Chapters 30, 31, 32 and 33 Summary

Naomi considers the years spent on the Barker farm as sleepwalk years because they were so difficult and trying for the entire family, as she has tried to obliterate them from her memory. Even though the war is over, there is still no word from Naomi's mother or grandmother from Japan and a letter from Naomi's father informs the family that Grandfather Nakane died of a heart attack shortly after the family left Slocan. Stephen and Naomi attend school in Granton and are verbally harassed by their classmates because they are of Japanese heritage. Most of the other Japanese Canadian children and especially Stephen, reject Japanese culture and alter their names to sound more conventional.

Naomi frequents a swamp area on the farm in order to have some privacy and enjoy nature after the blazing sun has set. One evening, Stephen...