Point of View

Cynthia Kadohata's Kira-kira is written in the first person point of view of Katie Takeshima. We see the entire novel through Katie's eyes except for the occasional excerpt from Lynn's diary, in which case we see Lynn's words, but we still interpret them through Katie's thoughts and actions.

The point of view also has elements of an unreliable narrator. There are sections of the book where Katie sees events and interprets them in her own way, a way which a more mature reader will understand is untrue, however, understanding the narrator's age, we know this is not an intentional mistake. Take, for instance, Chapter 6. Katie and her cousin David discuss the reason why her aunt and uncle need to spend a few uninterrupted moments alone together while camping with the children. The boy confides that they are trying to make another baby. Katie, in all her...