nao, a japanese american second generation or a teenage native californian girl, experiences the pain and discomfort of being uprooted from her home in silicon valley after her father loses his job, prompting her family's move back to tokyo. identifying as an american, feeling like "an ordinary california girl adopted by japanese parents," she feels alienated in her new environment and finds it difficult to relate to the japanese part of her identity. part of this discomfort derives from the fact that – unlike her parents, who identify as japanese and speak the language fluently – she only speaks japanese on a conversational level and has very limited knowledge about, as well as exposure to, the culture.