The Shy Kappa's Shaved Ice Stand
A Summer of Sweet Surprises

About this book:

Beneath the weeping willows of Kyoto's Kamogawa River, a shy kappa named Ren shaves mountain ice so fine it falls like snow—and every bowl serves a flavor the customer didn't know they needed. A single taste of pale amber syrup unlocks a sixty-year-old memory of a sister's burnt kinako; a spoonful of cucumber mint tells a silenced girl that being small is not the same as being invisible. The jars on Ren's shelves have no labels, and his hand always seems to choose the one that cracks open a heart.

*The Shy Kappa's Shaved Ice Stand* is a summer of quiet magic, where each chapter brings a new visitor—a grieving baker, a stranger with an unreadable taste, a family bound by toasted sesame—and a flavor that meets them exactly where they hurt. With prose as delicate as spun sugar and as cool as mountain ice, this is a novel for anyone who has ever longed for a place where the truth can be spoken softly, sweetened with syrup, and eaten before it melts.

Come sit by the water. The bell on the awning chimes for you.