Mika in Real Life: A Good Morning America Book Club Pick

Mika is a 35 year old at a low point in life when she receives a phone call from her biological daughter, Penny, she gave up reluctantly for adoption 16 years ago. Penny's lost her adoptive mother recently and is hoping to get to know Mika and figure out who she is and what her Japanese heritage means. Mika jumps at the chance but distorts some truths about herself in order to impress Penny. Suddenly Penny and her widowed father are visiting and Mika is scrambling to build the life she claimed to have.

This book gave me a lot of feelings. I ended up really enjoying it. Mika is a flawed character. But she has enough baggage that her flaws are understandable. The exploration of her relationships were so well done. This book delved into topics of motherhood, sacrifices for loved ones, found family, searching for an identity and so much more. While it was a departure from the author's previous YA novels, her roots in that genre did show and made this a lighter read than it could have been given the topics.

This was such a beautiful story about motherhood, adoption and unconditional love. As an adoptive mother the author captured so many emotions that came through in the letters Caroline wrote to Mika about Penny. And was able to eloquently reflect Mika's bravery,pain and unconditional love she had for Penny while struggling with her own complicated relationship with her mom. Emiko Jean was able to tell this story with compassion for both the adoptive and biological mothers in their love for their daughter. Oh, and the friendship and blossoming love between Thomas and Mika was perfect, I wish there was a sequel...

I feel on the bubble of a 3 and 4 star for "Mika in Real Life". For the majority of the book, I enjoyed the narrative. Mika is someone who is just trying to do her best. I like that she doesn't have it all figured out but like most of us, she wishes that she did. When the daughter she gave up for adoption enters her life, what seems like a small lie to cover blooms into more.

How Mika navigates the new terrain can get a little frustrating but that's what storytelling is. It isn't meant to be smooth sailing and I found it to be an engrossing journey. There is an aspect that did take my enjoyment down a star but it isn't like it was unexpected. I just kinda wished it had been avoided. Otherwise, it is a solid read that I enjoyed.

I applaud Emiko Jean for tackling adult fiction after being a successful YA author. I’m 53 and I read all types of literature, including YA, and this definitely feels like YA writing. The first struggle I had was the notion of Mika telling a “white lie.” Perhaps one could excuse her behavior as evidence that she is clearly in need of many types of help. But it was absolutely distracting to try to believe that 5 close friends would help perpetuate not only a “white lie,” but what grew into a colossal deception against a vulnerable child and her grieving father. After that preparation by Mika and her little band of accomplices for the face to face meeting, I couldn’t take this book seriously. Which is fine, if one is reading YA.