Twelve year old Mimi has just moved from California to a small town in Vermont. The year is 1969, and Mimi struggles to figure out where she belongs. As the half-Black and half-Japanese new girl in school who wants to be an astronaut, Mimi wonders if she will ever be happy in her new town, and if she and her family will ever be accepted.
Have students illustrate examples of personification or other figurative language in Full Cicada Moon.
Storyboard Text
Page 14: The icy air pinches my cheeks but my heart is warm. The author is saying Mimi's face was freezing cold, but she felt happy and warm inside.
Page 20: Stars - bright, cold, voiceless - are winking. This means that the starts are sparkling in the sky.
Personification in Full Cicada Moon
Page 279: A ghost of light grows in the fog as Mama opens the back door. This means that when Mimi's mama opened the door, the light from inside appeared through the fog outside.