ELLINWOOD — Curious about life, about people and places, author Cynthia Kadohata, became fascinated with custom harvesting, and her book, “The Thing About Luck,” is loosely based on an Ellinwood family she met when receiving the “William Allen White Award.”
In 2010, Mikey Hughes of Ellinwood was nominated by Librarian Sharon Sturgis and Marquita Boehnke to present the “William Allen White Award” to Kadohata for her book, “Cracker! The Best Dog in Vietnam.”
Hughes was an Ellinwood Middle School student who introduced Kadohata at the Emporia awards ceremony. While in Emporia, the Hughes family and Kadohata visited about the custom harvesting operation owned by the Hughes family.
The more that the author learned about the process of turning wheat into bread that people are eating all over the world, it seemed magical.
In fact, Kadohata, who chooses to immerse herself in the settings for her books, became so fascinated with the idea of custom harvesting that she set aside the book she was working on, visited the Wendy Hughes and Taff Hughes family in Ellinwood, and also travelled with their custom harvesting operation. She took the next couple of years to write the book.
The book, “The Thing About Luck,” is set in Kansas and is about a young Japanese girl named Summer and her dog who go on a custom harvesting adventure with Summer’s grandparents.
Wendy helped Kadohata create realistic adventures for Summer. Subsequently, the scene with Summer following her dog in the wheat field with a bag to pick up dog poop was cut from the book.
Hughes, laughing, explained that would never happen to the Los Angeles-area resident.
Wendy also explained that there are no foot pedals in the newer combines, so that scene was changed as well.
“Wendy’s been great,” said Kadohata. “Everybody’s been amazing.”
The author chooses to write about things that have meaning to her. Cynthia said she wants “to live a life that when I’m on my death bed, my life had meaning.”
The book “Weedflower” is also loosely based on the life of Kadohata’s father, who as a Japanese-American youth spent time in an internment camp in the U.S. during World War II. He never spoke of those dark days with his family.
Her interest in the various places from around the country came at an early age. “My earliest memories come from the highway with the wind blowing on my face as we drove across the farm land,” said Kadohata. Her father sexed newborn chickens at farms all over the U.S., and the family travelled often.
Kadohata dropped out of high school, but went on to receive a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
The author also received the Newbery Medal for her book Kira-Kira and the Jane Addams Peace Award and Pen USA Award for her book “Weedflower.” She lives in West Covina, Calif. with her son, Sammy Bahytzhan Kadohata, who is the “love of my life.”