Spare Room

This family, she said very slowly, is the Titantic. She looked up at me and added something about an iceberg. Journeys take on many forms ... Akira is sent by his family to Japan to learn English in Australia, a journey into a world very different from his own. Akira's homestay hosts, the Moffat family, are not quite what he was expecting. But then, what does he know about Australians? In this tender and evocative tale, Kathryn Lomer takes us into two cultures, into lives connected by grief and uncertainty but with hope in common. It is the story of a journey into belonging, understanding and empowerment ... where the first steps are often the hardest.