The Baton Is Passed
10 hrs. 17 min.
Description
«When I was born, I was named Yuko Mito. Then I became Yuko Tanaka, then — Yuko Idzumigahara, and now I am Yuko Morimiya. I don’t know who chose this name for me and why—those people are long gone, no longer near. But one thing I know for certain: Yuko fits any surname…»
«The Baton Is Passed» by Maiko Seo is a poignant and gripping coming-of-age novel about finding your place in the world, at the center of which is a girl with an astonishing, complicated fate.
Japanese schoolgirl Yuko had two mothers and three fathers.
Over seventeen years, her family changed seven times—and each new twist became another test of her resilience. First as a little girl, and then as a teenager, she had to get used to new homes again and again, accept new rules, and learn to call “parents” those who appeared in her life. But the hardest part was saying goodbye to the people she managed to grow attached to, just when the adults “passed” her on again—like a baton in a relay race.
Years later, despite everything she has been through, Yuko makes friends, finishes university, and finds love. And when her last guardian refuses to bless her marriage, she makes a bold decision: to track down all her former “parents” and hear their consent from each of them. Along the way—she finally talks with them, frankly and openly for the first time, about what she needed to say all those years, and understands what secrets about her life were kept from her for so long.
In 2019, the novel was awarded the annual Japanese booksellers’ prize Hon'ya Taishō, and in 2021 it was adapted into a film directed by Tetsu Maeda.
«The Baton Is Passed» by Maiko Seo is a poignant and gripping coming-of-age novel about finding your place in the world, at the center of which is a girl with an astonishing, complicated fate.
Japanese schoolgirl Yuko had two mothers and three fathers.
Over seventeen years, her family changed seven times—and each new twist became another test of her resilience. First as a little girl, and then as a teenager, she had to get used to new homes again and again, accept new rules, and learn to call “parents” those who appeared in her life. But the hardest part was saying goodbye to the people she managed to grow attached to, just when the adults “passed” her on again—like a baton in a relay race.
Years later, despite everything she has been through, Yuko makes friends, finishes university, and finds love. And when her last guardian refuses to bless her marriage, she makes a bold decision: to track down all her former “parents” and hear their consent from each of them. Along the way—she finally talks with them, frankly and openly for the first time, about what she needed to say all those years, and understands what secrets about her life were kept from her for so long.
In 2019, the novel was awarded the annual Japanese booksellers’ prize Hon'ya Taishō, and in 2021 it was adapted into a film directed by Tetsu Maeda.
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