Sa, Shan. The girl who played go.

SA, Shan. The girl who played go. Tr. from the French by Adriana Hunter. Penguin. 280p. c2003.1-4000-3228-8. $13.95. SA *

This book is an Asian version of an archetypal doomed love story, the tale of a 16-year-old Chinese girl obsessed with the game of go, her sexual awakening, and her encounter with a Japanese soldier amidst the brutality of war in the 1930s. Every day the girl sits in the town square playing go, an intense game of skill and mathematical calculation, with anyone who takes up her challenge. The Japanese soldier, disguised as a Chinese scholar, approaches her to learn gossip about possible terrorists. Ironically, the two play in near silence, learning about each other through the moves of the game they play.

Told in the alternating voices of the young girl who yearns to become a woman and the soldier who until this moment has dedicated himself to the code of the Samurai, the narrative recounts the sexual experiences of the lovers that lead up to the moment they meet, and then recounts the tragic aftermath. The language is imagistic, the events seen with a painter's eye. In fact, the author is more interested in the power of language and its silences than she is in realistic plot. Because of mature themes and graphic content, the novel is best suited for older YAs, although its theme of gender identity in the face of cultural expectation is universal. Myrna Marled, Assoc. Prof. of English, BYU, Provo, UT

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code help librarian and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.

*--The asterisk highlights exceptional books.