Snow Falling on Cedars By: David Guterson

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Snow Falling on CedarsByDavid Guterson

• Ashley
• Childers

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Over View

• Snow Falling on Cedars is an exciting murder
  mystery with a mix of love and broken friendships
  all entwined together.

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Main Characters

• Kabou Miyamoto- Japanese-American fisherman
  accused of murder.
• Hatsue Miyamoto- She had a childhood love with
  Ishmael Chambers, but felt it was wrong because
  he was white. Later in life, she married Kabou.
• Art Moran- He is the sheriff of San Piedro. He
  suspects Kabou killed Carl.
• Abel Martinson- The towns deputy.

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Main Characters

• Carl Heine- The book is revolved around the
  murder of this man. He was a local fisherman. He
  fought in World War II. Kabou, a close friend to
  him in high school, is now being charged with his
  murder.
• Ishmael Chambers- He is a World World II veteran,
  and lost his arm in war. As a child he fell in
  love with Hatsue Miyamoto. He is now the editor
  of the San Piedro Review, the local newspaper.

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Themes

• A major theme in Snow Falling on Cedars is the
  racial prejudices that are shown through out the
  book. The setting takes place after World War II
  and tensions are running high when it comes to
  trusting those from the country they just battled
  with.

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Summary

• Carl Hienes has mysteriously shown up dead
  one morning. First, it is thought of as an
  accident, then after further investigation the
  sheriff decided it was murder. So they started
  investigating and said it has to have been done
  by a Japanese because of the type of wound.

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Summary contd

• The only Japanese on the small little island
  was Kabou Miyamoto. So they arrested him and
  started investigating. The two were friends in
  high school but after a while things between them
  were not so friendly. Times got rough and they
  needed to look out for each other. Long lost
  loves and stories of the past are brought to the
  surface, and things begin to unfold.

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• This is a very good book. Guterson is very
  descriptive. Sometimes his descriptions drag
  things out too long. He likes to put flash backs
  in his books. He said they make the book more
  exciting.

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David Guterson

• Guterson has a real passion to write. He
  realized in college that being an author was his
  calling. He became a high school English teacher
  to help him improve his writing. It took him ten
  years to write his first novel.

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David Guterson

• Most all of his novels have won an award.
  After he quit teaching he was able to dedicate
  all his time to his work.