Book Review: 'Amber Summer' by Mizuki Tsujimura

Because of the word 'Summer' in the title, this is a book I had kept on my 'to-read' pile for several years, intending to read it during the summer.
In the end, I read it before summer arrived. It was a novel that suited the damp, humid atmosphere of the rainy season better than the dry heat of summer.

Noriko did not feel the same sense of discomfort at school that she felt during the summer camp at the 'Mirai School.' Wanting to see Mika-chan, whom she met at the camp, she participated again the following year.
I, too, have memories of such fleeting friendships, and it feels less like empathy and more like a sense of slight embarrassment. Like being close friends at an event, but unable to get along well when meeting elsewhere.
I suspect many readers who enjoy Mizuki Tsujimura's novels spent their student days like Noriko... I know I did. I often read Mizuki Tsujimura's novels while recalling my own past or imagining someone else's. I found myself reading 'Amber Summer' with a particularly sentimental heart. I kept reading while holding onto those feelings from back then—the struggle to live well while trapped in a closed-off space.

After reading the synopsis on the book's obi strip and then reading the main story, I thought, 'Wait.'
Because the 'Mirai School' seems so charming. Even though it was written that it was a cult group, I felt, 'That's not the case at all...' I found myself excited by the extraordinary summer camp that elementary school student Noriko experiences.
I read the first half with a pounding heart, noticed the sense of unease regarding the 'Mirai School' in the middle, and devoured the second half in one sitting.
It reminds me that the 'incidents' reported in the news likely arise from such small deviations in everyday life.

I had imagined a work of fiction like 'Lonely Castle in the Mirror'.
'Amber Summer' feels closer to reality. Because of that, the climax was painful. This one stings more.

The protagonist of 'Lonely Castle in the Mirror' is a 13-year-old first-year junior high student.
Noriko in 'Amber Summer' participates in the summer camp when she is in the fourth grade of elementary school, and the incident is uncovered when she turns 40. The story progresses through the perspectives of the child participating in the summer camp and the adult looking back.
My current age is closer to the adult Noriko than the child Noriko. Although I don't have children, I realize that I have started to view children from an adult's perspective. When I finished reading, it was a novel that made me calmly reflect on my own position. I truly hope you let your heart be stirred by it.