This prize-winning work in the girls' fiction tradition has a title suggesting reunion in dreams. It softly portrays feelings that are hard to convey in reality through the space of dreams.

In a dream, even feelings that could not be spoken may be reached again.

Under a title meaning trial, the story follows young characters confronting their own possibilities. It portrays the pain required to move forward and the changes that come after a challenge.

In a time of testing, the characters begin to find the outlines of themselves.

Beginning with the fantastical image of a mermaid princess beneath cherry blossoms, this girls' novel portrays love, pain, and the wish to transform. Moving between reality and fairy tale, it illuminates the loneliness of a young heart.

The mermaid princess beneath the cherry blossoms carries an impossible wish and a longing to change.