Murakami is the youngest of three children born to Japanese-Canadian parents who have an ostrich farm in outside this small prairie town. Her older sister, seventeen-year-old Kathy, is a star basketball player and often impatient with Egg, but she is also Egg's de facto mother figure now that their older brother, Albert, is dead. Their mother remains gentle and kind, but loses herself in poorly-hidden alcohol, while their taciturn father never leaves the barn where the ostrich's live. He eats there, and sleeps on a camp bed, while their mother sends food over.
Egg doesn't know why or how Albert died. She understands that it was a tragedy, but she doesn't really understand why it seems shrouded in shame. It's September, and a new school year is starting. Kathy is itching to get out of the town, but is torn by her responsibilities to her family, especially Egg. Egg is full of curiosity, bursting with interesting facts about ostriches, and excited about her new Six Million Dollar Man lunch tin. But living in a small country town, and looking the way she does, with onigiri in her lunch tin, Egg is bullied at school, especially by Martin Fisken. She finds peace and a measure of safety in the school library, where Miss Evangeline Granger offers some welcome kindness.
Full of curiosity, wonder and loneliness, Egg struggles to make sense of her small but complicated world. As certain pivotal details come to light, Egg tries to make things right in the only way she can think of.
Prairie Ostrich is easily one of the best books I've read this year. Kobayashi has deftly captured Egg's unique, eight-year-old voice and brought the girl to life with a mother's tender touch. There is both a sense of Egg as a heart-breakingly isolated, fragile and lonely child, emotionally neglected by her parents and essentially left to fend for herself, and also one of a resilient, curious, thoughtful being full of wonder for the world. In the year after Albert's death, Egg's parents have lost themselves to their sorrow, and the resulting neglect - there and yet not there - is heartbreaking and tragic, and also horrible.
Prairie Ostrich deals with the Murakami family's sorrow in the same subtle, wrenching way it deals with all the other serious issues in the book: homophobia, xenophobia, love, friendship, bullying, fear. Egg has Kathy to look out for her, but Kathy has her own life to lead too, and can't always be there. Nor does Egg want Kathy to sacrifice her dreams for Egg's sake. Egg is such a self-contained little soul, full of interesting facts and perceptive insights into the people around her. The reader understands what's going on better than Egg, yet there is plenty that is obscured from the reader as well, so that you are on a journey of discovery along with her.
I was left gutted by this beautiful novel, the prose poetic and so precise. Full of imagery and quiet, tender moments punctuated by tension, the threat of discovery, the fear of being hurt. So subtle, yet so vivid.
Egg questions, philosophises, observes, tries to make logic out of human nature. She's in a harsh world, a small and small-minded world, set in a vast, open landscape. It is not hard to see how small these characters are, against such a backdrop. Full of pop culture references that draw upon the things that interest Egg, she tries to make sense of her world in the only way she can, and in the process I saw some things in a new and interesting light.
This short novel is, in a way, a coming-of-age story for the whole Murakami family - what a shame you can't say the same thing about the townspeople. Recapturing the 70s with wonderful detail, Kobayashi writes with skill and perception, so much so that the story feels faintly autobiographical - I can certainly imagine the author drawing heavily on her own experiences, but I don't know much about her so I could just be reading into it. Egg certainly feels like one of the most alive characters I've read in a long time, and it's that quality of realism that makes her story punch so hard. It feels so true, you can touch the sharp jagged edges of her life, hear the whisper of air on the prairie, see the ostrich feathers ruffle, and feel the ostracism Egg experiences. It's hard to get my head around how people could treat a child so dismissively, or harshly, simply based on how she looks. Yet it happens all the time, and with ease. In this, Kobayashi's novel is a timeless portrait of small-town fear, the confusion of childhood, the pain of discovering your sexuality can be used against you, as a teenager.
My thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book.
Egg doesn't know why or how Albert died. She understands that it was a tragedy, but she doesn't really understand why it seems shrouded in shame. It's September, and a new school year is starting. Kathy is itching to get out of the town, but is torn by her responsibilities to her family, especially Egg. Egg is full of curiosity, bursting with interesting facts about ostriches, and excited about her new Six Million Dollar Man lunch tin. But living in a small country town, and looking the way she does, with onigiri in her lunch tin, Egg is bullied at school, especially by Martin Fisken. She finds peace and a measure of safety in the school library, where Miss Evangeline Granger offers some welcome kindness.
Full of curiosity, wonder and loneliness, Egg struggles to make sense of her small but complicated world. As certain pivotal details come to light, Egg tries to make things right in the only way she can think of.
Prairie Ostrich is easily one of the best books I've read this year. Kobayashi has deftly captured Egg's unique, eight-year-old voice and brought the girl to life with a mother's tender touch. There is both a sense of Egg as a heart-breakingly isolated, fragile and lonely child, emotionally neglected by her parents and essentially left to fend for herself, and also one of a resilient, curious, thoughtful being full of wonder for the world. In the year after Albert's death, Egg's parents have lost themselves to their sorrow, and the resulting neglect - there and yet not there - is heartbreaking and tragic, and also horrible.
Mama cries, Mama cries but Egg cannot go to her. Egg is frozen, like the Vast Open Plains of the Northern Tundra. First day of school and Albert was not with them. Albert will never be with them. He has been dead for three months, two weeks, and five days - such a long, long time. Now they are all broken apart and Mama's lost and drifting and all the king's horses and all the king's men will never be able to put them back together again.
Egg runs back to her room, to her bed. She pulls the covers over her head. She does not want to see, she does not want to hear. She feels her heart shrivel up in her chest, a small, hard thing, not like the blue whale at all. The blue whale will not help her; not even the speed of light will bring Albert back. She curls and tucks her knees up to her chin and thinks of the stolen mints from the drawer, the matches from her Papa's tool box. She cannot be good. And if she is not good, then she is damned.
Egg knows that Mama wants Albert. But Egg is alive and Albert isn't. [pp.40-1]
Prairie Ostrich deals with the Murakami family's sorrow in the same subtle, wrenching way it deals with all the other serious issues in the book: homophobia, xenophobia, love, friendship, bullying, fear. Egg has Kathy to look out for her, but Kathy has her own life to lead too, and can't always be there. Nor does Egg want Kathy to sacrifice her dreams for Egg's sake. Egg is such a self-contained little soul, full of interesting facts and perceptive insights into the people around her. The reader understands what's going on better than Egg, yet there is plenty that is obscured from the reader as well, so that you are on a journey of discovery along with her.
In the Greek myths, sometimes the monster was once a mortal who became horrible through a punishment. But that didn't solve the evil. It just made it huge. Maybe that's where all the bad comes from, Egg things, a bad so big that it bursts out of nowhere. And then she thinks of Papa, his exile in the ostrich barn. What bad did he do? [p.132]
I was left gutted by this beautiful novel, the prose poetic and so precise. Full of imagery and quiet, tender moments punctuated by tension, the threat of discovery, the fear of being hurt. So subtle, yet so vivid.
Egg looks back at her sister, at Stacey, who waits on the sidelines. The late autumn light blazes behind them, two silhouettes made smaller by the crush of the sky. Kathy holds the ball in her hands, standing in the free throw circle. Egg watches, waits for her sister to take that shot. But the shot never comes. Why, Egg wonders, why is Kathy just standing here? Egg feels a sudden sense of things beyond her grasp. She wants to call out to her sister, to shout some warning, for Kathy seems so lost and alone. But Kathy is not alone. Stacey slowly walks onto the court. It seems to Egg that it takes Stacey a long time to reach her sister. Kathy, head down, stares at the ground, her body small, as if she has folded something precious, tucked it up inside herself and hidden it away. She stands so still. But Stacey just walks out to Kathy and places her hands on Kathy's face, brings her chin up. Egg sees the ball fall away, bump bump bump bump bump. It rolls unevenly across the court.
The afternoon light, the shift and flare. Egg can't tell exactly what she has seen. [pp.46-7]
Egg questions, philosophises, observes, tries to make logic out of human nature. She's in a harsh world, a small and small-minded world, set in a vast, open landscape. It is not hard to see how small these characters are, against such a backdrop. Full of pop culture references that draw upon the things that interest Egg, she tries to make sense of her world in the only way she can, and in the process I saw some things in a new and interesting light.
Superman works alone. He has a cape and everything. His only weakness is kryptonite, from his home planet of Krypton. Superman, exiled, saved from his dying world by his mother and father, who loved him, loved him more than anything, loved him and sacrificed themselves so that he could be saved. Egg puzzles this over. What does it mean when your greatest vulnerability comes from those you love the best? His fortress is called Solitude. The strongest man alive and he is still lonely.
Egg thinks Rumpelstiltskin wanted to be found. It must be lonely sometimes, spinning straw into gold, in the middle of a dark forest. He didn't want to hide anymore. She thinks he just wanted a family and maybe if someone knew him by his true name, they would love him. It's like hide-and-seek and you wait and wait and if no one comes, that is sad. If someone comes, your stomach squishes, and then - ta-da! - what a relief! But if you hide and hide and then finally someone sees you as you really are and they don't love you, that is the worst thing. That is the worst. [p.179]
This short novel is, in a way, a coming-of-age story for the whole Murakami family - what a shame you can't say the same thing about the townspeople. Recapturing the 70s with wonderful detail, Kobayashi writes with skill and perception, so much so that the story feels faintly autobiographical - I can certainly imagine the author drawing heavily on her own experiences, but I don't know much about her so I could just be reading into it. Egg certainly feels like one of the most alive characters I've read in a long time, and it's that quality of realism that makes her story punch so hard. It feels so true, you can touch the sharp jagged edges of her life, hear the whisper of air on the prairie, see the ostrich feathers ruffle, and feel the ostracism Egg experiences. It's hard to get my head around how people could treat a child so dismissively, or harshly, simply based on how she looks. Yet it happens all the time, and with ease. In this, Kobayashi's novel is a timeless portrait of small-town fear, the confusion of childhood, the pain of discovering your sexuality can be used against you, as a teenager.
My thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book.
June 11, 2021
"Bad things happen and there is no why."
What an excellent novel told from the perspective of a child as she starts to see the world for what it really is. The use of school ground rhymes throughout is so unique and impactful. It is a poignant story about grief, growing up, and racism on the Canadian prairies. Unlike anything else I've read.
What an excellent novel told from the perspective of a child as she starts to see the world for what it really is. The use of school ground rhymes throughout is so unique and impactful. It is a poignant story about grief, growing up, and racism on the Canadian prairies. Unlike anything else I've read.
May 10, 2021
Started slow, got interesting, got annoying. The end.
November 25, 2021
Grown-ups tell you to turn the other cheek, but that doesn’t help if the blows keep coming.
A historical coming-of-age story about a young Japanese-Canadian girl growing up in Alberta in the 1970s. Three months ago her older brother died in an accident, and we are dealing with her family's grief, her parents' alcoholism and depression, her older sister's sexuality and Egg's own troubles at school with bullies and racism and adults who don't understand her. I mostly liked this, but I'm sort of left feeling like it missed the mark for me in several ways. This is not what I would describe as a young adult or middle grade book, but we are experiencing the story from the POV of an eight year old girl. And I did like that, and I thought that the writing, her thoughts and the way she experienced the world were all really true to someone her age, especially someone as precocious and voracious about learning things as Egg is. But something about the tone didn't really land well for me, I don't know. It was too young and too old at the same time. I did enjoy the writing and the themes that were explored, and I did enjoy Egg as a main character, but this somehow left something to be desired. Definitely a me thing, though.
Listened to the audiobook as read by the author, which was enjoyable, if not striking. I'll gladly read from her again, because it's not as though I disliked anything about this. I just wanted a bit more.
November 10, 2017
It is easy to get sidetracked by the endearing, precocious Egg, youngest child of the only Japanese family living within any distance on the vast Canadian prairie. The reader may challenge her precocity, or be dazzled by her insight and moved by her urgent need to make sense of the world.
She knows that things have a purpose, that she must get it right. p8
Everyone is different but only white people were normal. Even the television says that. p17
You make up a story to make sense of the world. But what if the world doesn't make sense? P49
It is not until well into the story that it suddenly becomes clear that Egg has given us a false front, and that she is not in fact as stoic and well adjusted as she presents but in fact is deeply disturbed by the loss of her brother and the dysfunctional situation of her home life. This is where the book starts to veer off of the credible and in all directions as the mysteries that Egg has been worrying at throughout the book are revealed .
I think that the issues raised here are important and TK does s good job of highlighting the casual racism and bullying that seem to be endemic. I did feel she waited overlong to bring all the subplots together and that the ending was rushed and unsatisfactory.
She knows that things have a purpose, that she must get it right. p8
Everyone is different but only white people were normal. Even the television says that. p17
You make up a story to make sense of the world. But what if the world doesn't make sense? P49
It is not until well into the story that it suddenly becomes clear that Egg has given us a false front, and that she is not in fact as stoic and well adjusted as she presents but in fact is deeply disturbed by the loss of her brother and the dysfunctional situation of her home life. This is where the book starts to veer off of the credible and in all directions as the mysteries that Egg has been worrying at throughout the book are revealed .
I think that the issues raised here are important and TK does s good job of highlighting the casual racism and bullying that seem to be endemic. I did feel she waited overlong to bring all the subplots together and that the ending was rushed and unsatisfactory.
July 15, 2021
This was such a bittersweet read. It's definitely a unique perspective, but it was so well-written that it was easy to relate to. It was beautifully written and my heart broke over and over again for Egg and Kathy. My biggest critique is that it almost felt like an introduction to a story - I really just got to know the characters when the book ended and it left me wishing for more.
August 19, 2022
Heartbreakingly beautiful.
With a creative choice for point of view, we get to see a brilliant yet misunderstood, constantly bullied, little girl who learns about the gray areas in the world. Her journey to find truths is filled with others' truths, whether from pieces of literature or science books, she yearns to understand the world as the adults have shielded it from her.
It was an interesting experience to make assumptions and learn about supporting characters in this book through a child's eyes. The voice cannot be more fitting to the narrator's character as well as to the themes of the book of loss and betrayal and a second chance to life.
With a creative choice for point of view, we get to see a brilliant yet misunderstood, constantly bullied, little girl who learns about the gray areas in the world. Her journey to find truths is filled with others' truths, whether from pieces of literature or science books, she yearns to understand the world as the adults have shielded it from her.
It was an interesting experience to make assumptions and learn about supporting characters in this book through a child's eyes. The voice cannot be more fitting to the narrator's character as well as to the themes of the book of loss and betrayal and a second chance to life.
August 24, 2021
What a surprise of a book! So many philosophical themes seen through the adorable Egg's eyes and mind. Both simple and intricate at the same time. I love how Japanese authors seem to make the seemingly simple every day life kind of stories extraordinary and existentially hard hitting.
May 31, 2020
Trigger warnings for those who might need them; pedophilia, suicide attempt, bullying, alcoholism, abusive parent, animal cruelty
Just to preface, I read this for school, and yeah blah blah everyone hates the books they read for school because they were forced to read them yada yada. But this goes beyond the realm of average boring/books you're uninterested in and forced to read into the realm of problematic.
Here's just a few non-spoilery reasons I hated this book:
-most of the sub-plots go unfinished and without closure
-general lack of plot, as well as predictability
-the book jumps from really traumatic/horrific scenes which should have lasting consequences, to a random chill scene, and the events of the previous traumatic scene are never mentioned again
-scenes of shock-horror which were unneeded and sometimes unrealistic
(SPOILERS FROM HERE ON)
Here's some more specific spoilery reasons as to why I think this book is problematic:
-at one point the father hits the main character, Egg (who is 8 by the way) so hard she falls on the ground, aka he assaults his own daughter, and this is never mentioned again in the story
-in addition to having an abusive father, the mother is an alcoholic who seems incapable at this time to take care of her child, where the hell are CPS at?
-the bully sub-plot is one such plot-line that is left incomplete, and I really felt it needed some sort of conclusion given just how fucked up the bullying was (he was a racist literally intent on murdering her)
-one last point about the bullying, I do feel it went too far into melodramatic/shock-horror type of territory, especially when the bully (who is also 8 by the way) is waving a decapitated gopher head writhing with maggots at Egg, it was unneeded and didn't add anything to story. If anything it made it feel unrealistic, go back to Lord of the Flies where you belong Jack Merridew. (I say this because that level of sadistic violence makes sense in Lord of the Flies because of the extreme situation, but makes no sense here in a 70's historical normal town setting).
And those aren't even the 2 most problematic things in this book, oh no.
Firstly, we find out that Egg's older brother who died before the start of the novel was involved romantically with the librarian at his school, and had gotten her pregnant. While we don't know the exact age of either, we do know he was either 17 or 18 and given that she's an adult who works in his school, I feel confident in saying QUIT GROOMING CHILDREN YOU FUCKING PEDOPHILE. It doesn't actually matter if he was 18 when they became involved because the whole thing with grooming is that a predator forms a friendship/bond with the victim before they turn 18 so they can be sexually abused later. (Also yes, age of consent in Canada is 16, and 14 during the novel's setting, but legality and morality are two different things sometimes. Just because it isn't illegal, doesn't mean it isn't wrong.)
Lastly I'd like to talk about Egg's arson and attempted suicide, and how the narrative rewards her actions, and fails to talk about mental health. After Egg's suicide attempt, her father moves back into the house, and her mother stops drinking, she essentially gets everything she has wants. This is terrible because it portrays the message that a suicide attempt will improve your life, which it absolutely will not. Getting help for your mental health will. This is another thing the book fails at, as after her attempt, there is no mention of Egg getting any sort of mental help. I know that mental health stigma was still rampant during the book's setting, but that could have been talked about. However, like every other traumatic/horrific scene in the book, it was swept under the rug and forgotten about by the very next scene.
Just to preface, I read this for school, and yeah blah blah everyone hates the books they read for school because they were forced to read them yada yada. But this goes beyond the realm of average boring/books you're uninterested in and forced to read into the realm of problematic.
Here's just a few non-spoilery reasons I hated this book:
-most of the sub-plots go unfinished and without closure
-general lack of plot, as well as predictability
-the book jumps from really traumatic/horrific scenes which should have lasting consequences, to a random chill scene, and the events of the previous traumatic scene are never mentioned again
-scenes of shock-horror which were unneeded and sometimes unrealistic
(SPOILERS FROM HERE ON)
Here's some more specific spoilery reasons as to why I think this book is problematic:
-at one point the father hits the main character, Egg (who is 8 by the way) so hard she falls on the ground, aka he assaults his own daughter, and this is never mentioned again in the story
-in addition to having an abusive father, the mother is an alcoholic who seems incapable at this time to take care of her child, where the hell are CPS at?
-the bully sub-plot is one such plot-line that is left incomplete, and I really felt it needed some sort of conclusion given just how fucked up the bullying was (he was a racist literally intent on murdering her)
-one last point about the bullying, I do feel it went too far into melodramatic/shock-horror type of territory, especially when the bully (who is also 8 by the way) is waving a decapitated gopher head writhing with maggots at Egg, it was unneeded and didn't add anything to story. If anything it made it feel unrealistic, go back to Lord of the Flies where you belong Jack Merridew. (I say this because that level of sadistic violence makes sense in Lord of the Flies because of the extreme situation, but makes no sense here in a 70's historical normal town setting).
And those aren't even the 2 most problematic things in this book, oh no.
Firstly, we find out that Egg's older brother who died before the start of the novel was involved romantically with the librarian at his school, and had gotten her pregnant. While we don't know the exact age of either, we do know he was either 17 or 18 and given that she's an adult who works in his school, I feel confident in saying QUIT GROOMING CHILDREN YOU FUCKING PEDOPHILE. It doesn't actually matter if he was 18 when they became involved because the whole thing with grooming is that a predator forms a friendship/bond with the victim before they turn 18 so they can be sexually abused later. (Also yes, age of consent in Canada is 16, and 14 during the novel's setting, but legality and morality are two different things sometimes. Just because it isn't illegal, doesn't mean it isn't wrong.)
Lastly I'd like to talk about Egg's arson and attempted suicide, and how the narrative rewards her actions, and fails to talk about mental health. After Egg's suicide attempt, her father moves back into the house, and her mother stops drinking, she essentially gets everything she has wants. This is terrible because it portrays the message that a suicide attempt will improve your life, which it absolutely will not. Getting help for your mental health will. This is another thing the book fails at, as after her attempt, there is no mention of Egg getting any sort of mental help. I know that mental health stigma was still rampant during the book's setting, but that could have been talked about. However, like every other traumatic/horrific scene in the book, it was swept under the rug and forgotten about by the very next scene.
November 11, 2016
Egg's story about her family recovering from tragedy, about not fitting in, and about carrying all the world's woes on her shoulders is powerful and heart-wrenching. Beautifully written - I could see the never-ending Alberta flatlands through Egg's eyes.
October 7, 2017
Gorgeous style, powerfully moving, quietly excellent. Read this if you can.
April 21, 2021
While scrolling through my local library website for an audiobook that was immediately available, I came across Prairie Ostrich and figured, hey, if I don't like this story about a precocious little Japanese-American girl trying to find her way in the racist climes of rural Alberta, Canada circa 1974, I can just toss it back; no harm, no foul. At best, I expected a sweet if vapid portrait I could tolerate until the next thing came along. Imagine my delighted surprise when what I got was this book instead.
My description above is, indeed, the bare bones of what this book is about. Egg Murakami is a seven-year-old girl from the only Japanese family in her small town of Bittercreek, where they raise ostriches for meat and chicks to sell. There is the inevitable bigotry in her town and she is brutally bullied by one of her classmates. Her older brother recently died, her father has retreated to the ostrich barn and her mother into a bottle. Her sister Kathy, a high school senior, is her mainstay and champion, but Kathy, in an attempt to spare Egg some of the pain of life, has told her a few things that are not, strictly speaking, true. (None of the above are spoilers; we find out all this detail at the very beginning of the book).
What makes this fine book so special, though, is the voice of Egg, her sincere and often misguided ways of perceiving and making sense of the world. She is trying so hard to make it all fit together, for there to be meaning in her life and hollowed out family. Tamai Kobayashi has so thoroughly captured the essence of what it is to be a girl of this age, self-aware, with moral judgment and the capacity to gather knowledge, but without the wisdom or experience to process it with any accuracy, that our hearts are entirely won over by this delightful little girl. It is so hard to be Egg but she tries and tries to do something, anything to put the pieces together. In the end, she takes drastic action and...well...you will have to read it for yourself to find out. I enthusiastically recommend that you do just that.
My description above is, indeed, the bare bones of what this book is about. Egg Murakami is a seven-year-old girl from the only Japanese family in her small town of Bittercreek, where they raise ostriches for meat and chicks to sell. There is the inevitable bigotry in her town and she is brutally bullied by one of her classmates. Her older brother recently died, her father has retreated to the ostrich barn and her mother into a bottle. Her sister Kathy, a high school senior, is her mainstay and champion, but Kathy, in an attempt to spare Egg some of the pain of life, has told her a few things that are not, strictly speaking, true. (None of the above are spoilers; we find out all this detail at the very beginning of the book).
What makes this fine book so special, though, is the voice of Egg, her sincere and often misguided ways of perceiving and making sense of the world. She is trying so hard to make it all fit together, for there to be meaning in her life and hollowed out family. Tamai Kobayashi has so thoroughly captured the essence of what it is to be a girl of this age, self-aware, with moral judgment and the capacity to gather knowledge, but without the wisdom or experience to process it with any accuracy, that our hearts are entirely won over by this delightful little girl. It is so hard to be Egg but she tries and tries to do something, anything to put the pieces together. In the end, she takes drastic action and...well...you will have to read it for yourself to find out. I enthusiastically recommend that you do just that.
June 23, 2021
What an absolutely stunning read (or in my case, listen)!
The audiobook was such a treat because it was read by the author lending it authenticity and greater poignancy.
This is the story of 8yr old Egg trying to understand a sometimes dark, sometimes scary world as her family deals with the grief of losing a loved one while being the only Japanese-Canadian family in their tiny prairie town in 1975.
I highly recommend this novel to anyone looking for a unique perspective on powerful themes including racism, homophobia, and alcoholism as well as grief, of course.
The audiobook was such a treat because it was read by the author lending it authenticity and greater poignancy.
This is the story of 8yr old Egg trying to understand a sometimes dark, sometimes scary world as her family deals with the grief of losing a loved one while being the only Japanese-Canadian family in their tiny prairie town in 1975.
I highly recommend this novel to anyone looking for a unique perspective on powerful themes including racism, homophobia, and alcoholism as well as grief, of course.
December 30, 2021
A tender, quiet, special book. This is a very specific type of book that isn’t for everyone, but feels to me like looking at a landscape painting, allowing its details to fill you such that they move all on their own and generate a soft and aching story inside you. An imprint. This book leaves an imprint. It lingers.
April 1, 2021
Very well worth the read...racism revealed... strength of broken family...
This is a hard story to listen to. But so much truth. People who need sensitivity training might be helped to imagine and watch out for racism after they listen or read this. Kathy the older sister loves another girl. Egg doesn’t fit into the white prairie community where she is attending school… no matter what, but she still does figure how to help those around her. She wants to ask a lot of questions but knows enough not to actually verbalize these whether it is at school or at home.
This is a hard story to listen to. But so much truth. People who need sensitivity training might be helped to imagine and watch out for racism after they listen or read this. Kathy the older sister loves another girl. Egg doesn’t fit into the white prairie community where she is attending school… no matter what, but she still does figure how to help those around her. She wants to ask a lot of questions but knows enough not to actually verbalize these whether it is at school or at home.
March 25, 2021
Really enjoyed this story. Many poignant moments and memories brought up for me (good and bad). Nicely written too.
May 22, 2021
I simply adore Egg as the narrator.
May 22, 2021
The story of Egg, a young Canadian girl with Japanese parents. I had this sad, yet beautiful story on audio book and at times the narrator read it in a poetic fashion. It told of how her older brother had died and the effect this had on each of the family. It covered bullying and racism but also cultures. I found this book very moving and I would recommend listening to it.
October 16, 2021
4.5 stars. This book touches on so many themes (racism, sexuality, grief, resiliency) in a way that makes it a true gem of a read. Really appreciated the audiobook version read by the author.
April 24, 2024
Prairie Ostrich
OMG, this was so sad and heartbreaking. This little girl is so loving but so heartbroken. I found her to be very lonely with a sister who tried to help and parents unable to. The story is told from the position of this 8-year-old child who is so resilient but so alone. Mourning the death of her older brother that nobody will or can talk about. Egg struggles to make the best of her life.
This is beautifully written and flows smoothly. It was a pleasure to read despite being so sad.
4 stars
Happy Reading!
OMG, this was so sad and heartbreaking. This little girl is so loving but so heartbroken. I found her to be very lonely with a sister who tried to help and parents unable to. The story is told from the position of this 8-year-old child who is so resilient but so alone. Mourning the death of her older brother that nobody will or can talk about. Egg struggles to make the best of her life.
This is beautifully written and flows smoothly. It was a pleasure to read despite being so sad.
4 stars
Happy Reading!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 25, 2019
I loved this novel. Although under 200 pages, I came away from it feeling strongly connected to the characters. The family’s grief over the loss of their son and brother, the bond between the sisters, and the feelings of alienation in small-town Alberta was brilliantly conveyed through the voice of eight-year old Egg Murakami. The prose is beautiful — poetic in some passages and evocative in its descriptions of people and place. It’s not a fast read, but something ideally savoured slowly and pondered between chapters.
March 19, 2021
Heartbreaking and human. What a refreshing new voice from this author. She moved me to a time and place that I have not yet encountered with the wonder and confusion that comes with being a different 8 year old in an unfair and unjust world. I loved listening to the audiobook in the authors voice. I was moved to tears.
April 1, 2021
Poetic and lyrical writing with characters that immediately took hold of my heart. It evoked so many memories of how I viewed parts of my own life especially at school. I wonder why as children we form thoughts to explain the world as we experienced it and so seldom did we go to adults to help us make sense of it all. This was beautifully written and touched my heart in a new way. Not something that can be said very often as I have been obsessed with reading and words since I first learned that letters made words and words made stories. The setting was unusual and I was excited to see new books by Canadian authors in my library.
May 10, 2021
Sit on an ostrich egg it will not crack. The secret is they break from the inside.
The story of the Murakami family living on the Ostrich farm is not a very happy one. This story is told in the voice of young Egg Murakami. Egg's mother is an alcoholic. Her father is unraveling and gets lost to the barn with the birds. Her brother Albert dies a few months before from a railway tressel and leaves her not knowing how or why. Kathy, Egg's older sister tries to protect her by telling her stories so that Egg wouldn't feel that the world is awful. She worries about the future, and what the world will be like.
Bad things happen and you cannot help it. Bad things happen and you cannot explain why.
In school, Egg collects words like dogs collect bones. When Mrs. Sims reads the book, "Charlotte's Web" and gets to the end where Wilbur is saved and Charlotte dies, Egg protests that this is not how the story ends. Kathy told Egg that Charlotte didn't die, and this is why Egg is so angry. Egg finds out that Kathy lied to her. How many lies does it take to make a liar? she thought.
All the world's a jungle and Egg can't tell up from down. Egg tries to understand the purpose of what Reverand Samuels preaches in church. Kathy says God has a multipersonality disorder. If God is just a magician with fancy tricks then everything is a lie. Let there be a heaven, she'd pray. A heaven for Albert. Not every story has a happy ending. This story is one of them.
The story of the Murakami family living on the Ostrich farm is not a very happy one. This story is told in the voice of young Egg Murakami. Egg's mother is an alcoholic. Her father is unraveling and gets lost to the barn with the birds. Her brother Albert dies a few months before from a railway tressel and leaves her not knowing how or why. Kathy, Egg's older sister tries to protect her by telling her stories so that Egg wouldn't feel that the world is awful. She worries about the future, and what the world will be like.
Bad things happen and you cannot help it. Bad things happen and you cannot explain why.
In school, Egg collects words like dogs collect bones. When Mrs. Sims reads the book, "Charlotte's Web" and gets to the end where Wilbur is saved and Charlotte dies, Egg protests that this is not how the story ends. Kathy told Egg that Charlotte didn't die, and this is why Egg is so angry. Egg finds out that Kathy lied to her. How many lies does it take to make a liar? she thought.
All the world's a jungle and Egg can't tell up from down. Egg tries to understand the purpose of what Reverand Samuels preaches in church. Kathy says God has a multipersonality disorder. If God is just a magician with fancy tricks then everything is a lie. Let there be a heaven, she'd pray. A heaven for Albert. Not every story has a happy ending. This story is one of them.
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