Of Nightingales That Weep Award from the Children's Literature Association as the best English-language children's book that did not win a major award when it was originally published twenty years earlier. The award is named after the mythical bird phoenix, which is reborn from its ashes, to suggest the book's rise from obscurity. Set during the Genpei War, the two rival Japanese clans, the Genji and Heike, are constantly battling for the support of the Senior Cloistered Emperor and the power to rule Japan. Takiko is a beautiful girl who can talentedly play the koto, a thirteen-stringed instrument. She is only eleven years old
Amala (mythology) myths about Amala and similar heroes of Native American mythology were influenced by the tales of Cinderella and Atlas - the titan who carries the world on his shoulder in Greek mythology, introduced into Native American culture from Europe. There is a similarity between Cinderella and Amala in that both sleep in ashes and both are abused by their tribe or family. The storyline of Amala - the despised member of the tribe who overcomes adversity and rises to be a hero among his people, may be a combination of elements of the downtrodden and derided hero or heroine, such