Mina's Matchbox - Yoko Ogawa Because how do you decide

Because how do you decide what makes life worth living

as the Black Death ravages their city

soon to be the reluctant King of Poland

When her daughters leave home to be with their father in Canada

Mina's Matchbox - Yoko Ogawa Because how do you decideAfter the death of her father, twelve year old Tomoko is sent to live for a year with her uncle in the coastal town of Ashiya. It is a year which will change her life. The 1970s are bringing changes to Japan and her uncle's magnificent colonial mansion opens up a new and unfamiliar world for Tomoko; its sprawling gardens are even home to a pygmy hippo the family keeps as a pet. Tomoko finds her relatives equally exotic and beguiling and her growing