"Kocienda provides a fictionalized account of a progressive Japanese poet who challenged the status quo with her poetry and her quest for personal fulfillment. The author’s detailed and illuminating historical novel examines the life of famed poet Yosano Akiko (1878-1942). Kocienda’s novel is far-reaching in scope but intimate in tone. The comprehensive yet expressive text is interspersed with the author’s original translations of the poet’s work, such as “Missing her mother, her spirit wanders, lost in the dark, / And like a thin plum tree, shivers in the freezing rain.” Kocienda’s work is buttressed by extensive proof of the clearly enormous amount of research underlying it, including photos, references, a family tree, a guide to Japanese naming conventions, a glossary, and a bibliography. A detailed work that effectively conveys the truths of an extraordinary life." — Kirkus Reviews

"GIRL IN A BOX is a huge accomplishment, and a pleasure to read. I always loved a runaway! Poet Akiko lived during a time when the old Japan struggled with the new for the soul of the country. Little-known outside of the country, Akiko, like her literary idol Murasaki Shikibu, was a frontrunner in freeing women’s voices. Jean Gordon Kocienda—with her deep knowledge and poetic sensibility–brings this prickly, stubborn, passionate poet to life. It is clear how much research and love went into this book. Well done!" — Katherine Govier, award-winning novelist and author of The Printmaker’s Daughter

"In a series of sharply observed scenes, Jean Gordon Kocienda gives us Yosano Akiko whole: girl, woman, writer, wife, mother, widow. Fully imagined and emotionally true. A convincing and compulsively readable portrait." — Gaye Rowley, author of Yosano Akiko and The Tale of Genji Katherine Govier, award-winning novelist and author of The Printmaker’s Daughter

• Throughout April 2026, a Girl in a Box Cherry Blossom Tour in California, encompassing Cherry Blossom Festivals in San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles with added events in bookstores, Japantowns, and historical and Japanese Societies.
• Launch event and poetry exhibit at Edge Hill Mansion at Dominican University of California in San Rafael
• Author essays on Japanese poetry and feminism
• Featured daily Instagram with author translation of Japanese poems and slices of Japan
• Featured author at Winter Institute, appearances at spring book trade events, book festivals, and AWP