Why read Mina's Matchbox?

Book cover of Mina's Matchbox

Book description

On sleepless nights, I open the matchbox and reread the story of the girl who gathered shooting stars.

After the death of her father, twelve-year-old Tomoko is sent to live for a year with her uncle in the coastal town of Ashiya. It is a year which will change her…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Mina's Matchbox as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Alyson Hagy

Author

I think this is the only novel I've ever read that features a pygmy hippo. I'm a fan of Ogawa's fiction, especially The Memory Police. This novel, told with a striking and buoyant honesty from the point of view of a twelve-year-old who spends a year in the home of wealthy relatives, is a delightful portrait of an eccentric, yet loving family that learns to live in harmony with its secrets.

From Alyson's 3 favorite reads in 2025.