A bit of a bleak story that I liked alright but which didn't sweep me off my feet. Japanese-American Ruth who lives on a remote Canadian island finds the diary of a Japanese teenager and is fully engrossed in Nao's story. Nao suffers from bullying at school, and has a suicidal, depressed father. She only takes joy in her 104 year old great-grandmother who is a Buddhist nun. We also learn a lot about Nao's uncle, a kamikaze pilot in WWII. Truly bleak stuff.

I have nothing else to say about it other than a vague feeling of confusion about the 'time being' parts at the end. I liked it enough, and that's about all I can say here.