{"product_id":"ichiban-9781970256130","title":"Ichiban","description":"\u003cp\u003ePatricia Aya Williams' \u003cem\u003eIchiban\u003c\/em\u003e follows a Japanese mother, an American father, and their daughter from post-WWII Japan to the Gen-X schoolyards of East San Jose. The collection exuberantly insists that \"we too \/ sing America\" applies to teenage girls whose tampons charge like a \"battering ram in a moat of blood\" and to a tough mother who loves watching sumo and rooting for \"wrestlers from her prefecture-Ishikawa\" and harshly judging them: \"Aww he too little \/ he not gonna make it.\" After the father's early death, the speaker revisits photos of him on aircraft carriers, and the mother, as she nears her own death many decades later, asks him: \"Pat, my handsome young sailor \/ ichiban yasashii na kao, most gentle face \/\/ God ever show me on this earth- \/\/ how you will recognize \/ my prune face, more than twice your age?\" As if anyone could forget her, especially after \u003cem\u003eIchiban\u003c\/em\u003e captures her voice, humor, and tenacity with such vibrancy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e-Allison Pitinii Davis, \u003cem\u003eLine Study of a Motel Clerk\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eBusiness: a novella\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIchiban\u003c\/em\u003e is an unsparing and unsentimental coming of age poetry-coming to terms with parents, coming to terms with cultural expectations, and with one's self. I am particularly taken by the variety of angles and poetic forms through which Williams views and recounts salient life-shaping episodes. The title poem \"Ichiban\" could stand alone-illustrated and animated. The entire collection is a gem.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e-Donna Hilbert, Louis Award judge and author of \u003cem\u003eEnormous Blue Umbrella\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Concrete Wolf Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/15\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781970256130\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 110\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.35lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.26d","brand":"Patricia Aya Williams","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52507689713845,"sku":"9781970256130","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_96358672-3794-41b5-8828-5729c440924f.jpg?v=1778566612","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/ichiban-9781970256130","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}