About this item
Xander Miyamoto should be feeling great. It's the beginning of summer vacation, his mother has returned from a long absence, and he has learned that he is a warrior with special powers. Xander never would have guessed that the old Japanese folktale about Momotaro, the hero who sprang from a peach pit, was real, much less part of his own heritage. But instead of reveling in his recent victory against the oni, monsters bent on creating chaos, Xander is feeling resentful. What took his mother so long to come back? Why does his father insist on ruining the summer with study and training? And why is Xander plagued by nightmares every night? Maybe this whole Momotaro thing is overrated. Xander's grandmother gives him a special baku charm to use to chase his nightmares away.
About the Author
Margaret Dilloway is the author of middle grade and women's fiction. Ancestry.com says she's 51% Asian, as well as Irish and Welsh, though she's not sure how the extra 1% is possible. Her fictional character analysis says she's half Dumbledore and half Audrey from Twin Peaks. Awards include the Children's Literature Council of Southern California's Award for Best Children's Literature (Summer of a Thousand Pies) ; ALA's Asian/Pacific Islander Honor Award for Children's Literature (Momotaro: Xander and the Island of Monsters) ; the ALA Literary Tastes Award for Women's Fiction (The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns) ; and the Pulpwood Queens' Bonus Book of the Year Award (The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns) .Margaret is a long form improv performer and produces an online improv show, the Baby-Sitters Club Interactive Improv and Trivia show, a parody based on the book series, through the Pack Theater in Los Angeles every month. She's also on a house team at Finest City Improv in San Diego.
