MIDORI BY MOONLIGHT – A Novel by Wendy Nelson Tokunaga
St. Martin’s Press (Griffin), Available Now
ISBN: 0312372612

A comic, cross-cultural novel in which fresh-from-Japan Midori Saito finds herself lost in translation in San Francisco as she searches for her American Dream and the perfect dessert.

Midori Saito's dream seems about to come true. Too independent for Japanese society, Midori is a young woman who has always felt like a stranger in her native land. So when she falls in love with Kevin, an American English teacher, she readily agrees to leave home and start a new life with him in San Francisco—as his fiancée. Kevin seems to be the perfect man. That is, until he dumps her for his blond ex-fiancée, whom Midori never even knew existed. With just a smattering of fractured English, not much cash, and a fiancée visa set to expire in 60 days, Midori realizes she’s in for quite a struggle. Unable to face the humiliation of telling her parents she's been jilted, she decides to go it alone, surprising even herself as she proves she will do almost anything to hang on to her “American Dream.”

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Wendy Nelson Tokunaga is the author of the novels, MIDORI BY MOONLIGHT (St. Martin's, Sept 2007) and the forthcoming LOVE IN TRANSLATION (St. Martin's, November 2009). Japan and Japanese culture have been major influences on her life and this is reflected in much of her writing. Her novel, NO KIDDING, won the Literary/Mainstream Fiction category in Writer’s Digest’s Best Self-Published Book Awards in 2002. She is also the author of two children's non-fiction books, and has had short stories published in various literary journals. Wendy signed her two-book deal with St. Martin’s just as she was beginning the MFA in Writing program at the University of San Francisco in 2006. Along with her MFA, she also holds a BA in Psychology from San Francisco State University.

Wendy is also a jazz vocalist and a Japanese karaoke singer. She lives with her surfer-dude/musician husband Manabu and their cat Meow in the San Francisco Bay Area, a short walk from the Pacific Ocean.

Praise for Midori by Moonlight:

“Tokunaga depicts Midori's determination to create her own version of the American dream with exuberance [in this] delectably frothy debut.”
-- Publishers Weekly

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Tokunaga suffuses the book with warmth and lightness. . .Just as the right dessert hits the spot, reading this delicious slice of escapism makes for a perfect afternoon. But instead of suffering a sugar crash afterward, you'll muse for days about the characters you've left behind and why they matter so much to you.
—San Francisco Chronicle

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“[Midori by Moonlight] draws upon vivid imagery when defining traits of Japanese culture and really hits the nail on the head when depicting some American attitudes toward others.... witty and charming."
—Charleston Gazette

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“Midori is endearing, feisty, and funny: the novel is a delight.” – Ellen Sussman, editor of Bad Girls and author of On a Night Like This.

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Best selling author Cara Lockwood (Dixieland Sushi) says, “Midori by Moonlight is part wasabi, part ginger, and as scrumptious as a California roll. You’ll devour this book in a day!”

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Author Lauren Baratz-Logsted (Vertigo) says, “A delightful fusion of East meeting West, as if Banana Yoshimoto and Meg Cabot got together to create a romantic comedy.”