YOUNG ADULTING

Review by Carolina Leyton

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Deep below the islands of Japan, the catfish moves and the earth trembles beneath our feet. Even the gods can’t stop it, banish it, or make to disappear. Like fear or pain, it’s always there; but so is release, freedom, joy. We walk on while trees gather the sky in their branches. Beneath land and water, the catfish turns, and rests.

Catfish Rolling, Clara Kumagai’s debut YA novel, expertly tackles themes of time, grief, and natural disaster. Throughout the novel, these forces interweave to create a new reality that people must accept at the risk of losing themselves.

The novel follows Sora Campbell, a Japanese Canadian high school graduate, years after an incredibly strong earthquake in Japan broke time itself and took Sora’s mom and Ojichan with it. This book is inspired by the 2011 earthquake in Japan, which left behind extreme repercussions on the island, as well as resulted in our planet spinning 1.8 seconds faster, shortening all of our days. There are many scientific explanations for this, but taking inspiration from both science and mythology, Kumagai introduces the idea that an earthquake of such magnitude could only have been caused by a catfish rolling underneath Japan, trying to escape its captivity.  

In the novel, the earthquake energetically and geographically divides the Japanese islands into three time zones: normal, slow, and fast time. As a zone researcher, Sora’s father spends copious amounts of time in the fast and slow zones, trying to decipher the reason behind the rupture, but with worrisome consequences to his health. This all-consuming obsession has created a rift, not unlike that of the zones, in his relationship with his daughter.

The relationship between father and daughter is the strongest in the entire book. It is a perfect portrayal of tensions between parents and teenagers layered with grief, betrayal, and misunderstanding. Like her father, Sora is consumed by the zones, but in a different way. She has a connection to them, can sense changes in zone, and can tell time almost exactly to the minute. Sora puts these abilities to use and becomes an extralegal zone tour guide for interested folks, which in turn gives her the chance to go out into the zones and try to find her missing family.

Kumagai does an excellent job of filling Sora’s narration with an all-consuming grief which is only deepened by the glimmer of hope that she might be able to recover those she lost. Sora’s voice is angry, combative, and, at times, detached from the world, stuck in memories we visit as flashbacks. Her character is relatable, powerful, and so well-written. Sora feels misunderstood, a universal emotion especially for younger audiences, and this is embodied by her own misunderstanding of the zones.

This book is confusing in the way a mathematical theorem is confusing; the drive to understand it makes the experience worthwhile and it will stick with you for a lifetime. Catfish Rolling is not here to provide us with all the answers, but to remind us that there are multiple ways to exist and understand reality. Temporality is such a captivating and sometimes frightening subject, and I was completely invested in Sora and her father’s obsession with figuring out how the zones work. Ultimately though, the message of Catfish Rolling is that trying to control time instead of simply trying to understand it has dire consequences.

For non-fiction enthusiasts who want to delve into fiction, magical realism lovers, and science fiction geeks, this book truly has something for everyone. Catfish Rolling is a testament to the ways in which fiction can help cross barriers between disciplines, cultures, borders, genres, and even people.

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Carolina Leyton is a current MA student in the Children’s Literature program. She completed her BA Honours in UBC Okanagan. From the age of 9, she has been an avid reader and writer, and now hopes to become an author of critical, important, and unique YA novels.